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Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used...
A long-time points and miles student, Jessica is the former Personal Finance Managing Editor at U.S. News and World Report and is passionate about helping consumers fund their travels for as little ca...
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Monthly bills can be a headache. Between outdated payment systems, bureaucratic policies, and inconsistent service, taking care of utilities and monthly bills is a project in and of itself. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just automate your utility payments and put them out of your mind?
Some utility companies are built on old systems, so it might not be possible to pay every bill with a card — but in this guide, we’ll show you the best credit cards for paying monthly bills and utilities (electric, gas, heating, water, and more) so you can at least earn lots of rewards for your trouble.
In all cases, you should try to set up autopay with your credit cards if your service providers allow it. Autopay ensures that you don’t miss payment dates and you don’t have to constantly manage your bills every month — juggling all these bills can be an enormous burden!
So if you have lots of monthly recurring bills such as internet, phone, utilities, and streaming, you could be earning thousands of extra points per month just by using the best credit cards.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to scan the credit card rewards landscape for the best options to pay for monthly bills and utilities. Then, we’ll show you the best personal credit cards, followed by the best business credit cards for these purposes.
Earn $750 cash-back after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
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What To Look for in a Credit Card for Monthly Bills and Utilities
The best credit cards for monthly bills and utilities are the ones that reward you the most for these purchases. That might sound obvious, but since there are so many different types of monthly recurring bills out there, you need to figure out where your largest transactions are and focus your research there.
The specific cards we’ve highlighted accumulate lots of transferable points on major monthly payments such as your phone bill, internet bill, streaming subscriptions, and any utilities like water and electricity.
While there isn’t a single card that offers bonus points on every one of those categories above, there are some that offer bonuses on a few of these categories.
Ideally, you’ll want to earn at least 2 points for every dollar you’re spending, avoid huge annual fees, and get the best return on spending overall. Of course, there might be ancillary credit card perks that attract you to a specific credit card, such as travel insurance.
Without further ado, let’s get into our favorite personal credit cards for monthly bills and utilities.
The 5 Best Personal Cards for Monthly Bills and Utilities
1. Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express (Highest Cash Back)
The Amex Blue Cash Preferred card is our top pick for monthly bills and utilities. You can earn up to 6% cash-back on your purchases, which is about as high as it gets when it comes to cash-back rewards.
Specifically, you will earn:
6% cash-back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%)
3% cash-back at U.S. gas stations and on transit (including taxis, rideshares, parking, tolls, trains, buses, and more)
1% cash-back on other purchases
When you consider the fact that transit includes tolls, parking, and other forms of transportation, U.S. streaming subscriptions include Netflix, Spotify, Disney+, and more, and U.S. supermarkets include Trader Joe’s, Smart & Final, Whole Foods, Gelson’s, ALDI, and more, you can really start to understand the rewards you can rack up.
Without a doubt, the most impressive feature of this card is the generous bonus categories of up to 6% cash-back. To sweeten the deal further, the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card also offers an awesome statement credit welcome bonus to kickstart your rewards.
The Amex Blue Cash Preferred card also comes with a $10 monthly Equinox credit, return protection, purchase protection, extended warranty coverage, and secondary rental car coverage.
2. U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card (Best Cash Back for Utility Bills)
The U.S. Bank Cash+ Signature card is an excellent, no annual fee credit card that often flies under the radar. This credit card allows you to earn up to 5% cash-back on your spending.
First of all, this credit card usually offers a decent welcome bonus, though nothing to write home about. But the real appeal is the fact that you can earn:
5% cash-back on your first $2,000 in combined eligible purchases each quarter on 2 rotating categories you choose
2% cash-back on 1 everyday category such as gas stations, grocery stores, or restaurants
The bolded options above encompass most typical monthly bills and utilities, which means that earning 5% cash-back on these categories should be easy.
This credit card comes with benefits including no annual fee, a 0% intro APR benefit on balance transfers (not purchases or cash advances), and zero fraud liability.
3. Chase Freedom Unlimited® (Best for Dining & Drugstore Purchases)
Our favorite Chase personal credit card for paying monthly bills and utilities is the Freedom Unlimited card.
Because you can earn 5% cash-back on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal, 3% cash-back on dining, and 1.5% cash-back on all other purchases, you’ll start racking up rewards quickly.
The Freedom Unlimited card has no annual fee and offers a 0% introductory APR period on purchases and balance transfers, which can help you defer the accrual of interest. Regular APR, as indicated in the above table, applies after the introductory period.
You earn 5%, 3%, or 1.5% cash-back on your purchases with the Freedom Unlimited card, but if you have an Ultimate Rewards credit card, you can convert that into 5x, 3x, or 1.5x points, respectively.
According to our points and miles valuations, you can earn a return on spend of at least 3% on your utilities and monthly bills with the Freedom Unlimited card.
4. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (Best for Simple Miles Earnings)
The Capital One Venture card is a hugely popular rewards credit card, perfect for those looking for a huge welcome bonus, simple rewards, and the ability to use transfer partners.
