Credit card purchase protection covers eligible items against damage and theft in the months after you buy them. So, if you have the right credit card and follow the proper protocol, your misfortune could be reversed with a full refund or a repaired/replaced item.
When might credit card purchase protection come in handy? Well, there were 11.7 million cases of property crime in 2020, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. And roughly 1.35 million fires resulted in an estimated $15.9 billion in property damage, according to National Fire Protection Association. So, it’s worth having an extra layer of protection.
But not all credit cards offer purchase protection. In fact, a growing number of credit cards have dropped the purchase protection benefit in recent years. And policies vary widely among those that still offer it. To help you understand what coverage you may already have and whether you need an upgrade, WalletHub compared the 10 largest credit card companies’ purchase protection policies. You can check out our findings below.
Some of the cards listed on this page originate from our partners, but that did not impact our conclusions. Offers information was collected on Nov. 10, 2022, and is likely to have changed since.
Best Credit Cards for Purchase Protection
Rank | Cards | WalletHub Score |
---|---|---|
1 | Chase Sapphire Reserve | 93.50% |
2 | Platinum From American Express Gold Card from American Express | 92.00% |
4 | U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite® Card | 91.00% |
Other Key Findings
Only 40% of the credit cards from the 10 largest issuers continue to offer purchase protection, and only five issuers have even one card with purchase protection.
Chase and American Express are the only major issuers that offer purchase protection on all of their credit cards.
Issuer | % of Cards with Purchase Protection |
---|---|
Chase | 100% |
American Express | 100% |
Bank of America | 67% |
Capital One | 45% |
U.S. Bank | 22% |
82% of credit cards with purchase protection only provide coverage for 90 days after a purchase.
Sports equipment & remote-controlled toys are the most common exclusion from credit card purchase protection (excluded by 32% of cards).
59% of cards have fully transparent purchase protection policies, while the rest lose points for not disclosing complete benefit terms or not making the terms easily accessible.
The Coverage You Can Expect
Info | Example of a Standard Policy | Best Policy |
---|---|---|
Sign Up | Not required | Not required |
Coverage | Items stolen or accidentally damaged by fire, smoke, vandalism or accidental discharge of water or steam | Items stolen or accidentally damaged by fire, smoke, vandalism or accidental discharge of water or steam |
Exclusions | Perishables, consumables, collectibles, rented or leased items, items stolen from vehicles and certain other purchases | Perishables, consumables, collectibles and certain other purchases |
Maximum Coverage per Item / Incident | $500 per eligible item | $10,000 per eligible item |
Maximum Coverage per Year | Up to $50,000 annually per account | Up to $50,000 annually per account |
Purchase Protection Period | 90 days from the date of purchase | 120 days from the date of purchase |
Cards Offering this Type of Policy | Capital One Venture Rewards | Chase Sapphire Reserve |
Detailed Scoring
Overall Rank | Card Name | Sign Up | Coverage | Purchase Protection Period |
Claims | Transparency | Total Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Info | Maximum Points | 10% | 50% | 20% | 10% | 10% | 100% |
1 | Chase Sapphire Reserve | 10.00% | 50.00% | 20.00% | 5.00% | 8.50% | 93.50% |
T - 2 | Gold Card from American Express | 10.00% | 46.00% | 16.00% | 10.00% | 10.00% | 92.00% |
T - 2 | Platinum From American Express | 10.00% | 46.00% | 16.00% | 10.00% | 10.00% | 92.00% |
4 | U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite® Card | 10.00% | 50.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 10.00% | 91.00% |
T - 5 | Blue Cash Everyday From American Express | 10.00% | 43.00% | 16.00% | 10.00% | 10.00% | 89.00% |
T - 5 | Blue Cash Preferred From American Express | 10.00% | 43.00% | 16.00% | 10.00% | 10.00% | 89.00% |
T - 5 | EveryDay From American Express | 10.00% | 43.00% | 16.00% | 10.00% | 10.00% | 89.00% |
T - 5 | EveryDay Preferred From American Express | 10.00% | 43.00% | 16.00% | 10.00% | 10.00% | 89.00% |
T - 5 | Blue From American Express | 10.00% | 43.00% | 16.00% | 10.00% | 10.00% | 89.00% |
T - 5 | Cash Magnet from American Express | 10.00% | 43.00% | 16.00% | 10.00% | 10.00% | 89.00% |
T - 5 | American Express® Green Card | 10.00% | 43.00% | 16.00% | 10.00% | 10.00% | 89.00% |
T - 12 | Chase Sapphire Preferred | 10.00% | 44.00% | 20.00% | 5.00% | 8.50% | 87.50% |
T - 12 | Chase Freedom Unlimited | 10.00% | 44.00% | 20.00% | 5.00% | 8.50% | 87.50% |
T - 12 | Chase Freedom Flex | 10.00% | 44.00% | 20.00% | 5.00% | 8.50% | 87.50% |
T - 12 | Chase Slate Edge | 10.00% | 44.00% | 20.00% | 5.00% | 8.50% | 87.50% |
16 | Bank of America Premium Rewards | 10.00% | 50.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 1.50% | 82.50% |
T - 17 | Capital One Venture | 10.00% | 38.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 10.00% | 79.00% |
T - 17 | Capital One VentureOne | 10.00% | 38.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 10.00% | 79.00% |
T - 19 | Bank of America Travel Rewards | 10.00% | 38.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 1.50% | 70.50% |
T - 19 | Bank of America Cash Rewards | 10.00% | 38.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 1.50% | 70.50% |
T - 19 | Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card | 10.00% | 38.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 1.50% | 70.50% |
T - 19 | Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card | 10.00% | 38.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 1.50% | 70.50% |
T - 19 | Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card | 10.00% | 38.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 1.50% | 70.50% |
T - 24 | Capital One Quicksilver | 10.00% | 29.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 10.00% | 70.00% |
T - 24 | Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards | 10.00% | 29.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 10.00% | 70.00% |
T - 24 | Capital One Savor Cash Rewards | 10.00% | 29.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 10.00% | 70.00% |
T - 24 | U.S. Bank FlexPerks Gold American Express | 10.00% | 29.00% | 16.00% | 5.00% | 10.00% | 70.00% |
Ask The Experts
For more insight into what retailers get from offering purchase protection and how the availability of such coverage affects consumer spending habits, we turned to a panel of leading experts in the fields of consumer psychology and retail studies. You can check out their bios and responses to the following questions below.
