Cash Back
Best Credit Cards for Online Shopping & Amazon in 2026
Maximize rewards on every online purchase — from Amazon to everyday e-commerce. These cards earn the most on online retail spending.
Marcus ReidMarch 15, 2026Updated Mar 20266 min read
Online shopping now accounts for over 20% of all U.S. retail sales — and that number keeps growing. Whether you're buying on Amazon weekly or spreading purchases across dozens of retailers, the right credit card can earn 3%–5% back on every digital purchase. Here are the top cards for online shoppers in 2026.
Best Cards for Amazon Purchases
If Amazon is your primary online retailer, there's one obvious choice and several strong alternatives.
- Amazon Prime Visa: 5% back on Amazon and Whole Foods for Prime members — the highest guaranteed rate at Amazon, with no cap
- Discover it Cash Back: Periodically features Amazon in its 5% rotating categories (Q4 typically includes Amazon during holiday shopping)
- Chase Freedom Flex: Also earns 5% on Amazon during select quarters
- Blue Cash Preferred from Amex: 3% at U.S. online retailers — broad coverage beyond just Amazon
Best Cards for General Online Shopping
If you shop across multiple online retailers, these cards offer broad online purchase bonuses that apply to thousands of websites.
Top cards for broad online retail spending
Key Benefits
U.S. Supermarkets3%
U.S. Online Retail Purchases3%
U.S. Gas Stations3%
Everything else1%
No Annual Fee$200 bonus
Key Benefits
Your Choice (gas, online, dining, travel, etc.)3%
Groceries & Wholesale2%
Everything else1%
No Annual Fee$200 bonus
Online Shopping Portals
Many credit card issuers (Chase, Amex, Citi) offer shopping portals where you can earn extra points by clicking through to retailers. Combine portal bonuses with a high-earning card for double rewards. Chase Ultimate Rewards Shopping and Amex Offers can add 3–10% more on top of your base card earnings.
What Counts as 'Online Shopping'?
Card issuers define online shopping bonuses differently. Most use the merchant category code (MCC) assigned to the retailer — not simply whether the purchase was made on a website.
- Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Walmart.com typically qualify for online retail MCCs
- Grocery delivery apps (Instacart, DoorDash) may code as grocery or food delivery, not online retail
- Digital subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify) often code as digital goods, not online retail
- The BofA Customized Cash lets you manually select 'online shopping' as your 3% category for guaranteed coverage
Strong all-around cards for online and in-store spending
The Amazon Store Card Trap
The Amazon Store Card offers 5% back but can ONLY be used at Amazon and affiliated stores — it's not a Visa or Mastercard. The Amazon Prime Visa gives you the same 5% at Amazon but can be used everywhere else too, making it the strictly superior choice for most shoppers.
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