Grocery shopping is a great equalizer. Rich and poor, adventurous cooks and microwave-only eaters — pretty much everyone knows what it’s like to browse supermarket shelves. By now, most know how to play the grocery delivery game too.
It’s no surprise, then, that supermarket credit card offers are so popular up and down the income scale.
From entry-level spending aids like the Blue Cash Everyday card from American Express to prime products like the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature card, there’s almost certainly a rewards-bearing card tailored to your grocery shopping habits and credit score.
Best Credit Cards for Groceries
These are among the best grocery credit cards to use for grocery store and supermarket purchases. Each one does at least one thing really well, whether it’s delivering unlimited cash back at impressive rates or offering unique value-adds users can’t find anywhere else.
Just be aware that unless otherwise noted, these credit cards exclude grocery purchases made at superstores like Walmart, Target, and Meijer and warehouse clubs (wholesale clubs) like Sam’s Club and Costco from their supermarket rewards categories.
Best Overall: Blue Cash Preferred® Card From American Express
The Blue Cash Preferred® card from American Express rewards grocery store purchases better than any major credit card on the market: 6% cash back on the first $6,000 in annual purchases at U.S. supermarkets.
That’s $360 in grocery store cash back, or $265 after accounting for the $95 annual fee (after the first year, when the annual fee is $0; see rates and fees page.)
Cash back accrues as Reward Dollars that can be redeemed for statement credits starting at $25 in Reward Dollars.
It’s a solid haul by any stretch — one most multiperson households can easily achieve.
Additional features of this premium cash-back card include:
- Earn $350 back as a welcome offer after you spend at least $3,000 on purchases within the first six months
- Earn 6% cash back on digital media and streaming services, including Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO, Audible, and Apple Music
- Earn 3% cash back on two other bonus categories: U.S. gas station and local transportation and transit purchases, including parking, tolls, and ridesharing fares
- Earn 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases, including grocery store purchases above the annual spending cap
- Cash back accrues as Reward Dollars that can be redeemed for statement credits
- Enjoy 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 12 months your Blue Cash Preferred Card account is open — after that, regular variable APR applies (currently 18.74% to 29.74%)
- See rates and fees page.
- The annual fee is $95 each year
Learn More About the Blue Cash Preferred Card
Best for People Who Like to Dine Out Too: Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards credit card earns unlimited 3% cash back on supermarket purchases.
And if you don’t feel like cooking? No worries. SavorOne earns unlimited 3% cash back on restaurant and entertainment purchases too.
Which makes it the top credit card for folks who like to eat, period — whether in the comfort of their own kitchens or out on the town.
Additional features:
- Earn $200 after you spend $500 in eligible purchases in the first three months.
- Earn unlimited 5% cash back on eligible hotel and car rental bookings through Capital One Travel. Earn unlimited 3% cash back on eligible streaming service purchases.
- Earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases.
- Redeem for statement credits or bank account deposits in any amount.
- Enjoy 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months from your account opening date. After that, variable regular APR applies.
- No annual fee.
- No foreign transaction fee.
Learn More About the Capital One SavorOne Card
Best for Students: Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card
Like its “parent” card, the Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card earns unlimited 3% cash back on eligible grocery store purchases, excluding purchases at superstores like Walmart and Target.
This makes it the perfect card for two- or four-year degree students living on their own or with roommates and managing their own grocery bills as part of their newfound independence. It’s also great first credit card in general, thanks to Capital One’s commitment to consider cardholders for higher credit lines after as few as 6 months of responsible use.
Additional features:
- For a limited time, earn $50 when you spend $100 in the first 3 months.
- Earn unlimited 5% cash back on eligible hotel and car rental bookings through Capital One Travel
- Earn unlimited 3% cash back on purchases of dining, entertainment, and eligible streaming services
- Earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases
- Redeem for statement credits or bank account deposits in any amount.
- No annual fee
- No foreign transaction fee
Learn More About the SavorOne Student Card
Best for Whole Foods & Amazon Fresh Shoppers: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card
The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card is the obvious choice for Amazon Prime members who do most or all their grocery shopping through Amazon Fresh, Amazon Prime Pantry, or Whole Foods Market. All Amazon-ecosystem purchases, including both perishable and nonperishable groceries, earn 5% cash back.
