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Bread Cashback American Express Card Review

Written by Dayana Yochim
Fact-checked by Andrea Coombes
Edited by Carolyn Kimball

March 13, 2024

Why trust us? Investor.com has no financial relationship with any of the credit card providers whose products we analyze and review. Our opinions are based solely on data and our own extensive independent research — that means unbiased guidance for consumers. Rewards cards in our cashback credit card calculator are listed in descending order according to how much money they pay out annually based on the inputs.

The only thing missing from the no-annual-fee unlimited 2% Bread Cashback Amex card is a welcome offer for new cardholders. However, perks are plentiful (the card includes access to Amex extras) and you don't have to worry about foreign transaction fees or reward redemption minimums.

If you’re looking for a no-hassle, everyday rewards card — or one to augment a category-specific card you already have — consider the Bread Cashback American Express Credit Card. The 2% across-the-board cashback rate (no categories to track, no rewards caps to stymie your earning potential) and easy redemption options is about as straightforward as it gets. Plus, it comes with access to a bunch of American Express cardmember perks.

What you don’t get with the Bread Cashback Card, issued by Comenity Capital Bank, is a welcome bonus or 0% intro APR on purchases or balance transfers. If you’re itching for some up-front cash, there’s always the no-annual-fee, flat-rate American Express Cash Magnet. However, it's not my favorite pick for cardholders in the years after cashing in on the welcome bonus because of the lower rewards rate (1.5% vs. Bread’s 2%) and higher foreign transaction fee (2.7% vs. the Bread Amex's 0%). The Wells Fargo Active Cash Card offers plenty of welcome perks. But it charges a 3% foreign transaction fee and imposes a rewards redemption minimum.

Check out Bread's competition: The Best 2% Cash Back Credit Cards.

The basics: Earn 2% unlimited cash back on purchases with the Bread Cashback American Express Credit Card. Enjoy all the benefits of an American Express card with no annual fee or foreign transaction fees.

Credit Card Calculator

Monthly Spend

Spend Categories expand_more

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dining Dining

theater_comedy Entertainment

local_gas_station Gas

shopping_cart Groceries

monetization_on Other

local_pharmacy Pharmacy

card_travel Travel

local_shipping Amazon

storefront Costco

construction Home Improvement

shopping_bag Online Shopping

smart_display Streaming

local_taxi Transit

power Utilities

kitchen Whole Foods

receipt_long Wholesale Clubs

Calculate Cash Back

Bread Cashback American Express Card

Cashback Per Year

$...

Annual Fee

Welcome Bonus

N/A

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Want to compare more cards? Use our full calculator.

Bread Cashback American Express Card pros and cons

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

Easy-to-manage 2% cash back on all purchases
No rewards earnings caps
No annual fee
Access to Amex Offers and other network benefits
No reward redemption minimums
Charges no foreign transaction fees

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

No welcome bonus offered
No 0% intro APR offer on purchases or balance transfers
Potentially high purchase APR

Bread Cashback American Express Card cashback rewards spending categories

The following table shows the cashback rewards rate per $1 spent in the six most common spending categories. The “Bonus Rate” refers to the amount you can earn in excess of the card’s standard rewards rate.

Some cashback cards limit the spending amount eligible for the bonus rate (aka the “Spend Cap”). Once you hit that cap (e.g., $1,500 spending in a particular category during a defined time period), the rewards rate on future purchases in that category reverts to the lower “Default Rate.”

Category	Default Rate	Bonus Rate	Bonus Spend Cap	Bonus Spend Period (Months)
Gas	2.00%	-	-	-
Travel	2.00%	-	-	-
Dining	2.00%	-	-	-
Entertainment	2.00%	-	-	-
Pharmacy	2.00%	-	-	-
Groceries	2.00%	-	-	-
Other Purchases	2.00%	-	-	-

Tip: Expand the “Spend Categories” in the investor.com credit card rewards calculator above to incorporate additional rewards categories (e.g., Transit, Wholesale Clubs, Utilities) into the cash back per year total.