In many ways, this card offers the flexibility of using points for easy redemptions such as statement credits or more advanced techniques such as transfer partnerships.
After earning a hefty welcome bonus when you meet the minimum spending requirements, you can earn unlimited 2x Capital One miles on every purchase you make.
Indeed, this credit card offers 2x miles not just on utilities and monthly bill payments, but all of your purchases. This card also gets you a $100 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit.
You’ll enjoy benefits including rental car coverage, lost luggage coverage, travel accident insurance, roadside dispatch, and no foreign transaction fees.
The card also offers purchase security, extended warranty, zero fraud liability, a low annual fee of $95, and access to the Capital One Miles program.
Why We Like Earning Capital One Miles
Earning Capital One miles is easy, thanks to the straightforward earning structure of the Capital One Venture card. You can rest assured that you’ll earn at least 2 Capital One miles for every dollar you spend using the Capital One Venture card.
Once you’ve earned the points, you should strongly consider transferring them to partners for terrific flight redemptions such as Qatar Airways Qsuites or ANA business class.
When you transfer your points, you’ll notice a typical transfer ratio of 1:1, though there are a few partners that fall under transfer ratios of 2:1.5 (EVA Air) or 2:1 (Accor Live Limitless).
Other ways to redeem Capital One miles include travel purchases, gift cards, experiences, and more.
This credit card comes with no annual fee and earns 2% cash-back per dollar (1% at purchase and another 1% when you pay, earned as ThankYou Points). But 2 of the most impressive features of this credit card are that there are no caps on your rewards and you have access to ThankYou Rewards, a major transferable points currency.
But before we get into ThankYou Points, let’s talk about this credit card’s other features. Currently, the Double Cash card doesn’t offer a sign-up bonus, but you can access an introductory APR benefit when you sign up.
This credit card also has fraud protection, zero liability for unauthorized purchases, a late fee pass, access to Citi Private Pass, flexible pay dates, and World Elite Mastercard benefits.
Why We Like Earning Citi ThankYou Rewards Points
We mentioned above that your cash-back rewards are earned as Citi ThankYou Points, a major transferable points currency. This is a huge benefit, and the redemption possibilities are amplified if you have a premium ThankYou Rewards card such as the Citi Premier® Card or the Citi Prestige® Card.
By itself, the Double Cash card’s points are redeemable for statement credits, direct deposit, checks, gift cards, and as a transfer to Choice Privileges at a 1:1.5 ratio and Wyndham Rewards and JetBlue TrueBlue at a 1:0.8 ratio. But if you have a premium ThankYou Rewards card, your Double Cash card’s points can be transferred to Citi’s full range of partners for incredible redemptions such as Lufthansa first class and Singapore Airlines First Class Suites.
Indeed, by pairing your Double Cash card with a premium ThankYou Rewards card, you’ll increase the value by 60%, up to 1.6 cents per point, according to our valuations. That means your Double Cash card would earn you a return on spend of 3.2% for your monthly bills and utilities, among other purchases.
The 5 Best Business Cards for Monthly Bills and Utilities
If you’re running a business and are responsible for paying monthly bills and utilities, you’ll need to make sure that your business expenses are totally separate from your personal expenses.
There are some exceptional credit cards you should use for your business’s utilities and monthly bill payments. We’ll show you the best choices in the next section.
1. Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Best Overall Business Card)
The Ink Business Preferred card is our top business credit card winner for monthly bills and utilities.
This credit card is well-known as the king of business credit cards largely because of its huge welcome bonus worth around $2,000, according to our valuations.
Also, the Ink Business Preferred card earns 3x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on up to $150,000 in combined purchases every year on internet, cable, and phone services, shipping expenses, travel, and ads purchased with search engines or social media sites.
As you can tell, this bonus covers many types of relevant bills, including your phone and internet bill. And as a business, earning points on these categories can mean amassing thousands of points every month.
You’ll also earn 5x points per dollar on Lyft purchases through March 2025.
The card offers great cell phone protection insurance — up to $3,000 per year via 3 claims every rolling 12 months and $1,000 in coverage per claim with a $100 deductible per claim.
Additional benefits include purchase protection, extended warranty, primary rental car coverage, other travel insurance benefits, no foreign transaction fees, and a low annual fee of $95.
2. The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Best No Annual Fee Business Card for Points)
The Amex Blue Business Plus card is one of the best business credit cards you can get without an annual fee, and it’s our second-best business credit card for monthly bills and utilities.
The biggest attraction of this card is the fact that you earn 2x Amex Membership Rewards points on everyday business purchases, up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year. After that, you’ll revert back to the standard 1x points structure.
With a 0% introductory APR benefit (as shown in the table above, regular APR applies after the introductory period), you’ll save big on interest fees. Also, you’ll find common credit card perks including secondary rental car insurance, purchase protection, and extended warranty coverage.
Why We Like Earning Amex Membership Rewards Points
This credit card earns Amex Membership Rewards points, and being able to access the most valuable points currency without having to pay an annual fee is superb.