It’s easy to redeem your Amazon cash-back rewards in any amount for purchase credits at checkout, making this a truly seamless grocery rewards credit card for Amazon fans.
Additional features:
- Get a $100 Amazon gift card immediately upon approval — exclusions apply, see terms for details
- Earn unlimited 2% cash back on purchases made at restaurants, gas stations, and drugstores
- Earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases.
- There is no annual fee for the card itself, but you must be an Amazon Prime member in good standing to earn 5% cash back on Amazon.com and Whole Foods purchases
- Prime membership costs $119 per year, subject to change
- No foreign transaction fee
Learn More About the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card
Best Cardholder Benefits: American Express® Gold Card
The American Express® Gold card earns 4 Membership Rewards points per $1 spent on the first $25,000 in U.S. supermarket purchases each year. That’s up to 100,000 bonus points on annual supermarket spending, worth up to $0.01 per point at redemption — a 4% return on spending.
Above the annual spending cap, you earn 1 point per $1 spent on U.S. supermarket purchases. Most frugal families don’t need to worry about running over.
But the Gold Card really shines thanks to value-added benefits like:
- Up to $10 in dining credits per month (up to $120 per year) with select participating chains and apps, including Grubhub (enrollment is required and terms apply)
- Up to $10 in Uber Cash per month (up to $120 per year) when you add your Gold Card as a payment method in the app (enrollment is required and terms apply)
- Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points as a welcome offer after spending $4,000 in purchases on your card within the first 6 months of card membership
Additional features:
- Earn 4 points per $1 spent on Uber Eats purchases
- Earn 3 points per $1 spent on airfare purchased directly with the airline and at amextravel.com
- Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases
- Redeem for travel bookings, gift cards, Uber rides, general merchandise, and statement credits at the American Express membership rewards portal — redemption minimums begin at 1,000 points
- $250 annual fee
- No foreign transaction fee
- For specific rates and fees of the American Express® Gold card, see its rates and fees page
Learn More About the American Express Gold Card
Best for Moderate Spenders: Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express
The no-annual-fee alternative to the Blue Cash Everyday® card is nearly as generous as its fee-bearing parent.
Delivering 3% cash back on the first $6,000 in purchases made at U.S. supermarkets and U.S. gas stations each year and 1% cash back on U.S. supermarket and U.S. gas station purchases thereafter, it’s ideal for moderate spenders who don’t need outsize grocery-shopping firepower. That’s still $180 in bonus cash back in on top of the baseline cash rate.
Additional features:
- Cash back accrues as Reward Dollars that can be redeemed for statement credits
- Earn $200 back as a welcome offer after you spend at least $2,000 on purchases within the first 6 months of opening your account
- Earn 3% cash back on U.S. online retail purchases
- Earn 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases, including supermarket purchases above the annual spending cap
- Cash back accrues as Reward Dollars that can be redeemed for statement credits.
- Redeem accumulated cash back for statement credits on your Blue Cash Everyday account.
- Enjoy 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months from your account opening date, then regular variable APR applies (currently 18.74% to 29.74%) — see rates and fees page
- No annual fee
Learn More About the Blue Cash Everyday Card
Best Flat-Rate Card: Citi Double Cash® Card
The Citi Double Cash® card earns 2% cash back on all eligible purchases, including purchases at the supermarket. If you’re not interested in carrying a separate card solely for supermarket transactions, this is as good a choice as any — the best flat-rate cash-back card for grocery shopping, in fact.
Just be sure to pay your entire balance in full each month, as you only earn the full 2% cash-back allowance when you zero out your statement.
Additional features:
- Limited Time Offer: Through 11/14/22, earn $200 cash back after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening.
- Redeem for statement credits and other forms of cash back, subject to redemption minimums
- Enjoy 0% APR on balance transfers for 18 months from your account opening date — after that, regular variable APR applies (currently 18.49% to 28.49%, depending on your creditworthiness and prevailing rates).
- No annual fee
- 3% foreign transaction fee
Learn More About the Citi Double Cash Card
Methodology: How We Choose the Best Grocery Credit Cards
We use several important factors to assess supermarket credit cards and present the very best to our readers.
These include factors related to the credit cards’ rewards and return on spending, value-added benefits, cost, versatility, and overall usability. Here are the most important.
Supermarket Rewards
This is a list of top supermarket credit cards, after all. It’s only fair that the supermarket rewards category factor into our methodology.
