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If you’ve ever considered signing up for a credit card with a rewards program, you’re probably familiar with the Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card. It’s one of the most popular cash back credit cards out there, offering unlimited 1.5% Cash Back on all purchases.
Highlights
Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- Earn a $150 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases.
- 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 16.49 - 25.24%.
- 3% intro balance transfer fee when you transfer a balance during the first 60 days your account is open, with a minimum of $5
- No annual fee
- No minimum to redeem for cash back
- Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open
See more details on Chase Freedom Unlimited®
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$150
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Chase Freedom Unlimited® deep dive
For anyone who wants to maximize the amount of cash back that their card will earn them, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card is hard to beat.
Get it: If you are looking for a simple cash back card that earns you 1.5% Cash Back regardless of the type of purchase
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card offers a flat rate of 1.5% Cash Back on all purchases, regardless of purchase category. This simply means that you don’t need to remember to activate the rewards program each quarter, as is required with some other cards.
The lack of bonus categories makes this an ideal card for individuals who operate on a strict budget from month to month: with a flat cash back rate regardless of purchase category, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers more predictability in terms of the rewards you can expect.
Some of the benefits of the Chase Freedom® Unlimited include:
- Earn a $150 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases.
- 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 16.49 - 25.24%.
- 3% intro balance transfer fee when you transfer a balance during the first 60 days your account is open, with a minimum of $5
- No annual fee
- No minimum to redeem for cash back
- Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open
Skip it: If you like the idea of added quarterly bonus categories or promotional offers
Though the Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers a relatively high cash back rate on all purchases, this is well below bonus rates such as the 5% cash back that you would earn by making purchases in the bonus categories offered by other cards such as the Chase Freedom® Card.
While the Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card has a 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months after account opening, this jumps up to a 17.24% to 25.24% variable APR once the introductory period is over, depending on your creditworthiness. Balance transfer fee is 3% of the amount transferred, $5 minimum.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card also isn’t the best card to use to withdraw money, since you’ll be charged a cash advance fee of 5% of each transaction or $10, whichever is greater.
Frequent travelers may find themselves dissatisfied with the foreign transaction fees associated with card use outside the US — foreign transactions incur a penalty of 3.0% of each transaction (in US dollars).
Consider these drawbacks of the Chase Freedom® Unlimited:
- No bonus cash back categories: If you are someone who enjoys the surprise of seeing what this quarter’s bonus cash back category is, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® can be a bit predictable. And though it offers a high 3.0% cash back on all purchases, this is below the bonus rates typically offered by some other cards, which can reach upwards of 5%
- Not a travel-friendly card: Travelers who frequently find themselves out of the United States may want to find a different card. Foreign transactions made on the Chase Freedom Unlimited® incur a 3.0% fee
- Not great for withdrawing money: The Chase Freedom® isn’t a great card to use for withdrawing money since you’ll be charged a cash advance fee of $10 or 5% of the transaction, whichever is greater.
Summary
If you are looking for a simple cash back card, and don’t want to keep track of rotating categories, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card may be just what you need. But if you like the excitement of a quarterly bonus rewards program, are a frequent traveler, or regularly make use of cash advances, you might want to check out some of our partner’s other cards.