Amazon Prime Rewards credit card

Money Management
1

Looking for advice about the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature credit card. It tends to have AMAZING reviews from credit card websites (because of the 5% cash back on amazon and whole food purchases) but it has trash reviews from the majority of users. It’s something I know I would need to pay off in full every month, but other than that, it looks like most people have a problem with Chase Bank screwing up their credit when they use the card.

I’m asking for advice from people who know much more about credit cards than I do. If you have any experience with this card, good or bad, it would be much appreciated to hear about it!

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Hey Sierra,

Welcome to the community!

I personally have both the Amazon Prime Rewards Card (Chase) and the Amazon Store Card (Synchrony)

I have never had any issues with the Amazon Prime Rewards Card and I have had it for a couple years now.

I will note that I have never shopped at Whole Foods which gets you a 5% cashback if you are a prime member, but I have taken advantage of the 3% back on Amazon purchases, the 2% back on restaurants and gas and all other purchases which give you 1%.

Using it strategically I have been able to get some decent cashback in the form of Amazon credit.

As to the fact that Chase tends to mess up people’s credit, I will note that I applied for this card several times and got denied before eventually getting accepted.

The simple fact is that Chase has strict guidelines for credit score and income before they will even consider approving you and their 5/24 rule (link to an article by The Points Guy with more info) keeps a lot of people from getting approved.

Besides the several credit pulls over the course of a couple years trying to get the card, I am not aware of any other negative affect it has had on my credit.

Since getting the card, I have been able to increase my available credit several times which in turn has actually helped my credit score.

When it comes to the Amazon Rewards Visa Signature card, I would definitely recommend doing your research to make sure you meet all the requirements to apply, and if you do, I definitely recommend it as a great card.

Of course, the initial credit pull when applying for the card may affect your credit score slightly but as long as you don’t max it out and keep the balance low, it should actually help your score in the long run.

Hope this is helpful.

1 Like
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Looking forward to finding ways to increase my credit score. I’m 60 and have a lot of credit card debt. As I get closer to retirement age I need to get debt paid down but would love to be debt free one day soon.

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Thanks for the reply! My application was actually accepted but I haven’t used the card yet because I had second thoughts.

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@sierra I would definitely recommend using it especially if you are already purchasing from the places that give you cashback. As long as you are able to pay it off right away, I don’t see why you would have any issues using it.

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@rich.rob you have come to the right place to find how to do just that.

Paying down debt will go a long way in helping your score go up over time.

Your debt to income ratio and your debt vs. available credit are key factors that play a role in your score.

The Penny Hoarder has a lot of great articles like this one that share creative tips for increasing your credit score.

If you have any questions about specifics, don’t hesitate to ask and I am sure there will be someone on here who can help.

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Because the Amazon Prime credit card is with Chase, I haven’t gotten it. I have a Southwest Airlines credit card with Chase that has a low credit line and high APR. I don’t fly much anymore with Southwest. Last year, I wanted to cancel because of the annual fee, but Chase offered me $100 credit that would go toward the annual fee.

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I had the Amazon Prime card. I had no issues with Chase or my credit score. I closed the account because I started to get smart about how I was spending money. You really can only use that card if you can pay it off every month – the interest rate is too high. The only thing I was using it for was Amazon and Whole Foods. I don’t shop at either anymore, and I had dropped my Prime account (after 12 years!). So it made sense for me to remove temptation. I paid off the balance with a credit-consolidation loan at half the interest rate.

I only have two cards now - a low-interest card with my credit union, and a new Southwest card (also from Chase). My grown daughters live far away, in cities that Southwest flies to, so it’s worth it to get the points. Every time I use the Southwest card, I move the amount into a “parking lot” savings account so I can always pay it off every month. I wish I had been doing that all along…

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I have had the Amazon rewards credit card since 2012 and I have never noticed any credit score problems. I agree that it’s absolutely imperative that you pay it off every month, because missing a payment or carrying a high balance from month to month really adds the interest up (for comparison, I don’t have really have this problem with my Discover credit card).

My strategy is to use this card for recurring things (Netflix, Language subscriptions, etc) occasionally gas if I happen to grab it, and Whole Foods/Amazon purchases (Amazon prime membership, the occasional movie, books). I don’t shop at Whole Foods very often, but it’s usually an intentional buy and I only use my Amazon credit card. I don’t use my points until the end of the year when I buy Christmas gifts. I only paid $5 on $350 worth of gifts because I saved all of my points.

I do have the United Miles Card and the Sapphire Reserve through Chase, and with the Amazon Rewards these are the main cards that I use. I like Chase personally, as I have never hard a problem with their customer service/rewards, etc.

Hope that helps!!

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I have this card–it’s the only credit card I have, in fact–and honestly? I’d only recommend keeping the card if you do a lot of shopping on Amazon and are able to pay the balance off every month. I unfortunately ended up deep in debt with mine (because it’s a dangerously easy thing to do) and while I’ve been working at paying mine off, I may have to look into closing the account just to make any headway. As others have said, the interest rate is pretty high.