Barclays Launches New Amazon Credit Card – Is It Worth It?
- Cardholders can earn up to 2% rewards that they can redeem as Amazon vouchers
Barclays and Amazon have partnered to launch a new co-branded credit card.
The new Amazon Barclaycard allows customers to earn cashback on purchases made with the card. This cashback can then be exchanged for Amazon vouchers.
The biggest rewards with the card come when you make purchases at this online retail giant.
Amazon and Barclays have partnered to bring an all-new Amazon Barclaycard to customers
Cardholders can view the cashback value in the Barclaycard app and once £5 or more in rewards has been earned, this can be exchanged for an Amazon gift card of the same value.
The card is currently only available to new Barclaycard customers. Existing Barclaycard customers cannot currently switch to the Amazon Barclaycard.
What does it offer?
Users will receive 1 percent cash back on all Amazon purchases, while Amazon Prime members can receive 2 percent cash back on Amazon purchases during special shopping days, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Customers can also earn cash back rewards on purchases they make outside of Amazon, but the rewards are lower than what they would earn on purchases through Amazon.
For 12 months, customers can earn 0.5 percent cash back on non-Amazon spending, and 0.25 percent thereafter.
The cashback rewards can still only be redeemed for Amazon gift cards.
There is no annual fee for the card and customers will receive a £20 Amazon gift card if their application is approved.
The first six months the APR is 0 percent. After that the representative APR is 28.9 percent.
Cardholders also have access to Barclaycard’s entertainment benefits, including concert pre-sales and 10 percent off pre-sale tickets when they pay with their Amazon Barclaycard.
Customers with an Amazon Barclaycard also receive 10 percent off food and drink at selected stores.
Rob Burgess, editor of frequent flyer website Head for Points, said: ‘I wouldn’t put any value on the other benefits, which 95 per cent of cardholders will never use.’
Barclays and Amazon said they aim to open applications to existing Barclaycard customers in the coming months
How does it compare to other credit card offers?
The Amazon Barclaycard offers a generous rewards rate compared to other credit cards such as the Marks & Spencer card, the John Lewis Partnership Card or the Sainsbury’s Nectar Mastercard credit card
These cards offer between 0.1 percent and 0.25 percent back in rewards.
Rob Burgess adds: ‘The 0.5 percent yield is surprisingly attractive for a consumer credit card.
‘Getting 0.5 percent back is very good. Although you get this back in Amazon credit and not cash, most people would actually consider Amazon credit to be almost cash equivalent.
‘The £20 sign-up bonus is also more generous than the M&S, John Lewis and Sainbury’s Nectar Mastercard credit cards, which typically offer no bonus at all.’
Burgess added: ‘The only negative is the lack of Apple Pay integration, which will really be a disadvantage for the younger demographic that I suspect the target audience for this card is.
‘However, the Barclaycard Avios card also launched without Apple Pay integration, but only got it a few months later, so this issue may only be short-lived.’
For cardholders looking to collect points to redeem for flights or hotel stays, the American Express Gold Card offers 20,000 membership points, which convert into 20,000 Avios or when you spend £3,000 in three months. It also comes with four complimentary airport lounge passes and £120 in Deliveroo credit
The card is free for the first year and you can cancel at any time. After the first year you pay an annual fee of £195.
The Amex Platinum Card comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up and spending £6,000 within three months. These convert into 40,000 Avios or many other airline and hotel programmes.
The Platinum card has a higher annual fee of £650 and the APR is therefore much higher at 704.6 percent.
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