Why the Chase Freedom Cash back beats the other 1% cards for 1% purchases

So if you are a savvy credit card rewards optimizer, you know that different credit card have different promotions for select categories. You can get as much as 5% on things like groceries, gas, drugstore, restaurant, seasonal and other purchases. That's pretty much documented.

What is perhaps flying under the radar is the world of 1% earnings. Most of the cashback credit cards offer 1% on all categories that do not earn a bonus. In most cases 1% gets you 1:1 in rewards, sometimes less if a reward point is worth less than 1c.

What distinguishes Chase Freedom from the rest is that their rewards program has a special bonus on the cashback reward. If you are patient enough (or spend a lot) and accumulate $200 in cash rewards, you will instead receive a $250 reward. That's an extra $50. That is 25% more ($50/$200). That means that your 1% purchases are actually earning 1.25%. And that's why Chase beats the other 1% programs.

Be sure to check with your rewards program details to make sure you are enrolled in this particular version of the program. We do not know if there are multiple variations or everybody is signed up to the same program.