U.S. Bank Cash+ Review: Pick Your Own 5% Categories

01Who It Suits

Cash+ is for someone whose regular spending sits in places the other cards ignore. Each quarter you choose two 5% categories from a list of about a dozen, including home utilities, TV, internet and streaming, cell phone providers, fast food, department stores, electronics stores, sporting goods stores, furniture stores, movie theaters, ground transportation, gyms and select clothing stores. The 5% applies to the first $2,000 of combined purchases in the two each quarter.

You also choose one 2% category: grocery stores, gas and EV charging stations, or restaurants. Everything else earns 1%. Choices last one quarter. If you do not choose for a new quarter, your purchases earn 1% until you do.

The card charges 3% on purchases abroad, so leave it at home when you travel.

02Rewards and Costs

Rewards, category choices and the welcome bonus are from U.S. Bank's card page, checked November 10, 2026. U.S. Bank's page did not show the APR range or foreign fee when we checked; those are from NerdWallet's review of the card. Offers and rates can change; the issuer's page has the current terms.

How the Calculator Picks Your Categories

The calculator tries every choice it can model and keeps the one that pays you most: 2 of home utilities, TV, internet and streaming, cell phone providers, ground transportation at 5%; and 1 of grocery stores, restaurants, gas and EV charging at 2%. The card offers more 5% choices than it can model, such as fast food, department stores and electronics stores; that spending sits in Everything else here, so if those are where your money goes, the card can pay more than shown.

03On Your Spending

These figures assume you pay the full statement balance every month; interest and other borrowing costs are not included. The categories are the same as in the full comparison, so the same budget gives each card the same result on every page. Restaurants abroad earn a card's dining rate where that rate applies worldwide, other purchases abroad earn the base rate, and bookings through card issuers' own travel and entertainment sites are not included. Costco warehouses and Costco gas stations take only Visa credit cards. Rank all eleven cards on every category.

What it takes to beat it

Against a flat 2% card, each of your two 5% categories gains 3 points, up to $8,000 a year between them, your 2% pick ties and everything else loses a point. So Cash+ pays more when three times your spending in the two 5% picks is more than your spending outside all three picks. With $350 a month in utilities and internet, that is $4,200 a year at 5%, worth $126 more than 2%, which covers up to about $12,600 a year of other spending at 1%.

04What the Headline Leaves Out

• You must choose your categories every quarter. Miss it and everything earns 1% until you do.
• The 5% stops after $2,000 in combined purchases a quarter in your two picks; the rest earns 1%.
• Some utility companies charge a fee for paying by credit card, which can cancel out most of the 5%. Check your provider before you pick home utilities.
• Purchases abroad cost 3%.
• The calculator models four of the 5% choices (home utilities; TV, internet and streaming; cell phone providers; ground transportation). Fast food, department stores and the rest sit in Everything else, so it understates the card if that is where your money goes.
• The calculator treats the $2,000 quarterly limit as $8,000 a year, as if your spending is even across the year.

05Closest Alternatives

All eleven cards are ranked on your own spending on the cash-back cards page.

06Questions

07Sources and Changes

1. U.S. Bank, Cash+ Visa Signature card page, checked November 10, 2026 (rewards, category choices, $2,000 limit, bonus, intro APR).
2. NerdWallet, U.S. Bank Cash+ review, updated February 19, 2026 (APR range and foreign transaction fee, which U.S. Bank's page did not show).

November 10, 2026: first published. Revised the same day: cable and internet and cell phone bills have their own boxes, and redemption and utility card fees are covered.