Key takeaways

  • Both the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card and the Citi Double Cash® Card offer 2 percent cash back on purchases.
  • With the Citi Double Cash Card, you’ll earn 1 percent cash back as you make purchases and another 1 percent cash back as you pay for purchases.
  • Both cards also come with no annual fee, flexible redemption options and intro APR offers.

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The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card and the Citi Double Cash® Card are no-annual-fee cards that offer similar rewards programs — cardholders can earn 2 percent cash rewards on purchases. With the Citi Double Cash, you’ll earn 1 percent back as you make purchases and an additional 1 percent back when you pay off those purchases.

But while these two cards are similar, they’re not identical. Whether the Wells Fargo Active Cash or Citi Double Cash is better for you largely depends on whether you want to transfer a balance and whether you want to earn a welcome bonus, among other factors.

Main details

Cards Wells Fargo Active Cash Card Citi Double Cash Card
Welcome bonus $200 bonus after spending $500 in the first 3 months of account opening $200 bonus after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
Rewards rate Unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases5 percent cash back on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked via the Citi Travel portal through Dec. 31, 2024 Up to 2% cash back on all purchases — 1% back when you make purchases and another 1% back when you pay for purchases
Intro APR 0% intro APR on purchases and qualifying balance transfers for 15 months from account opening (followed by a variable APR of 20.24%, 25.24% or 29.99%)Balance transfers made within the first 120 days include an intro balance transfer fee of 3% with a $5 minimum; after that, a fee of up to 5% with a $5 minimum applies 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months after account opening (followed by a variable APR of 19.24% to 29.24%); Transfers must be completed within the first 4 months to qualify.Balance transfers made within the first 4 months include an intro balance transfer fee of 3% with a $5 minimum; after that, a fee of 5% with a $5 minimum applies
Annual fee $0 $0

Wells Fargo Active Cash vs. Citi Double Cash highlights

Badge Welcome bonus winner

Wells Fargo Active Cash

  • The Wells Fargo Active Cash offers a $200 cash rewards bonus if you spend $500 within the first three months of account opening, which should be pretty easy for most cardholders to achieve. The Citi Double Cash also offers a welcome bonus of $200 bonus, but you have to spend $1,500 on purchases within the first six months of account opening to earn it.

    While the Citi Double Cash gives you more time to reach your spending threshold than the Wells Fargo Active Cash, that still doesn’t make up for the fact that you’ll have to spend over twice as much to get the same $200 that the Active Cash is offering. That’s why the Active Cash wins this round.

Badge Rewards rate winner

Citi Double Cash

  • Both the Citi Double Cash and Wells Fargo Active Cash offer nearly identical cash rewards programs. With both cards, you’ll earn 2 percent cash back on purchases, and neither card puts limits on how much you can earn. The only difference is that, with the Citi Double Cash card, you’ll earn 1 percent cash back after you make purchases and then another 1 percent cash back when you pay off those purchases.

    But the Citi Double Cash card is also currently offering 5 percent cash back on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked via the Citi Travel portal through December 31, 2024. While this is a limited time offer, it nevertheless tips the scale into the Double Cash card’s favor since it has more opportunity to earn rewards.

    With that said, the rewards rates are so similar that your winning card will ultimately come down to how you pay your credit card bills. Because you don’t get the other 1 percent until you pay off your purchases, the Citi Double Cash card makes the most sense for cardholders who pay off their balances in full each month.

Badge Annual fee winner

Tie

  • Neither of these cards charges an annual fee.

Badge Foreign transaction fee winner

  • There’s no difference between the Wells Fargo Active Cash and Citi Double Cash for this category. Both cards charge a 3 percent foreign currency conversion fee, meaning that neither card is a good fit for traveling abroad.

Which card earns the most?

Because the Citi Double Cash and Wells Fargo Active Cash card both earn 2 percent cash rewards on purchases, your earnings potential is the same with both cards. However, if you take advantage of the Citi Double Cash card’s limited time offer of 5 percent back on select bookings via their travel portal, you could find yourself earning just a bit more with that card.

Similarly, if you carry a balance month to month, you won’t earn the full 2 percent from the Citi Double Cash until your card is paid off, meaning that the Active Cash might earn you more in the meantime.

Wells Fargo Active Cash vs. Citi Double Cash spending example

Say you charge $1,500 with either your Wells Fargo Active Cash or Citi Double Cash during a given month. You’ll earn 2 percent cash rewards on purchases you make — groceries, takeout, bills, clothing or travel. For this month, then, you’d earn $30 in rewards. If you continue to spend $1,500 each month ($18,000 per year), you’d earn $360 in cash rewards annually with either card.

If you spend more than $1,500 per month, you’d earn more. Say you charge an average of $3,000 per month ($36,000 per year). You’d earn $60 in cash rewards each month, or $720 per year.