You can freely redeem your Amex points for cash-back, charity, gift cards, travel bookings through Amex Travel, and merchandise, but our favorite way to use Amex points is through the Amex transfer partners for amazing redemptions.
3. Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (Best Business Card for Cash Back Categories)
One of our favorite business credit cards, the Ink Business Cash card offers up to 5% cash-back with no annual fee — and it is one of the best business credit cards out there.
The Ink Business Cash card earns:
5% cash-back (on up to $25,000 in combined purchases) on office supply stores and cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services
5% cash-back on Lyft purchases (through March 2025)
2% cash-back (on up to $25,000 in combined purchases) on gas stations and restaurants
1% cash-back everywhere else
If you have an Ultimate Rewards credit card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you can convert your cash-back to Ultimate Rewards points at a ratio of 1% cash-back to 1x Ultimate Rewards points.
That means your 5%, 2%, and 1% cash-back can be equivalent to 5x, 2x, and 1x Ultimate Rewards points!
This credit card also offers benefits such as free employee cards, primary rental car insurance, travel insurance, and purchase protection.
4. Capital One Spark Miles for Business (Best Business Card for Miles)
The Capital One Spark Miles card is arguably Capital One’s flagship business credit card. Offering an unlimited 2x Capital One miles on every purchase and a great welcome bonus, this business credit card does straightforward rewards right.
You can earn 5x Capital One miles on hotel and rental car bookings through Capital One Travel, too.
This credit card has a $100 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit, employee cards for no additional fees, no foreign transaction fees, roadside assistance, purchase protection, extended warranty, zero fraud liability, and more.
5. Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (Best Business Card for Simple Cash Back)
The Ink Business Unlimited card is our final business credit card choice for paying bills, but you should take this option seriously because it packs a lot of value into a no-annual-fee credit card.
Much like the Freedom Unlimited card, the Ink Business Unlimited card earns 1.5% cash-back on all your purchases with no caps to earning.
The welcome bonus will get you on the right path to racking up rewards, and the 0% introductory APR allows you to avoid interest in the first year of card membership (regular APR applies after the introductory period).
This card has no annual fee for the primary and any employee cardmembers. The Ink Business Unlimited card offers impressive perks, including primary rental car coverage, purchase protection, extended warranty, zero liability fraud protection, and more.
But the best part is that if you have an Ultimate Rewards credit card such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you can convert your 1.5% cash-back to 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points, which is equal to a 3% return on spend, according to our valuations.
Final Thoughts
We’ve covered some broad credit card options for paying monthly bills and utilities, but you can rest assured that these are the absolute best choices you can pick from.
Whether you’re looking for the most cash-back or the best points-earning structures, there’s an excellent credit card for paying the bills that keep your household or business running.
All of these credit cards have low annual fees, but that doesn’t mean that you’re losing out on any rewards you could be accumulating.
We hope that you’ve found this comprehensive guide useful in helping you narrow down which credit card to use for utility and monthly bill payments.
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
Enrollment required through Capital One website or mobile app. Upon enrollment, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.
The information regarding the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Chase Freedom Unlimited® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information for the Citi Prestige® Card has been collected independently by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
Information regarding the Capital One Spark Miles for Business was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, click here. For rates and fees of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here. For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here. For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.
Featured Image Credit: Upgraded Points
Frequently Asked Questions
In many cases, you can pay for all your monthly bills and utilities using a credit card. Small service fees may apply if you’re using a credit card, but these are often worth the rewards you would earn.
In some cases, you can’t directly pay for bills using a credit card, which is when you should consider an option such as Plastiq!
In most cases, you can. There are lots of water companies with varying policies, but if you look on their website or give them a call, you can find out if they accept credit card as payment.
If so, you can just change your payment method normally. If not, you may have to use a service such as Plastiq to send them a check and charge the amount to your credit card to earn points.
In general, you should. The obvious exception is if fees would wipe out the rewards you earn.
For example, if the cost of using a credit card would add another 5% to your bill and the rewards you would earn are only worth around 3%, you’d lose 2%. In that case, it’s probably not a good idea to pay your bills with a credit card.
If there are no extra fees (or if the rewards are greater than the fees) and you can pay off your balances in full, you should try to pay bills with credit cards. You could be earning lots of bonus points on purchases you’re making anyway!
For personal credit cards, we like the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card, the U.S. Bank Cash+ Signature card, the Capital One Venture card, the Double Cash card, and the Freedom Unlimited card.
For business credit cards, we like the Ink Business Preferred card, the Amex Blue Business Plus card, the Ink Business Cash card, the Capital One Spark Miles card, and the Ink Business Unlimited card.
Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.
Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.
2 comments
Melony Pino
August 07, 2021
The Wyndham Earner business card gives you 5x on utilities.
Frances W.
September 24, 2021
☝ Second this.
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2 comments
Melony Pino
August 07, 2021
The Wyndham Earner business card gives you 5x on utilities.
Frances W.
September 24, 2021
☝ Second this.
Any thoughts or questions? Comment below!
Email needed if you'd like comment updates. It will NOT be published.
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