The best Wells Fargo credit cards for earning cash back, travel rewards and paying off debt

Wells Fargo offers credit cards that can benefit cardholders who want to earn rewards, finance purchases or consolidate debt and benefit from unique perks, such as cell phone protection. It has also recently introduced transferrable travel rewards, which are available with cards such as the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Journey Visa® Card and Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card. If you have either of those cards, you can also transfer rewards you earn from certain other cash-back cards to Wells Fargo's travel partners.

CNBC Select reviews the top Wells Fargo credit cards in the below categories so that you can choose the best card based on your spending habits. (See our methodology below for more information on our selections.)

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If simple cash rewards are what you're looking for, the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card has you covered with unlimited 2% cash rewards on all eligible purchases. This is the highest flat cash-rewards rate available among Wells Fargo credit cards, and it can certainly add up to great earnings on your spending.

The cash-rewards program is straightforward, so you don't have to worry about tracking bonus categories or activating each quarter.

Plus, new cardholders of the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card can currently earn a $200 cash rewards welcome bonus when they spend $500 in purchases in their first three months from account opening.

This card provides a 15-month introductory interest-free period on purchases and qualifying balance transfers from account opening (after, 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% variable APR; balance transfer fee of 3% for 120 days from account opening, then up to 5%, min: $5) so that you can finance a large buy or have more time to pay off your credit card debt without accruing additional interest.

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The Wells Fargo Reflect® Card offers new cardholders one of the longest intro 0% APRs on the market: 21 months 0% APR intro period on new purchases and qualifying balance transfers from account opening (then 18.24%, 24.74%, or 29.99% variable APR).

That gives cardholders nearly two years to chip away at their debt without incurring interest charges. That means more of your payments go toward your debt, versus debt plus interest on a card without a 0% APR period.

To qualify for the intro balance transfer period, you need to complete any transfers within 120 days from account opening, BT fee of 5%, min: $5.

This no annual fee card doesn't offer any rewards, but it does offer cell phone protection up to $600 when you pay your monthly cell phone bill with the card. Claims will have a $25 deductible. Cardholders can also access My Wells Fargo Deals, an opt-in cash back program for specific retailers, giving cardholders discounts on purchases made with their Reflect card.

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With the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card, you can transfer the rewards you earn to all of Wells Fargo's travel partners. This redemption option is rare to find with a no-annual-fee travel card. It's also a top choice for earning rewards in popular spending categories. It earns 3X points for spending in the following categories:

• Travel
• Restaurants
• Gas
• Transit
• Select streaming services
• Phone plans

All purchases outside of these categories earn 1X points, but a big chunk of an average budget will earn triple points. Outside of the ability to transfer points, each point is usually worth one cent a piece and you can redeem them for gift cards, statement credits and more.

Cardholders can also take advantage of cell phone insurance, Roadside Dispatch^® and rental car collision coverage.

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The Bilt Rewards Mastercard allows you to pay rent with your credit card and earn rewards without paying any fees. The card also earns 3X points on dining, 2X points on travel and 1X point on other purchases. You just need to use your Bilt card at least five times each billing cycle to earn Bilt points on your transactions, including rent.

Not only is this card the best option for paying rent, but you can also redeem Bilt points in various valuable ways. You can use Bilt points in all sorts of ways including, paying for travel through the Bilt app, redeeming them toward a downpayment on a house and transferring your points to partner travel programs such as Alaska Airlines, Hyatt and Emirates. Bilt's monthly Rent Day promotions can be extremely valuable, in the past there have been transfer bonuses of up to 150% to partners such as Emirates, Flying Blue and IHG.

The Bilt card has no annual fee, but is still loaded with insurance benefits. Eligible purchases qualify for trip delay reimbursement, trip interruption/cancellation insurance, cell phone protection and rental car insurance.

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The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Visa Card is Wells Fargo's first foray into the world of transferrable travel rewards. This card offers some of the best returns for hotel and airline purchases, with it you'll earn:

• 5X points on hotels
• 4X points on airlines
• 3X points on other travel
• 3X points on dining
• 1X points on all other purchases

It has a $95 annual fee which you can partially offset with an annual $50 airline credit. In addition to no foreign transaction fees, cardholders also receive:

• Trip interruption/cancellation coverage
• Lost luggage reimbursement
• Travel accident insurance
• Rental car collision damage waiver (secondary coverage for rentals in the U.S.)
• Travel and emergency assistance services
• Roadside Dispatch®
• Cell phone insurance

The initial list of Wells Fargo transfer partners is small, but more are expected to be added. Right now, you can transfer Wells Fargo points to these airline and hotel loyalty programs at a 1:1 ratio:

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air France/KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• British Airways Executive Club
• Iberia Plus
• Choice Privileges

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At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best Wells Fargo credit cards.

To determine which credit cards offer the best value, CNBC Select analyzed Wells Fargo credit cards available in the U.S. We compared each card on a range of features, including rewards, welcome bonus, introductory and standard APR, balance transfer fee and foreign transaction fees, as well as factors such as required credit and customer reviews when available. We also considered additional perks, the application process and how easy it is for the consumer to redeem points.

Select teamed up with location intelligence firm Esri. The company's data development team provided the most up-to-date and comprehensive consumer spending data based on the 2019 Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. You can read more about their methodology here.

Esri's data team created a sample annual budget of approximately $22,126 in retail spending. The budget includes six main categories: groceries ($5,174), gas ($2,218), dining out ($3,675), travel ($2,244), utilities ($4,862) and general purchases ($3,953). General purchases include items such as housekeeping supplies, clothing, personal care products, prescription drugs and vitamins, and other vehicle expenses.

Select used this budget to estimate how much the average consumer would save over a year, two years and five years, assuming they would attempt to maximize their rewards potential by earning all welcome bonuses offered and using the card for all applicable purchases. All rewards total estimations are net the annual fee.

While the five-year estimates we've included are derived from a budget similar to the average American's spending, you may earn a higher or lower return depending on your shopping habits.

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