Credit Card Fees Compared in 2026: Annual, Late, Cash Advance and Foreign

For one billing cycle in the scenario below, Chase Freedom Flex is the cheapest of the seven cards we rank, at $123.21, and it has no annual fee. Wells Fargo Autograph is $1.03 behind and also charges no foreign transaction fee. Chase Sapphire Preferred costs $125.71 for the month, but its $95 annual fee brings year one to $220.71. The figures come from Chase's pricing information dated September 22, 2026 and Wells Fargo's terms dated September 2026.

FinanceRadar data: the average annual fee across the 65 credit cards we verify is $135, and 36 of them (55%) charge none, as of October 10, 2026 (credit card statistics). A fee printed on the front of a card is easy to compare. The cash advance and late payment amounts, which decide a bad month, sit lower down in the issuer's terms, and that is where this page looks.

This page ranks seven cards from Chase and Wells Fargo, the issuers whose full fee schedules state the cash advance and late payment amounts. Four other issuers are left out for that reason. The how we checked section names them and gives the dates and sources.

How the scenario is priced

Every card faces the same four events in one billing month. The cardholder carries a $3,000 balance from earlier purchases, makes one late payment, takes a $500 cash advance, and spends $1,000 abroad. The annual fee is added for the first year.

• Carried balance: interest at each card's lowest published purchase APR. Issuers set the rate within a range by creditworthiness, so the lowest figure is the cost a strong applicant should expect, and a weaker applicant will pay more.
• Late payment: the $40 ceiling that Chase and Wells Fargo print as "up to $40". All seven cards share it, so it adds the same amount to every row.
• Cash advance: the greater of $10 or 5% of the advance, which is $25 on $500, plus interest at the cash advance APR from the day the cash is taken.
• Spending abroad: the card's foreign transaction fee on that spend, which is either nothing or 3%.

Intro APRs are excluded. Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited charge 0% for 15 months on purchases, and the two Wells Fargo cards charge 0% for 12 months. Interest inside that window is zero, so the scenario assumes the window has closed. Treat an intro period as a deadline, because the balance moves to the regular rate when it ends. The best balance transfer cards guide covers offers built around a carried balance.

Interest for one month works out to balance x APR / 12. For Chase Freedom Flex, that is $3,000 x 18.49% / 12 = $46.23. A twelfth of the APR is a monthly approximation, so a real bill can differ by a little, depending on the days in the cycle. The cash advance fee is the same on every card, so the rows separate on four terms: the annual fee, the foreign fee, the purchase APR and the cash advance APR.

The scenario totals

The first table sorts the seven cards by first-year cost. The one-month column leaves out the annual fee, so a reader who expects to keep a card for a year can read the fee on its own line.

Chase Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited share the same purchase APR and cash advance terms in this scenario. The $30.00 gap between them is the foreign fee alone.

Wells Fargo Autograph is $1.03 behind Flex. That gap comes from a higher purchase APR, which costs $0.62 more interest on the $3,000, and a higher cash advance APR, which costs $0.41 more on the $500. Autograph has no foreign fee to offset it.

The second table breaks each one-month total into three parts, and the parts add up to the totals in the first table. The middle column groups the late fee, the cash advance fee and the interest on the advance, which is $11.98 at 28.74% and $12.39 at 29.74%.

The fee schedules behind the totals

The third table gives the terms each total uses, as the issuers print them. Purchase APRs show the rates or range each issuer lists, and the lowest figure is the one the scenario uses.

Chase Freedom Flex, Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve print no foreign transaction fee, and so does Wells Fargo Autograph. Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Rise and Wells Fargo Active Cash charge 3% of each purchase converted to dollars. On $1,000 abroad that is $30.00, and the cost grows with every trip.

Cash advances follow one rule across all seven cards. The fee is the greater of $10 or 5% of the advance, and interest starts on the transaction date. Chase's cash advance APR is 28.74% and Wells Fargo's is 29.74%, so the same $500 costs a little more at Wells Fargo.

Chase prints up to $40 for a returned payment, the same ceiling as its late fee. Wells Fargo lists returned payment fees among the charges a card can carry, but its fee table gives no amount, so ask the bank for the figure before you rely on a card for a payment you may not cover.

Where the ranking flips

The annual fee is the one term that can overturn the order, and it does so at a volume you can work out. Chase Sapphire Preferred costs $95 a year with no foreign fee. Against a 3% card, it breaks even only when foreign spend passes $3,166.67 a year, which is the annual fee divided by 3%. Below that volume, Chase Freedom Unlimited is the cheaper card. Rewards and travel benefits sit outside this table, and a reader who values them should weigh them against the fee. For no-fee choices more broadly, see the no annual fee guide.

Chase Sapphire Reserve costs $795 a year, plus $195 for each authorized user. Against Sapphire Preferred, that is $700 more before any credit or perk, and none of those credits are counted here.

