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I marvel at the amount of time shopping on Amazon has saved me over the years. The convenience simply can't be beat.
But if you could save more than just time when you shop on Amazon? Well, I'd never set foot in a big-box store again.
Enter the Prime Visa(Rates and fees), which earns rewards that can be redeemed for savings at checkout. Despite its $0 annual fee, though, the Prime card's likely not worth it for everyone who shops on Amazon.
As its name implies, you'll need to pay the $139 annual Prime membership fee to even qualify for the card, and its that membership that will also set you up to maximize its rewards-earning potential
But if your recycling's piled high with Amazon boxes every week, there might not be a more rewarding credit card out there.
Prime Visa basics
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Prime Visa
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| Annual fee | Technically $0, but an eligible Prime membership ($139 per year) is required for this card |
| Sign-up bonus | $150 Amazon Gift Card instantly upon approval exclusively for Prime members |
| Rewards rate | Unlimited 5% back at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and on Chase Travel purchases with an eligible Prime membership, unlimited 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and on local transit and commuting (including rideshare), and unlimited 1% on all other purchases |
| Other benefits |
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Pay over time
In addition to being a rewards powerhouse for Amazon Prime shoppers, the Prime Visa offers different options for making Amazon purchases and paying for them over time.
For eligible purchases, you can choose an option for equal monthly payments at checkout. Depending on the total purchase amount, the monthly payments could be spread out over 6 or 12 months.
You won't earn rewards for choosing to make equal monthly payments, but you can avoid any interest on these purchases as long as you make your payments.
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Prime Visa
Current Offer
Get a $150 Amazon Gift Card instantly upon approval exclusively for Prime members
Annual Fee
$0
Rewards Rate
Unlimited 5% back at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and on Chase Travel purchases with an eligible Prime membership, unlimited 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and on local transit and commuting (including rideshare), and unlimited 1% on all other purchases
How to make the Prime Visa card worth it
When comparing credit cards, it's typically easy to figure out how much you would have to spend to offset a card's annual fee. The calculus for the Prime Visa is a little different.
While you won't be paying an annual fee on the card, per se, you will need to justify the $139 per year it will cost to maintain your Prime membership. Luckily, there are a few ways to do that.
In the first year: Earn the welcome bonus to offset Prime fee
The Prime Visa, the card's welcome bonus is a $150 Amazon Gift Card instantly upon approval exclusively for Prime members, which is more than the $139 Amazon Prime annual membership fee.
Keep in mind that it's not necessarily a fair comparison to only judge the value of your Prime membership in relation to having this credit card account.
Amazon Prime offers a bunch of benefits that have nothing to do with your credit card rewards, including fast and free deliveries, access to Prime Video streaming, Amazon Photos, Amazon Music Prime, and Amazon Luna. These benefits together could easily offset your annual membership fee.
But to make things simple, we're ignoring these benefits in our calculations.
From the second year on: Spend, spend, spend
Unfortunately, you don't get another welcome bonus for every year of card membership, which means you'll need to find other ways to justify the Prime fee from your second year of card membership on.
Here's how much you would have to spend with the Prime Visa to offset the $139 fee after the first year:
- Earning 5% from Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and Chase Travel purchases with an eligible Prime membership: For purchases in this category, you would have to spend $2,780 ($139 / 0.05) annually.
- Earning 2% from gas stations, restaurants, and on local transit and commuting (including rideshare): For purchases in this category, you would have to spend $6,950 ($139 / 0.02) annually.
- Earning 1% from all other purchases: For purchases in this category, you would have to spend $13,900 ($139 / 0.01) annually.
You're now talking about spending between $2,780 and $13,900 per year, depending on how you use the card. Divided by 12, that's about $232 to $1,158 per month.
That's more than the typical Amazon Prime member spends on the platform annually, which was roughly $1,170 in 2024 according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.
But again, these scenarios only account for spending on the Prime Visa and don't account for other benefits. You may also be a particularly prolific Amazon shopper and have no problem spending $232 per month on Prime purchases alone.
Check out our Prime Visa review for an even more in-depth look at this card.
