5 Reasons Why The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card Is Perfect For A First Credit Card

If you’ve read our feature on the current Best Rewards Cards, you’ll know that there are numerous excellent options out there to help you maximize cash rewards on travel and daily spending.

But which rewards card is best for newbies, specifically? What’s the best “starter card” on the market today? My money’s on the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card, and here are five reasons why.

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Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card

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3.9

Unlimited 2% Rewards Rate

Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases

Pros & Cons

Card Details

1. Protective Intro APR

When shopping for a starter card—whether it’s for yourself, a friend or a loved one—one of the most underrated features to look for is an introductory APR.

For context, an intro APR allows you to carry a balance month-to-month without accruing interest. As long as you continue to make the minimum monthly payments (and fully pay off your card by the time the introductory APR period expires) you won’t have to pay a dime in interest.

In addition to serving as an interest-free loan, an intro APR can act as an added safety net for anyone new to using a credit card. If you overspend one month, forget to turn on automatic payments or otherwise make small mistakes using your first credit card, the intro APR can provide a bit of “accident forgiveness” and save you from accruing sky-high interest.

So it’s a good thing the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card offers a decent intro APR on new purchases. You’ll also get an intro APR on balance transfers, although you probably won’t need it if this is your very first credit card. New Active Cash cardholders get a 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers, then a 19.74%, 24.74%, or 29.74% variable APR applies. Balance transfers made within 120 days qualify for the intro rate and fee of 3% (min. $5) then a fee of up to 5% (min. $5) applies.

2. Attainable Welcome Bonus

The second reason why the Wells Fargo Active Cash card makes for a perfect first credit card is the welcome bonus: You’ll earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months.

For context, this welcome offer is both generous and super attainable for a rewards card with no annual fee. The Citi Double Cash® Card offers $200 cash back after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening, fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points. The Active Cash card’s other chief rival—the Chase Freedom Unlimited®—offers an additional 1.5% cash back on up to $20,000 spent in the first year, worth up to $300 cash back.

In fact, if you look at our list of the Best Everyday Credit Cards, the Active Cash may have the best overall welcome bonus on that list given:

1. How big it is, and
2. How easy it is to get.

In other words, the card doesn’t ask you to overspend to earn easy cash rewards, which further supports its case as the ideal first credit card.

Speaking of easy cash rewards…

3. Simple and Superb 2% Cash Rewards

If this is your very first credit card, you probably want to start out with a cash rewards card that’s as simple as it is lucrative.

Ideally, you won’t have to track rewards that rotate every quarter, apply to some merchants and not others (like 5% cash rewards on Lyft but not Uber) or grant you points or miles that are only good for travel.

There will be a time for those more “intermediate” credit card options (and we have plenty of recommendations when you’re ready). But for now, you probably want something basic, rewarding and easy to remember.

So how does an unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases sound? That’s what the Wells Fargo Active Cash card offers, and it’s pretty hard to beat for a no annual fee cash rewards card.

Granted, the Active Cash card isn’t the only member of the “2% Club.” The Citi Double Cash card launched in 2014—a full seven years before the Active Cash card hit the market—and still manages to make our list of the Best Overall Credit Cards for its enduring all-around value and friendliness to Fair credit applicants, earning 2% cash back on all purchases—1% when purchases are made and another 1% when they’re paid off, and earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 12/31/25.

But for newbies, the Active Cash card has one more ace up its sleeve that can easily be worth $500-plus in value—especially if you’re clumsy.

4. Generous Cellphone Protection

There aren’t many cards that offer cellphone protection, and even fewer that charge no annual fee. But the Wells Fargo Active Cash card is one of them, meaning you could score this massively-underrated rewards card perk with your very first credit card.

The Active Cash card’s cellphone protection plan covers “damage to, theft of, or involuntary and accidental parting of a cellphone.” The maximum reimbursement amount is $600 per year with a $25 deductible, meaning if your phone is broken, stolen or falls through a gutter tomorrow, Wells Fargo could reimburse you up to $575 for a replacement. The same goes for replacing or repairing a cracked screen, which on a newer phone can easily exceed $300.

Needless to say, this is a highly valuable peace-of-mind perk that’s perfect for credit card newbies (or really anyone with a smartphone).

5. Handy (and Potentially Bacon-Saving) Credit-Monitoring Tools

To expand on an earlier point, the perfect first credit card doesn’t just have good rewards – it has good guardrails in place to help novice credit card users handle their card responsibly and avoid falling into debt traps.

After all, credit card debt is like fire – it can be extremely helpful in small, controlled doses, but if it gets out of control, the effects can be devastating.

That’s why I appreciate that the Active Cash card includes Wells Fargo’s Credit Close-Up: a suite of credit-monitoring tools to help you understand, track and eventually raise your FICO Score. It’s free, and upon enrollment Wells Fargo will start sending you personalized credit insights each month with your credit score automatically populated.

In other words, Wells Fargo is helping you light a fire in a room with a sprinkler system.

All That Said, It’s Still a Tight Race

While I still submit that the Wells Fargo Active Cash card is a pretty ideal first credit card, I must admit that the Citi Double Cash card makes a rather compelling closing argument. In short, the Double Cash accepts fair credit while the Active Cash requires good or better.

That’s a pretty wide gap, and if you’re applying for your very first credit card, you may not have the requisite credit score for the Active Cash. But even if you have to “settle” for the Double Cash card (and give up cellphone protection), you’re still in for an excellent 2% cash-back rewards card (after purchases are paid off).