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Amazon has launched a new reward credit card that offers shoppers’ points to be redeemed on the site.
The Amazon Platinum Mastercard offers 0.75 points for every £1 spent on Amazon and 0.5 points per £1 on purchases everywhere else.
Once shoppers have 1,000 points a £10 Amazon gift card is loaded into the account linked to the credit card.
This is far from a generous rate of reward: you’ll need to spend at least £1,333 on Amazon or £2,000 everywhere else to get the £10, which can then only be spent on Amazon.
Amazon is currently offering a £10 gift card to new cardholders.
Verdict
The new card from Amazon has been launched at a time when many credit card providers have been cutting back on rewards and introducing higher fees because of EU regulations introduced in December 2015.
Capital One, Halifax and Santander all cut the perks of their credit cards in the last two years blaming EU rules.
The Amazon card isn’t the most generous of reward cards and the redeemed points can only be spent buying goods on the site. Amazon also charges a higher than average interest rate of 21.9pc when a rate of 18.9pc is available.
Other cards which offer restricted rewards, such as supermarket credit cards, may be more attractive depending on where you shop.
For example, Marks and Spencer Bank’s credit card offers customers one point for every £1 spent in M&S and one point for every £5 spent elsewhere.
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A £5 voucher is worth 500 points – shoppers will need to spend £500 in M&S for the points to add up. However, you’d need to make purchases of £2,500 elsewhere for a voucher of the same value.
M&S is also offering a bonus 500 points to new customers.
However, Charlotte Nelson, of Moneyfacts, the data firm, suggested cashback credit card might be better bets for many.
She said: "You don’t need to worry about points expiring or changing at any point. Plus, you know you can use the cash anywhere."
American Express’s Platinum Everyday credit card offers new cardholders 5pc cashback up to £100 for the first three months. If you spent £1,333 or £2,000 (which would get you the £10 Amazon giftcard) you would earn £66.65 or £100 in cash.
Amex is also offers 3pc cashback on Amazon spend for three months for those who apply for the card before January 31. This is limited to £15.
After three months customers will only be able to earn up to 1pc cashback.
For more of our favourite cashback credit cards see here.
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