The best credit cards for drugstores: Up to 5% cash back on pharmacy purchases

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The best cards to use at standalone drugstores and Pharmacies like CVS, Walgreens, and Duane Reade can earn you up to 5% cash back or 5x transferable points on your pharmacy purchases.

Here are the cards that can get you the most rewards at standalone drugstores and pharmacies.

The best drugstore and pharmacy rewards credit cards

Card	Drugstore/pharmacy rewards
Citi Custom Cash℠ Card Annual fee: $0	5% cash back on up to $500 of spending each month in the category where you spend the most. In order to earn 5% cash back at drugstores, you must spend more at drugstores on the card than in any other eligible spending category. 5% cash back is earned as ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for cash back or travel rewards. If you use your Citi Custom Cash mostly for drugstore purchases, the card will give you one of the highest rates of cash back in the category. More on the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card.
Chase Freedom Unlimited® Annual fee: $0	Unlimited 3% back on purchases at drugstores. The Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns Ultimate Rewards® points, which can be redeemed for cash back or travel rewards. Earning 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards points on drugstores is a fantastic rate of return, especially if you have a premium Ultimate Rewards card and can transfer to travel partners. More on the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.
Chase Freedom Flex℠ Annual fee: $0	Unlimited 3% back on purchases at drugstores. The Chase Freedom Flex℠ earns Ultimate Rewards® points, which can be redeemed for cash back or travel rewards. Earning 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards points on drugstores is a fantastic rate of return, especially if you have a premium Ultimate Rewards card and can transfer to travel partners. More on the Chase Freedom Flex℠.
U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card Annual fee: $400	Unlimited 3x points when you pay with mobile wallet. Points are worth 3% cash back or 4.5% travel rewards when redeemed for travel through the Altitude Rewards Center. You’ll get 3x anywhere that you pay with Apple Pay®, Google Pay™, or Samsung Pay, which can be useful if your pharmacy is isn’t a standalone drugstore. Since this card is a Visa card, it’s also accepted at Costco Pharmacy. More on the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card.
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card Annual fee: $0	3% cash back on drugstore/pharmacy purchases. Up to 5.25% cash back with Preferred Rewards with Platinum Honors. Increased cash back rewards are limited to $2,500 in total purchases across all 3% and 2% bonus categories each quarter. This card becomes particularly interesting if you have Platinum Honors status in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program, thanks to the Platinum Honors 1.75 credit card rewards multiplier. More on the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card.

My take on the best cards to use at drugstores and pharmacies

Personally, my pick for earning rewards at drugstores and pharmacies is the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. Chase Ultimate Rewards® is an incredibly useful rewards program and all of my Ultimate Rewards points get transferred to my Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. My Ink Preferred enables me to transfer points to airline and hotel transfer partners where I get much more than 3% cash back value from them. If you’re into transferable rewards, either one of the Freedom cards is a great option.

The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card is also a great option if you want transferable points and hold a Citi Premier® Card, but I’d imagine that most people spend more consistently at grocery stores and could get more rewards using their Custom Cash for that. (Though it is possible to get multiple Custom Cash cards!)

If you want the simplicity of carrying one card for everything, I really like the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card for its 3x on mobile wallet purchases. Only consider the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card if you have BofA Preferred Rewards with Platinum Honors.

Use other cards for pharmacies within grocery stores, big box stores, and warehouse clubs

Most pharmacy and drugstore rewards cards will only give you increased rewards if you make purchases at a standalone pharmacy or drugstore. This is mostly due to the merchant category codes businesses use to process transactions—purchases at a pharmacy within Target will likely code as a big box store, for example. If you pick up your prescriptions at a place other than a standalone pharmacy, here are a few ideas that can get you more rewards.

Target. If you purchase prescriptions at the Target pharmacy, use a card from our list of the best cards for Target purchases to earn maximum rewards. For most people, the Target RedCard™ Mastercard is likely your best bet.

Costco. The Costco pharmacy will likely code your purchase as a warehouse club purchase, so use a card from our list of the best cards for Costco. There are several good options on that list.

Grocery stores. Use a grocery store credit card to earn the most cash back or points if your pharmacy is located within a grocery store.

The best cards for drugstore purchases

Here are some more details on our picks for the best cards for purchases at drugstores and standalone pharmacies.

Citi Custom Cash℠ Card – 5% cash back at drugstores

You can use the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card to get 5% on your drugstore purchases on up to $500 in purchases monthly. Although the Custom Cash is marketed as a cash back card, the card earns ThankYou® Points, which can make the card’s 5% rewards even more interesting. More on that in a bit.

The key to getting the best rewards at drugstores and pharmacies with the Custom Cash is to use the card exclusively for drugstore purchases. And only use it for up to $500 of spending per billing cycle—after $500 spent and in other categories, you’ll earn 1% rewards.