The only real difference is when you’ll get your cash rewards. With the Citi Double Cash, you’ll earn 1 percent cash back when making your purchases and the final 1 percent back when you pay for them. If it takes you longer to pay off your purchases, it’ll take you longer to get your full 2 percent cash back.

Why should you get the Wells Fargo Active Cash?

The Wells Fargo Active Cash is a great flat-rate cash back card with no annual fee and an easy-to-reach welcome bonus. If you’re still not sure this card is right for you, here are some additional reasons to consider signing up:

Additional benefits

In addition to its strong flat-rate cash rewards program, the Wells Fargo Active Cash includes a 0 percent introductory APR offer on both purchases and qualifying balance transfers for 15 months after account opening. After the 0 percent intro offer expires, a variable APR of 20.24 percent, 25.24 percent or 29.99 percent applies.

Additionally, balance transfers must be made within 120 days after account opening to qualify for the intro APR offer. During the intro period, you’ll pay a balance transfer fee of 3 percent of the amount you’re transferring or a $5 minimum, then a fee of up to 5 percent with a $5 minimum.

This card’s balance transfer intro APR offer is shorter than the one offered by the Citi Double Cash, but unlike the Citi Double Cash, the Wells Fargo Active Cash includes an intro APR offer on purchases, too. So if you’re looking to pay for a large purchase over time, the Wells Fargo Active Cash would be a better option since you won’t pay interest during the intro period.

The Wells Fargo Active Cash also includes other notable benefits, such as cellphone protection, which provides a maximum of two claims per year and up to $600 per claim with a $25 deductible applied. With this type of protection you get protection against damage or theft — but you have to pay your monthly cellphone bill with your Active Cash to qualify for it.

You’ll also get zero liability protection, which protects you from unauthorized transactions on your account. Active Cash cardholders also get Visa Signature benefits, including:

  • The Zero Liability policy, which protects cardholders from fraud
  • Roadside dispatch hotline access, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • Travel and emergency assistance services, which are available no matter where you are in the world when you call Visa’s hotline

Redemption options

You have plenty of ways to redeem the cash back you earn. You can redeem your cash back:

  • As a statement credit or a deposit to an eligible Wells Fargo account
  • in $20 increments at a Wells Fargo ATM
  • for gift cards or a variety of travel purchases via Wells Fargo Rewards

Recommended credit score

To qualify for the Wells Fargo Active Cash, aim for a good to excellent credit score, or a FICO score of 670 to 850.

Why should you get the Citi Double Cash?

The Citi Double Cash is one of the most popular no-annual-fee cash back credit cards on the market today, and its unique structure of getting 1 percent cash back when you make your purchase and 1 percent cash back when you pay it off encourages cardholders to pay their balance in full each month. Some additional reasons to get the Citi Double Cash include:

Additional benefits

The Citi Double Cash is a good card to consider if you have high interest credit card debt to pay off because it has a 0 percent intro APR offer on balance transfers for 18 months after account opening (followed by a variable APR of 19.24 percent to 29.24 percent).

This is a longer intro balance transfer APR offer than the one offered by the Wells Fargo Active Cash, which means you’ll have more time to pay off your debt if you need it. Still, keep in mind that this intro APR offer is only for balance transfers, not purchases, and that balance transfers must be made in the first four months to qualify for the intro APR offer.

Additionally, if you complete your balance transfer during the first four months of opening your account, you’ll pay a 3 percent balance transfer fee with a minimum of $5. For balance transfers completed after the first four months, you’ll pay a balance transfer fee of 5 percent with a minimum of $5.

Besides this intro APR offer, the Citi Double Cash comes with other benefits like:

Redemption options

The Citi Double Cash is a unique cash back card because cardholders actually earn their cash back in the form of Citi ThankYou points. These points can be pooled with those from other eligible Citi cards that earn ThankYou points, which can then be redeemed for gift cards, travel, or shopping with points on Amazon or through PayPal.

If you’re more interested in just getting cash back, that’s fine, too — you can easily convert your points to cash back and receive it as a statement credit, check or direct deposit.

However, it should be noted that the Citi ThankYou points earned with this card are basic ThankYou points. That means they can only be transferred to a Citi travel partner if you pair your Citi Double Cash with a premium Citi card like the Citi Premier® Card.

Recommended credit score

For the Citi Double Cash, you should have a good to excellent credit score, or a FICO score of 670 or higher.

The bottom line

So, which card comes out ahead, the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card or the Citi Double Cash Card? That depends on factors like how and when you want to redeem rewards and whether you’re more interested in an intro APR offer for purchases or balance transfers. But if you’re just looking for a generous flat-rate cash rewards card with simple redemption options, either one of these cards would be a solid choice.