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NerdWallet Names Best Credit Cards, Banking Products for 2025
With the new year now here, NerdWallet has released its annual Best-Of Awards looking at the top credit cards, banking tools, and more.
About the results:
As they’ve done for several years running, NerdWallet has announced a slate of awards looking at the best options in finance.
Starting with credit cards, the Wells Fargo Active Cash card was named Best Credit Card for Simple Cash Back thanks to its flat 2% rewards rate. However, the award Best Credit Card for Bonus Cash Back went to the Capital One Savor Rewards card (formerly the SavorOne card). That card earns 3% back on dining, entertainment, groceries, and select streaming services as well as 1% back on all other purchases. In turn, the Savor card also won Best Credit Card for Dining.
Another Capital One card to win big was the Venture X card, which was named Best Premium Travel Credit Card. Although the Venture X has a $395 annual fee, it features a $300 credit for bookings made via Capital One Travel and also earns 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases. As for the Best Travel Credit Card with No Annual Fee, it was the Wells Fargo Autograph that took the award. While the Autograph card was launched in 2022, in 2024, it added travel transfer partners. In terms of rewards, it earns 3x points at restaurants. on travel and transit purchases, at gas stations, and on select streaming services, and on select phone plans.
In addition to those generic travel cards, NerdWallet also awarded winners for airline and hotel cards. The Best Airline Credit Card award went to the United Explorer card — which has a $95 annual fee, but is waived for the first year. Best Hotel Card was awarded to the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless. That card is issued by Chase and carries a $95 annual fee.
Moving onto the banking winners, Ally won the headline award: Best Bank. Ally was also named the Best Bank for CDs. Meanwhile, Discover took home two awards, including Best Checking Account Overall and Best Online Banking Experience.
My thoughts:
For the most part, I agree with a lot of NerdWallet’s credit card picks. In particular, I’m a big fan of the Capital One Savor card, so I’m not surprised to see it not only named Best Dining Card but also Best Credit Card for Bonus Cash Back. That said, while I definitely understand the appeal of the Venture X card, I still think that the American Express Platinum card is the best premium travel card on the market — even if the annual fee is $300 higher. I also want to note that, while the United Explorer and Marriott Bonvoy Boundless cards may be good picks for United and Marriott loyalists respectively, it’s hard to name a “best” co-branded card given how many factors there are.
On that note, these awards are another great reminder that there really is no such thing as the “best” rewards card. Instead, while recommendations can help expose consumers to different options, I highly advised that prospective applicants take a closer look at everything that a card offers, consider their spending habits, and factor in how they might use associated perks in order to determine if a given card is right for them.
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