Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card Full Review

The benefits explained

• No annual fee: The fact that this card has no annual fee is a point in its favour. Competitor cards, on the other hand, may require a membership to waive the annual fee.
• 5% cash back on Amazon.com purchases: One of the biggest benefits of this card is the consistently high rewards rate on purchases made at Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market. When you use your Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature credit card at these retailers, you get 5% back each time. There are no rotating bonus categories to complicate your life. Plus, you’ll get 2% cash back on your purchases at gas stations, pharmacies, and restaurants.
• Easy redemption when shopping: When you use this card, you can easily redeem your rewards while shopping on Amazon.com. In fact, your rewards balance will be visible to you, and you can choose to use your cash back to pay for all or part of your purchase during checkout.
• No foreign transaction fees: With this card, you don’t have to worry about foreign transaction fees when traveling abroad. And since it’s a Visa card, it’s widely accepted around the world.

Disadvantages Explained

• Requires paid Amazon Prime membership to receive full benefits: Although you don’t have to pay an annual fee for the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature credit card, you must maintain a Prime membership to receive the full 5% and 10% benefits. Currently, a Prime subscription costs $139 per year. At this rate, if you spend at least $2,380 on Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market each year, you will have recouped the cost of your Prime membership.
• No 0% APR introductory offer: This card does not have a 0% APR introductory offer. So if you’re shopping for a balance transfer card, you might want to look elsewhere. For example, the American Express Blue Cash Everyday card has no annual fee and offers 0% APR on purchases for 15 months.
• Single low offer: Although you will receive a $100 Amazon gift card when you are approved for this card, this is a fairly low one-time offer, even for a cashback card with no annual fee. For example, Capital One’s SavorOne Rewards Card offers a $200 bonus after spending $500 within the first 3 months of account opening, with no annual fee.

The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature credit card, with its 5% cash back on purchases at Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market, is ideal for people who do a lot of their shopping at these retailers.

The extra cash back on restaurant, gas station, and drug store purchases also makes this card attractive if those make up a large portion of your spending.

Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card Bonus

The bonus for this card is below average at $100. (When you’re approved, you’ll receive a $100 Amazon.com gift card, which is instantly loaded into your account.) Many other cash back cards, including those with no annual fee, offer higher cash rewards. high.

Reward Earnings Details

This card offers 5% cash back on purchases made at Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market. Plus, you can earn 2% cash back at restaurants, gas stations, and pharmacies. All other purchases receive 1% cash back.

Reward Redemption Details

You can redeem your rewards using Shop with Points on Amazon.com. When you choose your payment method at checkout, you’ll select your Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature credit card, and you’ll automatically see how many points you have and how that translates to cash. You can then choose to use all or a portion of your available rewards to pay for your purchase.

Every 100 points is worth $1 on Amazon.com, making each point worth a penny.

It is also possible to redeem your points through Chase, for gift cards, cash back and travel, again at a value of one cent per point.

Transfer of points

You cannot directly transfer your Amazon reward points to airlines or other partners. However, you can use points to purchase trips through the Chase website.

How to maximize your rewards

The easiest way to maximize your rewards with this card is to do as much of your spending as possible on Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market to earn the 5% cash back. There are no earnings limits.

Average case

Amazon Prime members spend an average of $1,371 per year at Whole Foods, according to a 2017 analysis by 1010Data. Additionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2020, the average household spent $1,568 on gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil. It also reports that the average household spent $2,375 on food outside the home.

At these average rates, the 5% cash back on spending at Whole Foods Market would add up to $68.55, and the 2% cash back on gas and restaurants would add another $78.86. That’s a total of $147.41 in cash back from those three categories alone.

Even after offsetting the Prime membership cost of $139, that average household would come out about $28.41 up front. And that still doesn’t take into account the purchases they make on Amazon.com.

Ambitious case

The more you spend on Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market, the bigger your cash back rewards. For instance:

• The average household spends $4,942 a year on groceries. Transferring all of that to Whole Foods Market would mean a cashback of $247.10.
• The average household also spends $1,434 on clothing and services. Shifting these expenses to Amazon.com would result in up to $71.70 in cash back.
• Finally, the average household spends $646 per year on personal care products, which, if purchased entirely from Amazon.com, would bring in an additional $32.30 in cash.

The 5% cash back on all of these daily purchases combined would total $351.10. A family can also make some of their major purchases, such as computers, TVs, and furniture on Amazon.com and earn 5% cash back. These types of purchases could easily increase their annual spend by an additional $2,000, resulting in an additional $100 cash back. After factoring in the cost of a Prime subscription, the household would be $332.10 upfront, and that doesn’t include their other purchases that earned 2% or 1% rewards.

Exceptional Benefits of the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card

• Consistent 5% Cash Back on Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market
• Up to 25% extra cash back on select Amazon.com items with exclusive offers for Prime cardholders, on top of the usual 5% cash back
• Possibility to shop easily with your points
• Purchase Protection*
• Special rates at over 900 luxury hotels with the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection

*Level of eligibility and benefits vary by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Underwritten by AMEX insurance company.

Standard Benefits

• Zero Fraud Liability
• Car Rental Collision Damage Waiver
• No foreign transaction fees
• Travel assistance

Cardholder Experience

Ratings on Amazon.com show this card receiving 4.3 stars out of 5. 70% of reviews gave it 5 stars, while 9% gave it 1 star.

Chase, which issues the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature credit card, received a score of 807 out of 1,000 in JD Power’s 2021 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study, two points below the national issuer average of 809 .

In general, this card offers a fairly standard cardholder experience. Many of its benefits also come with other Visa Signature cards. The experience is likely to be better for cardholders who redeem their rewards through the Amazon store with points.

Cardholders can manage their account online through Chase and can contact Chase by calling the number on the back of their card.

Security functions

As with many other credit cards, you can expect zero fraud liability with this card and you will not be held liable for unauthorized purchases. If you report a lost or stolen card, you may receive an emergency replacement.

Fees to watch

Although there is no annual fee, be aware that you must be a Prime member and pay $139 per year. Of course, a Prime membership also offers other benefits that you may find useful.

Other fees for this card match those of many competing credit cards.

Our opinion

If you shop frequently at Amazon.com and shop a lot at Whole Foods Market, this card, with its 5% cash back and no maximum, can be a valuable addition to your wallet. Plus, the 2% cash back on purchases at gas stations, pharmacies, and restaurants also offers the potential for big rewards.

However, if you don’t expect to do a lot of shopping on Amazon.com or Whole Foods Market, the American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card, with its 6% cash back at US supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year ) and its streaming services, 3% at US gas stations and transit services, and 1% on all other purchases might be a good bet. There’s a $95 annual fee, but that’s still less than a Prime membership.

If you’re more interested in consistent travel rewards, Capital One offers the Venture Card, which provides 2X points for every dollar spent anywhere. As with the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card, there is an annual fee of $95.

Ultimately, the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature credit card is a good choice for people who do a lot of their shopping on Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market, especially if they’re already paying for a Prime membership anyway.