Specifically, we’re looking at the type of rewards earned by supermarket spending, the rate at which that spending earns rewards, and the overall value of those rewards. The best cards earn supermarket rewards at high rates via a versatile loyalty currency — preferably cash back or high-value travel rewards.
Caps and Restrictions on Supermarket Rewards
Unrestricted is better, but we recognize that credit card issuers have to cut their losses. Still, we try to avoid credit cards with tight caps on grocery store rewards earnings or other restrictions that limit user value.
Other Rewards
Most grocery store credit cards earn bonus points or bonus cash back on other purchases as well. We prefer cards with multiple nongrocery bonus categories — the higher the earning rate, the better.
Welcome Offer (Sign-Up Bonus)
Most of the credit cards on this list have generous sign-up bonuses (also known as welcome offers or early spend bonuses) for new cardholders. These offers come and go, so their presence isn’t a dealbreaker, but you’ll notice that the more generous offers tend to get higher billing.
0% APR Offer
Some of the cards on this list also have nice 0% APR introductory offers for purchases and/or balance transfers. If you’re planning a big purchase — perhaps an unusually large trip to the grocery store — or need to pay down high-interest credit card debt, these offers can save you a ton of interest.
Annual Fee
No credit card user likes paying an annual fee. That said, sometimes you have to spend money to make money. And some of the most generous supermarket credit cards charge annual fees.
We do prefer credit cards without annual fees though, so we’ve done our best to weed out the substandard ones here.
Grocery Store Credit Card FAQs
Still have questions about the best credit cards to use at the supermarket? Find answers to some of the most common queries about this credit card category below.
Do Rotating Category Credit Cards Like Chase Freedom Flex Earn Rewards at the Supermarket?
It’s worth calling out the sometime-supermarket credit cards that didn’t make this list. It’s not that they’re never worth using at the grocery store. Rather, they only perform from time to time.
Take the Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card, for instance. Freedom reliably earns 5% cash back on grocery store purchases for one quarter per year, up to $1,500 in quarterly category spending. The catch: Grocery store earnings drop to just 1% the other nine months of the year, supplanted by another favored category.
Cards like Chase Freedom Flex are fine for cardholders who can adjust their spending as the opportunity arises. Those who sideline their primary grocery card during Chase Freedom’s bonanza quarter can earn impressive average rates of return on grocery store spending throughout the year. But not everyone wants (or has the means) to juggle two supermarket credit cards.
Do the Best Grocery Credit Cards Charge an Annual Fee?
Not all of them. In fact, the majority of the cards on this list don’t charge annual fees. It’s possible to earn an impressive rate of return on supermarket spending without paying an annual outlay for the privilege.
Of course, annual fee cards tend to be more generous overall. If you like luxe travel and shopping perks, you’ll probably find yourself gravitating towards these premium products.
Do Supermarket Credit Cards Work at Walmart and Target?
If the card has a Visa, Mastercard, or American Express logo, it should physically work at superstores like Walmart and Target.
The catch is that it probably won’t earn bonus points or cash-back dollars at those stores. That’s because most supermarket credit cards specifically exclude superstore grocery purchases from bonus eligibility. You might still earn base rewards — typically no more than 1 point per $1 spent — but nothing more.
Can You Link Your Supermarket Credit Card and Store Loyalty Account?
Usually not. You’ll need to scan your physical store loyalty card or give your phone number at the register to take advantage of member-only pricing or earn member-only rewards.
The good news is that your store loyalty membership status won’t impact your supermarket credit card earnings. You can “double dip” on store discounts and credit card rewards.
How to Select the Best Grocery Store Credit Card
There’s something for everyone on this list. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a step back and consider what you’re really looking for in your supermarket credit card.
Ask yourself:
- Whether you’d prefer to avoid paying an annual fee — if so, you’ll still have plenty of choices
- Which other spending categories you’d like to earn rewards in
- Your annual grocery budget — some cards cap rewards at specific annual spend thresholds
- Whether you want a sign-up bonus or 0% APR introductory promotion
- How loyal you are to specific supermarket chains, like Whole Foods
Answer each of these questions and you should be left with just a few options. Consider each in turn and choose the one with the best mix of features and rewards for your needs.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, please visit this rates and fees page.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, please visit this rates and fees page.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, please visit this rates and fees page.