Would the Amazon Visa be better?
If you don't want to worry about justifying your Prime membership fee every year, but still want to earn a little extra when you buy from the online retailer, the Amazon Visa could be a good alternative.
The Amazon Visa doesn't require Prime membership to get approved, so you're saving $139 annually right out the gate. Plus, all things considered, the Amazon Visa isn't much different from the Prime Visa.
But you do get what you pay for (or don't pay for, in this case).
Amazon Visa basics
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Amazon Visa
|
|
| Annual fee | $0 |
| Sign-up bonus | Earn a $60 Amazon gift card upon approval of credit card application |
| Rewards rate | 3% cash back at Amazon.com, Whole Foods Market, and on Chase Travel purchases; 2% cash back at restaurants and gas stations, and on local transit and commuting; and 1% cash back on all other purchases |
With the Amazon Visa, the welcome bonus is lower, and the earning rate maxes out 3% cash back, but the bonus categories are the same.
You won't have to spend a certain amount of money per year to offset your Prime membership like you might with the Prime Visa, so If you don't spend loads of money on Amazon each year, but do shop there occasionally, this card might make sense for you.
Learn more in our Amazon Visa review.
Alternatives to Amazon credit cards
This may surprise you, but some of the best credit cards for shopping on Amazon aren't Amazon credit cards at all.
For example, if your spending habits are spread out between Amazon and other popular retailers, you might want to consider one of these cashback cards with an overall higher earning rate.
Chase Freedom Unlimited®
One possible alternative is the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. This card offers 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.
The key here is the 1.5% cash back on all other purchases. This type of increased earning rate for general expenses could prove useful if your purchases are spread out between different categories. You can also transfer Chase Freedom rewards points to a Chase Sapphire credit card for a boost to your travel redemptions.
For more information, check out our Chase Freedom Unlimited review.
Citi Double Cash® Card
If you want to avoid bonus categories altogether, it's easy to earn cash back with the Citi Double Cash® Card.
This card offers 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases; plus, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel. That's not quite the 5% you could earn with the Amazon Prime Visa card, but you also aren't limited to Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and Chase Travel purchases with an eligible Prime membership. In many situations, earning up to 2% on your purchases could make more sense.
For more information, check out our Citi Double Cash Card review.
FAQs
Can I use my Amazon credit card anywhere?
It depends on which Amazon credit card you have because Amazon store cards aren't the same as Amazon Visa cards. The major difference between Amazon store cards vs. Amazon Visa cards is that the store cards will only work on Amazon and their card issuer is Synchrony. The Amazon Visa cards will work anywhere Visa credit cards are accepted and their card issuer is Chase.
Does an Amazon credit card improve your credit score?
Like virtually any credit card, an Amazon credit card could help improve your credit score if you aren't missing any payments and don't carry high balances. But like most credit cards, late payments and high credit utilization (typically using over 30% of your available credit limit) could negatively impact your credit score.
What are the benefits of an Amazon credit card?
Amazon credit cards are designed to offer rewards for online shopping, specifically on Amazon. They typically don't have annual fees (though some require an Amazon Prime membership) and might offer bonus rewards for other non-Amazon expenses, such as grocery or restaurant purchases. If Amazon is one of your top places to shop, an Amazon credit card could make sense for you.
Bottom line
If you're an avid Amazon Prime shopper, the Prime Visa would be a great credit card to have on your roster.
Since Amazon sells basically everything you could ever want or need, it's likely not too difficult for some people to offset the Prime membership fee and then some.
But if you spread your purchases out across retailers (whether online or brick-and-mortar), a general cash back card is typically the best choice for earning rewards on your everyday purchases.
Check out our list of the best cashback credit cards for some options.
Prime Visa
Current Offer
Get a $150 Amazon Gift Card instantly upon approval exclusively for Prime members
Annual Fee
$0
Rewards Rate
Unlimited 5% back at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and on Chase Travel purchases with an eligible Prime membership, unlimited 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and on local transit and commuting (including rideshare), and unlimited 1% on all other purchases
