The Amazon Prime Store Card is designed for consumers who do much of their online shopping at Amazon.com, already have an Amazon Prime membership, and want to earn cash back for their Amazon purchases. This card is issued by Synchrony Bank and charges a $0 annual fee.

It also offers promotional financing on purchases of $150 or more, which could be helpful if you know you’re going to need time to pay off a big purchase, though you won’t earn cash back if you utilize this.

Note that the Amazon Prime Store Card isn’t the only credit card Amazon offers. There’s also the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card, issued by Chase and able to be used anywhere Visa is accepted, and the Amazon Secured Card, issued by Synchrony and aimed at applicants who need to build credit.

The information related to the Amazon Prime Store Card, the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card and the Amazon Secured Card has been independently collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuers of these cards prior to publication.

• Earns generous cash back for Prime members

  Prime cardholders can earn 5% back at Amazon.com when using the Amazon Prime Store Card. Cash back can be redeemed toward eligible Amazon purchases or as a statement credit to your card.

• Get an Amazon gift card upon approval

  The chance to get a $100 Amazon.com gift card upon approval for the Amazon Prime Store Card is nice, even if there are credit cards out there offering more lucrative sign-up bonuses.

• There are options for promotional financing

  On purchases of $150 or more, you’ll have a chance to choose between earning 5% cash back (if you have a Prime membership) or taking advantage of promotional financing. Amazon offers two types of promotional financing — special financing and equal payments.

  With special financing on purchases, you’ll have six, 12 or 24 months — depending on the purchase amount — to pay off your item. If you pay it off within that period, you won’t be charged interest.

  For equal payments financing, you’ll also have six, 12 or 24 months — again, depending on purchase amount — to make set monthly payments. If you pay it off as planned, you won’t accrue interest.

  However, the special financing option involves what’s called deferred interest, and this can be dangerous. If you don’t pay off the full purchase amount within the promotional financing period, you will be hit with interest from the original date of purchase.

• Charges no annual fee

  When you combine the chance to earn cash back at a generous rate with a $0 annual fee, you have a winner. However, you’ll need an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $139 for an annual plan (or $69 if you’re a college student). It will take $2,380 in spending on purchases that earn 5% cash back to recoup that membership cost (or $1,180 in spending to recoup the student plan amount).

• You won't earn cash back without a Prime membership

  If you don’t have an Amazon Prime membership, you’ll only qualify for the Amazon.com Store Card, which doesn’t earn cash back (though it does offer the same promotional financing options as the Amazon Prime Store Card).

• Beware the risk of deferred interest

  If you opt for a special financing period with the Amazon Prime Store Card (available when making a purchase of $150 or more), you should know it involves deferred interest. Unlike an intro 0% APR period, financing with deferred interest means you’ll be hit with interest charges from the date of purchase if you don’t pay off the full amount within the promotional period.

  That’s likely to be quite expensive, especially with this card’s high 28.24% variable APR. If you still decide you want to make use of a special financing period, make sure you know exactly when it ends so there’s no doubt about when you need to have paid off the entire purchase — and don’t assume the minimum monthly payments will be enough to pay off your purchase in full.

• The card comes with a very high APR

  The Amazon Prime Store Card has a 28.24% variable APR. If you roll over a balance from month to month, you’re likely to see some expensive interest charges. However, by making sure to pay off your card in full every billing cycle, you can avoid being charged interest.

• You can only use this card for Amazon purchases

  This shouldn’t be a surprise, because the Amazon Prime Store Card is a store card, but you can only use it for Amazon shopping (including Audible and comiXology). If you need a credit card you can use elsewhere, this isn’t it. Consider the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card instead.

  The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card also comes with many more benefits than the Amazon Prime Store Card, such as extended warranty protection, purchase protection, lost luggage reimbursement and baggage delay insurance.

Compare it to the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card

 

If you’re looking for a card that offers more flexibility than the Amazon Prime Store Card, the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card has it in spades. For one thing, this is not a store card, meaning you can use it in places where you can’t use the Amazon Prime Store Card. For another, the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card comes with a unique rewards structure where you pick your 3% category (and can change your selection as frequently as every month).

Earn 3% cash back in the category of your choice, automatic 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (up to $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club quarterly purchases) and unlimited 1% on all other purchases. Options for that 3% category include gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores and home improvement/furnishings. Examples of merchants included in the online shopping category include Amazon, the Apple App Store (and iTunes), Etsy, Target.com and Walmart.com.

There’s also a sign-up bonus: earn a $200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening. Spending about $333.33 per month should reach that.

The annual fee to carry the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card is $0.

Last but not least, the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card comes with solid intro APR periods on purchases and balance transfers. Enjoy a 0% Intro APR for 18 billing cycles for purchases. After, a 17.74% - 27.74% Variable APR applies.

If you’ve got existing debt on another high-interest credit card, you can transfer it to this one and take advantage of a 0% Intro APR for 18 billing cycles for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days. After, a 17.74% - 27.74% Variable APR on balance transfers applies. The balance transfer fee is reasonable at either $10 or 3% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.

If you already have an Amazon Prime membership, and you aren’t looking for a card you can use outside of Amazon, the Amazon Prime Store Card offers a chance to earn cash back at a great rate for a $0 annual fee. And if you need time to pay off a big purchase, the promotional financing offers on this card can help (just make sure to pay off the purchase in full within the promotional period to avoid deferred interest).

However, if you’re looking for a card that can still reward your online shopping while offering more flexibility, consider the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card or the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card rather than the Amazon Prime Store Card.

Meanwhile, consumers looking to establish credit or improve their credit score would likely be better served by the Amazon Secured Card (which requires a security deposit in the amount of your desired credit limit).