Guides · US Credit

What your spend returns with US credit, at published rates

Last updated 28 July 2026
US flat-rate cards publish 1.5% to 2% cash back. On $3,000 a month that is $540 to $720 a year, every year, before a single travel point or sign-up bonus. Without a US credit file, the number is zero, because the cards are out of reach. This page does the arithmetic for your own spend; what applies to you personally ends in the call.
$540 to $720
back every year at the flat rates published 28 July 2026. Without a US credit file: zero.
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The numbers

The published rates behind the math

Three flat-rate cards, rates from the issuers' own pages, checked 28 July 2026:

The calculator uses the range those rates span, nothing else. Sign-up bonuses, category multipliers and travel-point conversions all sit on top of these numbers, and all of them move, so none of them are counted here.

The ceiling

The category tier the flat rates sit under

Flat-rate cards are the floor. The issuers also publish category earning that goes materially higher, checked 28 July 2026: American Express Gold earns 4X Membership Rewards points at restaurants, and Chase Freedom Unlimited pays 3% on dining and drugstores on top of its flat rate.

And points are not pennies. Redeemed through airline and hotel transfer partners, a point can be worth several cents, which turns category earning into a multiple of any flat rate.

That redemption playbook is personal to your spend and your travel, so it is exactly what the assessment call is for.

The catch

Why the number is zero without a file

Every card above requires a US credit file. A non-US resident without one is not offered these products at all, or is offered them against cash collateral.

In First Class Citizen's own client record, one client's first American card required a $5,000 deposit as collateral, and months later the same banks were extending unsecured limits. The file is the asset; the cash back is just its most countable dividend.

The path to the file runs ITIN, then banking, then cards, in that order. The US credit guide walks the whole road.

FAQ

Where do these rates come from?
From the card issuers' own public pages, checked on 28 July 2026. Only flat published cash-back rates are used. Rates move, and the date is shown next to every number.
Why are sign-up bonuses left out?
Because they change weekly and depend on offers we do not control. The calculator would rather understate than promise. Current offers are exactly the kind of thing the call covers.
Does this mean I would be approved for these cards?
No. Approval depends on your credit file, and building that file as a non-US resident is the whole subject of this series. First Class Citizen advises on the path; the banks make their own decisions.
What do I need before any of this?
An ITIN, then a US bank relationship, then the file is built card by card. The route finder maps the order for your situation, and the assessment call turns it into your plan.

Run your own numbers on a call

Fifteen minutes, your situation, and the exact order of operations for your case. Estimates end here; your plan starts here.

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Tools
  1. Find your routeTell it what you are trying to do and it maps the guides to read in order.
  2. ITIN document checklistPick your situation, get the exact list the IRS accepts.
  3. What it costsPublished prices and timelines, service by service.