Prime Visa
- Best for: Prime members who shop at Amazon and Whole Foods Market regularly
- What Sets It Apart: 5% for Prime members on Amazon, Whole Foods, and Chase Travel spending, with no fee for the card itself
- Welcome Offer: $150 Amazon gift card on approval
- Rewards: 5% back at Amazon, Whole Foods Market, and Chase Travel; 2% at gas stations, restaurants, and local transit; 1% on other purchases; rotating Prime Card Bonus offers of 10% or more on select Amazon items
- Features: Purchase protection and extended warranty
- Annual Fee: $0
- APR: 18.99% to 27.74% variable
- Cost: No foreign transaction fees; Prime membership needed for 5% ($139 a year or $14.99 a month for the standard plan)
- Pros: No annual card fee; rewards spendable at Amazon checkout as soon as the next day
- Cons: 5% rate requires Prime; 1% on purchases outside its categories; no 5% on Amazon Pay or international Amazon sites
Get the Prime Visa if you already pay for Prime and do much of your shopping at Amazon or Whole Foods Market. It pays 5% back on those purchases and charges no annual fee of its own. Without Prime, they earn 3%, and the extra 2% covers Prime’s $139 fee only if you spend heavily at Amazon.
Chase issues the card, known as the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature until 2023. Its 5% rate holds only while you keep an eligible Prime membership, which costs $139 a year or $14.99 a month for the standard plan, and the same purchases earn 3% without one.
Key Features
- 5% back at Amazon.com, Audible, Whole Foods Market, and on trips booked through Chase Travel while you have Prime
- 2% back at restaurants, gas stations, and local transit and commuting, rideshare included; 1% on everything else
- $150 Amazon gift card on approval for Prime members
- Points worth 1 cent each toward Amazon purchases, cash, gift cards, or travel
- $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees
Pros
- 5% at Amazon and Whole Foods with no annual card fee
- Rewards ready to spend at Amazon checkout as soon as the next day, with no minimum
- Prime renewals charged to the card earn 5%, or $6.95 on the $139 annual plan
- Purchase protection for 120 days (90 in New York), up to $500 per item, and an extra year on eligible warranties of three years or less
Cons
- The 5% rate requires Prime, a $139-a-year cost for anyone not already paying it
- Just 1% on purchases outside its bonus categories, half what a 2% flat-rate card pays
- Interest at an 18.99% to 27.74% variable annual rate (APR) on balances you don’t pay off
- No 5% on Amazon Pay purchases at other stores or on Amazon’s international sites
For Prime members, every $1,000 charged at Amazon and Whole Foods earns $50, so use the card there and pair it with a 2% card for everything else. Shoppers without Prime get 3% at Amazon and Whole Foods from the Amazon Visa, and paying $139 for Prime just to earn this card’s 5% instead pays off only once that spending passes about $6,950 a year.
Learn more about the Prime Visa or see how it compares to the best credit cards for shopping on Amazon.
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