Amazon launches a new UK credit card with Barclaycard

Amazon has gone back into the UK consumer credit card market with a new product operated by Barclaycard.

It is decent in terms of benefits. However, we do not recommend HfP readers get this card because it will block you from the Barclaycard Avios credit cards and their generous sign-up bonuses.

It may, on the other hand, be one that you could recommend to a non-traveller looking for a free non-Amex credit card with decent benefits.

You can see details on the Amazon website here. The APR is 28.9% variable.

The key features are:

• no annual fee
• £20 Amazon voucher as a sign-up bonus
• 0.5% back on spending, paid in Amazon vouchers, for the first year
• 0.25% back on spending, paid in Amazon vouchers, from Year 2
• 1% back on Amazon spending
• 2% back on Amazon Prime Day and other ‘event’ days

You CANNOT use this card with Apple Pay.

The 0.5% return in Year 1 makes the card more valuable than major ‘non travel’ reward cards such as the Marks & Spencer, Sainsburys, Tesco and John Lewis products. These tend to pay you just 0.1% to 0.25% of your spending. Even after Year 1, 0.25% is at the top end of what you could expect to earn from a consumer card like this.

(Of course, it would make more sense to get the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard, which earns 1 Avios per £1, and transfer the Avios into Nectar points at 1:1. This would give you 0.5% back every year, not just for the first year. Your average member of the public won’t go for this, however.)

The sign-up rule is:

“You won’t be able to apply for the Amazon Barclaycard if you already have a Barclaycard, or have had one in the last 6 months. Barclaycard will be opening applications for existing Barclaycard customers in the future.”

The last line is interesting. This is the first time that we’ve seen Barclays publicly state what we have been telling readers for a couple of years – that there is a major IT upgrade going on at Barclaycard which will allow you to hold multiple cards at the same time from 2025.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – September 2024 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: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to 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:

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.