If you hold multiple cards than earn ThankYou® points, you can combine your ThankYou Rewards accounts and earn points in a single account. When you also hold a Citi Premier® Card or the (no longer available) Citi Prestige card, you can transfer points to airline and hotel transfer partners and take advantage of those programs’ redemption options. If you have a Citi Rewards+® Card, you’ll get a 10% point rebate on your ThankYou Points redemptions on up to 100,000 point a year.

Learn more about how the ThankYou® Rewards program works or check out our overview of the Citi Custom Cash.

Chase Freedom Unlimited®: Unlimited 3% cash back at drugstores and pharmacies + restaurants + 1.5% everywhere

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is marketed as earning unlimited 3% cash back on drugstore purchases. A few cards can get you more cash back on your pharmacy spending, but behind the scenes, the Freedom Unlimited earns its rewards as Ultimate Rewards® points. This makes the card more more interesting than a cash back rewards card.

When you also hold a premium Ultimate Rewards card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred®, you can transfer your points to your premium card and get more value out of them through travel redemptions.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited will also give you decent rewards everywhere else and offers an excellent extended warranty benefit. Learn more about the Chase Freedom Unlimited in our card overview.

Chase Freedom Flex℠: Unlimited 3% cash back at drugstores and pharmacies + restaurants + 5% rotating categories

The Chase Freedom Flex℠ also offers unlimited 3% cash back on drugstore purchases. But the Freedom Flex pairs its drugstore rewards with 5% rewards in categories that rotate quarterly. Like the Freedom Unlimited the Freedom Flex earns its rewards as Ultimate Rewards® points, allowing you to get better than cash back value from your points when you also hold a premium Ultimate Rewards card.

Cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® and Chase Sapphire Reserve® enable you to redeem points for increased value through Chase Travel℠. And since you can transfer your points from your Freedom Flex to your premium card, this increased value extends to the points you earn at drugstores.

Learn more about rotating category cards, including the Chase Freedom Flex℠.

U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card: 3x everywhere when you use a mobile wallet

If you can use a mobile wallet to make purchases at your preferred drugstore or pharmacy, you can get 3x rewards on your purchases with the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card.

The the 3x points you’ll get on every mobile wallet purchase with the Altitude Reserve can be redeemed for 3% cash back or 4.5% rewards toward travel when you book through the Altitude Reward Center.

The Altitude Reserve is an especially good choice if you preferred drugstore or pharmacy is within another store, like Target, Walmart, Costco, or Sam’s Club. Often these big-box store and warehouse locations don’t code purchases as drugstore purchases, so you’ll miss out on rewards if you use other cards.

Drugstores can be a great place to purchase gift cards, either as gifts, or as a way to expand your drugstore bonus to other merchants that sell branded gift cards at your favorite drugstore. But be warned: The U.S Bank Altitude Reserve‘s terms and conditions say that you won’t earn increased rewards on your gift card purchases and the bank has been known to close accounts of customers purchasing gift cards.

Learn more about the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve, a card that can earn you 3x almost everywhere in-store, from our overview of the Altitude Reserve.

Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards: Up to 5.25% cash back for Preferred Rewards customers with Platinum Honors

Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards program turns the bank’s lineup of relatively lackluster cash back cards into best-in-class cards if you’re looking to earn cash back rewards. For drugstores, the best BofA card to use is the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards.

The card earns 3% cash back on drugstore/pharmacy purchases, plus a bunch of other categories (gas and EV charging stations, online shopping/​cable/​streaming/​internet/​phone plan, dining, travel, and home improvement/​furnishings purchases.) It also earns 2% rewards at grocery stores and wholesale clubs. The catch? The 3% and 2% rewards are earned only on the first $2,500 of spending each calendar quarter. Other spending earns 1% cash back rewards.

Most people will prefer another card on our list that offers uncapped 3% cash back or 3x rewards on drug store purchases. But if you have Platinum Honors status in the preferred rewards program, your 1.75x rewards multiplier will turn the Customized Cash‘s 3% cash back categories (including drugstores) into 5.25% categories, and the 2% categories into 3.5% categories, making the card much more attractive.

You can learn more about the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program or explore our overview of the Customized Cash to learn more.

Which merchants count as drugstores?

Each card issuer will have its own rule for what counts as a drugstore purchase. Here’s what each of the card issuers featured on this page says counts as a drugstore.

Chase: What counts as a drugstore?

Here’s what Chase has to say about drugstores:

Merchants in this category specialize in selling prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines, supplements and various health-related items. These merchants may also sell cosmetics, toiletries, greeting cards, and various household items such as cleaning supplies and packaged foods and drinks. Some merchants that sell a wide variety of goods including these items, and which may contain an onsite pharmacy, for example, warehouse clubs, discount stores, or grocery stores, are not included in this category.

Citi: What counts as a drugstore?

Here’s what Citi says about the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card‘s drugstore category:

Includes purchases made at pharmacies in grocery stores, general merchandise/discount superstores, and wholesale/warehouse clubs if those merchants submit purchases made in their pharmacy with the drug store and pharmacy merchant category code.

Frequently asked questions

Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.