The catch with Amazon credit cards is that you need an Amazon Prime membership to get the best rewards. The Amazon.com Credit Card gives cardholders who don't belong to Prime lower rewards rates, and you won't earn any ongoing rewards from the Amazon.com Store Card without Prime.
There's also a hard credit pull when you apply for an Amazon credit card, deferred interest offers to watch out for, and other potential costs associated with using the card. Overall, though, the rewards and benefits of Amazon credit cards far outweigh the potential drawbacks.
What to Watch Out for With Amazon Credit Cards
Prime membership needed for best value. With the Amazon.com Credit Card, cardholders who have an Amazon Prime membership earn more rewards than those without one. With the Amazon.com Store Card, cardholders only earn rewards if they have Prime.
Hard credit pull. When you apply, your credit score will likely drop by 5-10 points. You can easily recover from this with a few months of responsible credit use.
Interest. If you carry a balance between months with the Amazon.com Credit Card, you will have to pay interest at an APR of 18.74% - 26.74% (V). For the Amazon.com Store Card, the APR is 29.99% (V).
Fees. On the Amazon.com Credit Card, there is a balance transfer fee, a cash advance fee and a late fee. The Amazon.com Store Card does not allow balance transfers or cash advances, but there is a late fee.
Limited store card acceptance. One catch unique to the Amazon.com Store Card is that it can only be used at Amazon and select merchants that accept Amazon Pay.
Deferred interest on store card. The Amazon.com Store Card offers an introductory APR of 0% for 6 - 24 months on purchases. However, the card uses deferred interest, so if you don't pay your balance in full by the time the introductory period expires, you owe all the interest you would have accrued during that time at the regular APR.
Yes, the Amazon.com Store Card does affect your credit score, but the exact impact depends on how you use the card. If you make payments on time and keep your credit utilization low, your score should increase, but it will decrease if you don’t.
In addition, applying for the card has a small negative effect on your credit, and closing the card can hurt your score as well. If you want to estimate how the Amazon.com Store Card might affect your credit score in particular, you can use WalletHub’s free ... read full answercredit score simulator.
Instances When the Amazon.com Store Card Affects Your Score
Application Applying for the card will drop your score a bit, regardless of whether you’re approved or denied. This is easy to bounce back from after a few months of responsible use.
Payments The Amazon.com Store Card’s issuer will report your payment status to the credit bureaus on a monthly basis. Paying on time should increase your credit score, while late payments will cause it to decrease. Paying in full every month and not carrying a balance is the best situation.
Credit Utilization Using more than 30% of your credit limit can have a negative impact on your credit score. Using around 1% to 10% is ideal, but even using 0% will help your score. The issuer will report your credit utilization to the credit bureaus on a monthly basis.
Closing the Account Canceling your card can have a negative impact on your credit score. But exactly how much it will impact your score depends on how long you have had the account open and how high your credit line is. Older accounts with higher credit lines will hurt your score more if you close them.
In summary, the only way the Amazon.com Store Card affects your credit score that’s out of your control is the initial hard pull when you submit the application. After that, whether your score goes up or down depends on how responsibly you use the account.
Keep in mind that if your card is ever lost or stolen, you will need to call customer service at ... read full answer(888) 247-4080. The sooner you report a lost or stolen card, the quicker you'll be able to prevent unauthorized charges on the account and get a replacement card shipped to you in the mail.
Lastly, if you are referring to the Amazon.com Store Card, it also comes with $0 liability for unauthorized transactions. If you lose this card, you should report it immediately by calling (866) 634-8379.
The Amazon.com Credit Card annual fee is $0. Amazon.com Credit Card’s $0 annual fee is lower than the average annual fee among new credit card offers right now. It’s not the only fee you need to worry about with the Amazon.com Credit Card, though.
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