- To what extent are purchase protection plans, which act as insurance against theft or accidental damage, an effective strategy for a retailer?
- How does a purchase protection plan impact consumer habits?
Ask the Experts
George Rogers Clark Professor of Management and Marketing & Director of the Center for Customer Insights at Yale School of Management
Read More
Thomas A. Finch Jr. Professor in the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University
Read More
Full Professor of Practice in Marketing at the Wake Forest University School of Business
Read More
Methodology
This report is based on public disclosures regarding the price protection policies of the 10 largest credit card issuers in the United States. Offers information was collected on Nov. 10, 2022, and is likely to have changed since.
Co-branded, student and business credit cards were not evaluated, nor were cards that cannot be applied for online. In situations where policies were incomplete or unclear, we generally contacted the issuer directly, requested verification, and proceeded to update the report as needed. When people apply for some credit cards, there's a chance they could be approved for a different level of benefits than they expect. For example, some applicants may get approved for the traditional Visa version of the card, which has basic benefits, while others could get the Visa Signature version with better benefits. For consistency, we evaluated these cards based on the set of benefits posted for reference along with the card's online application. As a result, it is possible that this report might list a card as not offering the benefit when the perk could be available to people who are creditworthy enough.
Each individual card was scored according to the following criteria:
1. Sign Up – Worth 10% Total
- If there is no sign-up or product registration = 10%
- If there is a one-time sign up requirement = 5%
- If there is an annual sign up requirement = 2%
- If product registration is required for all purchased items = 0%
2. Coverage – Worth 50% Total
A. Coverage & Exclusions – Worth 20%
- For each major category of items excluded from coverage (e.g. jewelry or electronics), we subtracted 6%
- For each minor category of items excluded from coverage (e.g. sports equipment, remote control toys), we subtracted 2%
- Issuers are deducted a maximum of 20% points, even if their exclusions add up to more issuers only lose 20% points
B. Maximum Coverage per Item – Worth 15%
- $2,000+ = 15%
- $1,000 to $1,999 = 12%
- $500 to $999 = 9%
- $250 to $499 = 6%
- $100 to $249 = 3%
- Less than $100 = 0%
C. Maximum Coverage per Year – Worth 15%
- $25,000+ = 15%
- $20,000 to $24,999 = 12%
- $15,000 to $19,999 = 9%
- $10,000 to $14,999 = 6%
- $5,000 to $9,999 = 3%
- Less than $5,000 = 0%
3. Purchase Protection Period – Worth 20% Total
- 120+ days = 20%
- 90 days to 119 days = 16%
- 60 days to 89 days = 12%
- 30 days to 59 days = 8%
- Less than 30 days = 0%
4. Claims – Worth 10% Total
- If filing a claim requires only a product receipt, copies of relevant insurance forms and a filed report for the vandalized / stolen item (if applicable) = 10%
- If filing a claim requires a credit card receipt or card statement, a product receipt, copies of relevant insurance forms and a filed report for the vandalized / stolen item (if applicable) = 5% points
- If filing a claim requires more than a credit card receipt or card statement, a product receipt, copies of relevant insurance forms and a filed report for the vandalized / stolen item (if applicable) = 0%
5. Transparency Score – Worth 10%
A. How easily can one find the info? – Worth 3%
- Information is prominent on issuer website = 3%
- Information is not prominent on issuer website; or it is prominent, but users need to log in to see the full disclosure = 1.5%
- Information cannot be easily found on website = 0%
B. How easy it is to read the info? – Worth 1%
- Information is presented in normal-size font = 1%
- Information is in small-size font = 0%
C. How complete are the policies provided? – Worth 4%
- Full policy provided = 4%
- A couple of key points missing from policy = 3%
- Part of policy provided = 2%
- Benefits briefly described = 0.5%
- No key details provided = 0%
D. How open and transparent are card issuers about the policies? – Worth 2%
- Transparent about policies = 2%
- Not transparent about policies = 0%
Scores are determined based on our opinion of how each purchase protection policy compares to a theoretical ideal policy. An ideal policy is one based on common sense for which a consumer knows all of the most important information without having to delve into the fine print.