1.5% Cash Back Calculator

When a rewards program or credit card is offering 1.5% cash back, it means that for every $1 you spend you will earn 1.5 cents ($0.015) in the form of cash back. You can calculate 1.5% cash back multiplying 0.015 by the amount you plan on spending. So if you want to know how much cash back you'll earn spending $1,000, it would be $1,000 x 0.015 which equals $15. But no need to pull out your trusty TI-calculator, because you can scroll to the bottom of this page to input your spend into the calculator which will take care of the number crunching for you!

What's The Best 1.5% Cash Back Card?

With so many 1.5% cash back credit cards on the market, there isn't really one that is considered the 'best'. Of course there are some that are better than others due to the extra benefits the card may offer such as travel insurance, purchase protection, cell phone protection, and more. I recommend using the Search For Cards By Spend calculator to find the best credit cards based on your own spend habits. You can also browse through the Best Cards For... list for the best cards for different categories, airlines, hotels, and more.

Should I Get A 1.5% Cash Back Card

1.5% cash back credit cards are great if you want to earn simple rewards at a good rate across all purchases. The best use of 1.5% cash back credit cards is when they're paired with other credit cards that fall under the same cash back program (or sometimes bank). For example, the Capital One Quicksilver Card earns 1.5% cash back on all purchases. You can pair the Quicksilver with another Capital One cash back credit card such as the Capital One SavorOne Card which earns 3% on entertainment, 3% on dining and 2% on grocery purchases. Now you have a way to earn 1.5% to 3% across all of your credit card spend:

• Use the SavorOne on Entertainment and Dining for 3% cash back
• Use the SavorOne on Grocery for 2% cash back
• Use the Quicksilver for all other purchases for 1.5% cash back

If you were to just have the Capital One SavorOne, it would earn 1% cash back on all purchases outside of entertainment, dining, and grocery meaning you're losing out on the extra 0.5% you could be earning on those purchases with the Capital One Quicksilver. If you were to have just the Quicksilver, you would be missing out on the extra 1%-2% cash back you could be earning on entertainment, dining, and grocery purchases. Combinations like this is what makes 1.5% cash back credit cards great for miscellaneous purchases.

Are There Cards That Are Better Than 1.5% Cash Back?

There are credit cards that earn 2% cash back or more on all purchases. Several of these cards have annual fees while some do not. High earning flat-rate cash back cards that have annual fees will require you to run a significant amount of spend through the card to earn a better return than a 1.5% cash back card with no annual fee.

For example, the Alliant CashBack Visa earns 2.5% cash back and has an annual fee of $99 and the Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa earns 1.5% cash back and has no annual fee. If you were to run $3,000 per month across these cards, you would end up with $900 in cash back with the Alliant CashBack Visa and $540 with the Cash Wise Visa. Even if you subtract the $99 annual fee you would have to pay to have the Alliant CashBack Visa, you would still end up with an overall $801 in cash back which is significantly more than what you earned with the Wells Fargo Card.

If you were to only spend $500 per month across these cards, the Wells Fargo Card would earn you $90 in cash back during the year while the Alliant CashBack Visa would earn you $150, but the $99 annual fee would kick you down to an overall $51 in cash back. This is why knowing how much you plan on spending across any given card is important to find out which card will benefit you the most. This is also one of the main reasons why you can't automatically rule out credit cards that have annual fees.