Tools1.67% Cash/Back Card

Is the Fifth Third Cash/Back card worth it?

MoneyRoom Card Score

8.7/ 10

Usable value10.0

Effort10.0

Earning5.6

It's a good card wearing a strange number: a flat 1.7% on everything, no fee, no upkeep — better than the lower flat tier, short of the higher one, and scored exactly where that lands.

How we score cards

Data: MoneyRoom verified card catalog · scores recompute daily

The rate is the conversation piece: a flat 1.7% on every purchase, an oddly specific number that exists to out-market the common lower tier while stopping short of the benchmark above it. Our engine doesn't care about marketing psychology — it prices the rate on the basket, takes the no-fee and no-upkeep ceilings, and prints 8.7.

What the score can't show is the one perk in the margins: cell phone protection when you pay the bill with the card — an insurance-shaped benefit we list and never price, and honestly the best tiebreaker this card owns against the flat-rate crowd immediately above and below it.

The ledger

No fee — the ledger starts at zero.

Typical value applies our published realization factors: the discount for expiry windows, spending restrictions, enrollments, and reimbursement delays a real cardholder faces.

This card has no recurring statement credits. There's nothing to enroll in, track, or forfeit — the ledger is empty by design.

The fine print that matters

Why is typical value less than face value?

Flat means flat: no categories, no caps at everyday scale, no enrollment, and redemption through Fifth Third's banking rails — smoothest if you already keep an account there. The strange-number strategy has one practical consequence worth naming: every comparison you'll ever make with this card is against the round-number tiers, and the honest answer is always the same — it beats one, loses to the other, and the cell phone protection is the tiebreak.

Earning

What does everyday spending actually earn?

Rewards post as cash back, worth exactly face value. On our published reference basket the effective rate is 1.7%.

Category	Rate	Effective after caps	Note
Dining	1.67%	1.67%	Base rate
Groceries	1.67%	1.67%	Base rate
Gas	1.67%	1.67%	Base rate
Flights booked direct	1.67%	1.67%	Base rate
Hotels booked direct	1.67%	1.67%	Base rate
Everything else	1.67%	1.67%

Honest gaps

What does the score leave out?

Cell phone protection. Pay the phone bill with the card and coverage applies — real, insurance-shaped, and never priced by our engine on any page.
The banking relationship. Redemption and servicing assume Fifth Third's footprint; fine inside it, friction outside.
The welcome offer. One-time, excluded as always.

Listed on the card, never priced:

Cell phone protection

Your numbers, not the average

See if it pays for itself with your usage.

The score models a typical cardholder. The free Profit Calculator loads this card's real credits and fee and lets you set what you'd actually use — no account needed.

Run this card in the calculator Track your own cards free

Keep comparing

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Questions

Asked before applying.

Why the odd rate?
Positioning: high enough to beat the common flat tier below it, cheap enough for the issuer to sustain. Our engine just prices it — 1.7% effective, earning pillar 5.6.
Should I pick it over a stronger flat card?
Only for the phone protection or an existing Fifth Third relationship. On pure rate the stronger tier wins, and both are equally effortless.
What does it score?
8.7 out of 10 — perfect value and effort, earning 5.6. The definition of a solid middle.