Amazon to close its two UK Mastercard credit cards

Some HfP readers are likely to have an Amazon Platinum Mastercard which they have been using where American Express is not accepted.

You didn’t earn any miles or points, but the cashback reward (paid in Amazon credit) was in line with the best options available.

Amazon and NewDay, the card issuer, have now agreed to part ways. It seems that NewDay negotiated a good deal when it agreed its original contract, because it is retaining the cardholder base.

All cardholders will be swapped to a ‘NewDay Pulse’ card in January 2023. This will be a cashback card, paying a very generous 1% for your first three months and then 0.25% thereafter.

The only snag is that cashback will be capped at £150 per year, albeit that you would need to be spending £60,000 per year to earn that.

This is comparable to what you currently receive. At present:

• Amazon Platinum cardholders get 0.25p for every £1 spent outside Amazon, paid in Amazon credit (Amazon spend earns 0.75% back for general customers and 1.5% back for Prime members)

• Amazon Classic cardholders – which hopefully don’t include any HfP readers – don’t earn any rewards (!) but do get an Amazon voucher for signing up

On the face of it, you might be tempted to stick with the NewDay Pulse replacement card. I don’t recommend that.

Bizarrely, the most generous cashback Visa or Mastercard in the UK is now the new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard.

You earn 1 Avios per £1 spent. You can transfer these to Nectar at the rate of 1 Avios = 1.6 Nectar points. As 1 Nectar is worth 0.5p, you are getting (1.6 x 0.5p) 0.8p of Nectar points for every £1 you spend.

This is triple the return of the NewDay Pulse card or the current Amazon Platinum Mastercard.

Our full review of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard is here and you can apply here. That said, it makes more sense to get the paid card with a 25,000 Avios bonus and then trade down to the free version later. Our review of the paid Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard is here.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – March 2023 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Successfully apply for either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards by 2nd April 2023 and you will be entered into a free draw to win ONE MILLION AVIOS! Full details are on the application forms here (free) and here (paid). This competition is exclusive to Head for Points readers. T&C apply.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

Until 30th March 2023, the sign up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to 120,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. The bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. T&C apply, see the application forms for details.

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.