The purchase APR is the other lever, and its effect grows with the balance. Each point of APR adds $2.50 to the one-month scenario on $3,000. The credit card APR report shows what balances cost across the cards we track. At the top of each card's range, Freedom Flex's 27.99% lifts the same month's interest to $69.98, which is $23.75 more than the lowest rate. Wells Fargo Autograph's top rate, 28.74%, puts its interest at $71.85.

Cash advances and late payments cost more than they look

A cash advance is the most expensive event in the scenario per dollar moved. On Chase Freedom Flex, a $500 advance costs $36.98 for one month, or 7.40% of the cash: the $25 fee plus $11.98 of interest. On the Wells Fargo cards the same advance costs $37.39, or 7.48%. Interest starts on the day of the advance, so the cost grows with every week the money stays on the card. Our cash advance fee guide covers that rule in more detail.

A late payment is the largest single fee in the one-month scenario, at $40 on every card. It cannot change the order, because every card shares the same ceiling, but it is the event most likely to happen by accident.

Which card fits which fee pattern

If a carried balance is your main risk, the purchase APR matters more than any fee on this list. Freedom Flex, Freedom Unlimited and Freedom Rise share the lowest starting purchase APR on this list, 18.49%, but only Flex also avoids the foreign fee. Wells Fargo Autograph starts at 18.74% and avoids it too.

If you spend abroad, the foreign fee decides the order. Flex, Autograph and both Sapphire cards charge nothing on foreign spend, so the choice among them comes down to the annual fee and the APR. A 3% card costs $30.00 more on every $1,000 spent abroad, and that gap is paid whether or not you carry a balance. Wells Fargo Active Cash is one of the three cards in the table that charge it.

If you are willing to pay an annual fee for the card's other terms, Chase Sapphire Preferred has the lower of the two annual fees in this table and charges no foreign fee. Its one-month total of $125.71 sits close to the no-fee cards, so the annual fee is the real difference in year one. Sapphire Reserve makes sense only if the rest of its terms, which this table does not price, are already part of your plan.

Who is not in the ranking

Citi, Capital One, Discover and American Express are not ranked here. Their card pages list headline terms, such as the annual fee or the 0% intro APR, but not the cash advance and late payment amounts this table needs. We did not fill those gaps from other sites or older articles, so these four issuers stay out until their own schedules can be cited the same way.

How we checked

We read Chase's pricing information for Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Flex, Freedom Rise, Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve. Each document is marked accurate as of September 22, 2026, with the prime rate at 7.00% on that date. We read Wells Fargo's terms for Active Cash and Autograph, marked correct as of September 2026. Every fee and rate on this page comes from those documents, and every total is computed from them with the arithmetic shown. The average annual fee in the opening comes from our credit card statistics, updated October 10, 2026. No figure comes from a third-party site.

Sources: Chase Freedom Unlimited pricing, Chase Freedom Flex pricing, Chase Freedom Rise pricing, Chase Sapphire Preferred pricing, Chase Sapphire Reserve pricing, Wells Fargo Active Cash terms, Wells Fargo Autograph terms.

Cite this: FinanceRadar, "Credit Card Fees Compared in 2026," October 2026.

Some links may earn us a commission (how we make money).

This page is general information, not personalized financial advice. Confirm the terms with the card issuer before you apply or use a card, because rates and fees change.

FAQ

What is the cheapest credit card for fees in 2026?

In the scenario here, Chase Freedom Flex is cheapest at $123.21 for one billing cycle, with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee, using Chase's pricing information dated September 22, 2026. Wells Fargo Autograph is $1.03 more and has the same no-fee profile. Change the scenario and the order can move, because the foreign fee and the annual fee grow with different habits.

How much does a cash advance cost on a credit card?

On the seven cards here, a cash advance costs the greater of $10 or 5% of the amount, plus interest from the day of the advance. A $500 advance on Chase Freedom Flex costs $36.98 for one month: a $25 fee plus $11.98 of interest at 28.74%. Wells Fargo's cards cost $37.39 at a 29.74% cash advance APR. The cash advance fee guide covers the rule in more detail.

Which of these cards have no foreign transaction fee?

Chase Freedom Flex, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve and Wells Fargo Autograph print no foreign transaction fee in their terms dated September 2026. Chase Freedom Unlimited, Chase Freedom Rise and Wells Fargo Active Cash charge 3% of each purchase converted to dollars. For a wider list, see the no foreign transaction fee guide.

What is the late payment fee on these cards?

Every card in this table prints a late payment fee of up to $40. Chase's returned payment fee is also up to $40, while Wells Fargo's terms list that fee without an amount. A late payment does not change the cost order here, because all seven cards share the same ceiling.

Does the Chase Sapphire Preferred annual fee pay off?

It breaks even against a 3% card only when foreign spend passes $3,166.67 a year, which is the annual fee divided by 3%. Below that volume, a card with no annual fee and a 3% foreign fee is cheaper. This page does not price rewards, credits or travel protection, so a reader who uses those should weigh them against the fee.