What we like

Unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases. For fans of no-hassle rewards cards (raises hand), a 2% cash back credit card is the easiest kind of card to manage. You’ll earn 2% cash back on all purchases without having to choose monthly or quarterly spending categories or track a rotating lineup of options.

No annual fee means every penny you earn in cash back goes straight into your pocket.

No reward redemption minimums means you can access your cash back as soon as you earn your first penny. In this way the Bread Cashback Amex Card is better than the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card, which requires racking up at least $20 in earnings before allowing cardholders to cash in.

Direct deposit is available as a rewards redemption option. In addition to redeeming cash back for a statement credit, the Bread Cashback American Express Card offers the option to transfer earnings directly into a savings or checking account at any U.S.-based financial institution. This allows cardholders to use the cash as they please. Direct deposit may take a few days to clear, but it’s faster than what other banks offer, which is requesting a paper check to be snail-mailed to your house.

Includes access to AmEx Offers. Through the AmEx portal, Bread Cashback cardholders are eligible for third-party offers which include discounts from select dining, entertainment, shopping and travel providers. Diners (and visitors) in major metropolitan areas can get discounts at select local eateries, too.

No foreign transaction fees means cardholders aren’t subject to an additional fee on purchases from non-U.S.-based vendors. For comparison, Bread’s closest 2% flat-rate card competitors — the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card and the PayPal Cashback Mastercard — both charge 3% foreign transaction fees.

Offers secondary coverage for rental car dings. The Bread Cashback card comes with excess car rental loss and damage insurance up to $50,000 per rental after you’ve filed with your insurance company. Note that it only applies to cars rented in the U.S. and Canada.

Includes fraud and identity theft coverage. ID Theft Insurance (up to $2,500 per insured person) and Zero Fraud Liability on unauthorized charges made with your card or account information are included.

Purchase protection covers you on up to $1,000 in losses per item ($50,000 per 12-month period) from damage or theft within 90 days of purchase.

What we don't like

No sign-up goodies are on offer. You’re out of luck if you were hoping to earn a welcome bonus. The Bread Cashback AmEx card doesn’t try hard to woo new customers.

Also no 0% introductory APR. There are better cards than this for balance transfers. Not only is there no balance-transfer deal for new cardholders, the card’s high APR and eye-watering 5% balance-transfer fee should discourage you from considering it for that function.

Beware of carrying a balance. At the low end, the Bread Cashback Card’s variable APR is in line with most other rewards cards, but the high end of the range is up there in nosebleed territory. Once you’re approved, Bread will set your APR based on your creditworthiness. If you occasionally carry a balance, the Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express comes with the “Pay It, Plan It” installment program for a monthly fee that’s lower than the going interest rate.

breakfast_dining FYI: Earn more bread on your bread with Bread

The consistently competitive APY from Bread Savings — an online-only high-interest savings account — earned it a top rating in investor.com’s Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Guide. FDIC-insured Bread Savings requires a $100 minimum opening deposit. Since ATM access isn’t offered and withdrawals (via electronic transfer) are limited to six per statement period, the account is best for those more focused on racking up interest than instant access.

The bottom line

Is the Bread Cashback American Express Card the best rewards card for your wallet? The answer depends entirely on your spending patterns. Let the numbers speak for themselves: Use the investor.com Cashback Credit Card Calculator to see which credit card pays back the highest rewards based on how much you spend each month.

Bread Cashback American Express Card fine print

Find all the usual (important stuff) about the Bread Cashback American Express Card rendered in a not-often-seen typeface (read: interesting choice) and in the densely packed Bread Cashback rewards program fine print.

Does the Bread Cashback American Express Card charge an annual fee?

No, there is no annual fee for the Bread Cashback American Express Card.

tips_and_updates Trivia time!

How common are annual fees? Roughly 17% of the consumer cash back cards we review charge an annual fee. They range from $39 to $99, with an average annual fee of $67.

Does the Bread Cashback American Express Card offer a welcome bonus?

