Rakuten American Express

The Rakuten American Express is designed for people who already shop through Rakuten: it earns 4% on Rakuten.com purchases, and Amex recently raised the annual spending cap on that rate from $7,000 to $10,000 before it drops to 1%. It also pays 5% on Rakuten Dining purchases and 2% at grocery stores and restaurants, with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. The less welcome change is the signup bonus, which was recently cut from $200 to $100 after $1,000 in spending within three months. Outside those categories the card earns just 1%, so it works best as a companion to Rakuten shopping rather than as your main everyday card. If Rakuten is already part of your routine, the higher cap makes it a more useful addition than before.