No, the Bread Cashback American Express Card card does not currently offer a welcome bonus.

tips_and_updates Fun fact

More than half (55%) of the consumer cash back credit cards we track in the investor.com database offer a welcome bonus, ranging from $30 up to $300. The average sign-up bonus for new cardholders is $197, with the median being $200.

How much cash back can I earn with the Bread Cashback American Express Card?

The average American that spends $1000 per month will earn $240.00 in cash back per year using the Bread Cashback American Express Card. For comparison, the average annual rewards payout from the cashback credit cards in the investor.com database is $191.26, and $180 is the median.

These calculations are based on average consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the reward payout rates from the providers we track. Of course, you’re so much more than an average data point (aka “consumer unit,” in BLS parlance). The amount you can earn in cashback rewards using the Bread Cashback American Express Card depends entirely on your unique spending habits.

Find out exactly how much you’ll rake in with the Bread Cashback American Express Card by tailoring the spending inputs in the calculator above.

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Methodology

The results of the investor.com Credit Card Rewards Calculator are based on the monthly spending amounts you enter and the annual dollar value of the rewards each credit card program pays per $1 spent. Credit card companies often express this payout amount as a percentage (e.g., 1.5% of every dollar spent) or on a points basis (e.g. ,1.5 points for every dollar spent). We converted all of them to a dollar amount (“Cash Back Per Year”) to make comparing offers easier.

To calculate the amount of cash back you could earn per year, we factored in:

Spend category inputs: The default dollar values for each “Spend Category” in the Best Cashback Credit Cards tool — gas, groceries, travel, restaurant, entertainment, pharmacy, other — are based on average American spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We also include additional spend categories (such as streaming services, online shopping, utilities, transit, Amazon and more) to help you see which rewards cards are most closely aligned with your actual spending patterns. We encourage you to customize the monthly spend inputs for the most accurate results.
Tiered rewards rates: If a rewards credit card pays higher cashback rates on certain spending categories (also called “Bonus Rewards”), that difference is reflected in the total “Cash Back Per Year” tally.
Rewards spending caps: Some cards impose category- or time-based limits (monthly, quarterly, annually) that affect the amount of rewards you can earn. For example, a card may pay 3% cash back on groceries on up to $1,000 of spending each quarter, then revert to the base/default rewards rate until the following quarter. We accounted for bonus spending caps and timeframe in the calculations.
Default rewards rates: Purchases that exceed a spending cap are usually subject to a lower default rewards rate (e.g., 1% or 1.5%). We mathed that out too.
Annual fees: If a rewards card charges an annual fee, we deducted that amount from the “Cash Back Per Year” total to provide a true accounting of a card’s annual rewards payout.

What’s not included in the “Cash Back Per Year” total is the cash value of any sign-up/introductory bonus. We highlight any Welcome Bonus separately. While sign-up bonuses can be the most lucrative part of getting a new cashback rewards credit card, not everyone will want or be able to do what it takes to earn the extra cash. (It usually requires spending a certain amount in a specified time period after the card is activated.)

About the Editorial Team

Dayana Yochim

Dayana Yochim has been writing (articles, books, podcasts, stirring speeches) about personal finance and investing for more than two decades, focusing on bringing clarity and the occasional comedic aside to what is often a murky, humorless topic. She’s written for NerdWallet, The Motley Fool, HerMoney.com, Woman’s Day, Forbes, Newsweek and others, and been a guest expert on "Today," "Good Morning America," CNN, NPR and wherever they’ll hand her a mic.

Andrea Coombes

Andrea Coombes has 20+ years of experience helping people reach their financial goals. Her personal finance articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MarketWatch, Forbes, and other publications, and she's shared her expertise on CBS, NPR, "Marketplace," and more. She's been a financial coach and certified consumer credit counselor, and is working on becoming a Certified Financial Planner. She knows that owning pets isn't necessarily the best financial decision; her dog and two cats would argue this point.

Carolyn Kimball

Carolyn Kimball is Managing Editor for Reink Media Group and the lead editor for content on investor.com. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.