Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying.
Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying.
Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying.
What credit score do I need to get approved for the Prime Card?
Like most rewards cards, you’ll need good or better credit to be a likely candidate for approval for the Prime card. However, most issuers take a number of factors into consideration in addition to your credit score, including your income and other debt obligations.
Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying.
How can I redeem rewards with the Prime card?
You can redeem rewards at checkout for Amazon purchases, for a statement credit for your Prime card, for gift cards, or to book travel through Chase.
What credit score do I need to get approved for the Prime Card?
Like most rewards cards, you’ll need good or better credit to be a likely candidate for approval for the Prime card. However, most issuers take a number of factors into consideration in addition to your credit score, including your income and other debt obligations.
Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying.
Is the Prime card a credit card?
Yes, Amazon’s Prime card is a Visa Signature card which means you can use it anywhere Visa is accepted.
How can I redeem rewards with the Prime card?
You can redeem rewards at checkout for Amazon purchases, for a statement credit for your Prime card, for gift cards, or to book travel through Chase.
What credit score do I need to get approved for the Prime Card?
Like most rewards cards, you’ll need good or better credit to be a likely candidate for approval for the Prime card. However, most issuers take a number of factors into consideration in addition to your credit score, including your income and other debt obligations.
Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying.
Is Amazon Prime free with the Prime card?
No, the Prime Visa card does not include a free Amazon Prime membership. Amazon Prime membership is currently $14.99 a month or $139 annually
Is the Prime card a credit card?
Yes, Amazon’s Prime card is a Visa Signature card which means you can use it anywhere Visa is accepted.
How can I redeem rewards with the Prime card?
You can redeem rewards at checkout for Amazon purchases, for a statement credit for your Prime card, for gift cards, or to book travel through Chase.
What credit score do I need to get approved for the Prime Card?
Like most rewards cards, you’ll need good or better credit to be a likely candidate for approval for the Prime card. However, most issuers take a number of factors into consideration in addition to your credit score, including your income and other debt obligations.
Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying.
If you rarely shop with Amazon, you’re better off with a card that earns high rewards in the areas where you spend the most. Even if you spend a lot on Whole Foods shopping without any Amazon orders, you’re still likely to find greater value in a card that earns high rewards on grocery shopping in general, freeing you up to shop at other food stores.
Prime Visa: How to earn rewards
The Prime Visa earns rewards at the following rates:
- 5% back on Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and Chase Travel℠ purchases with an eligible Prime membership.
- 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
- 1% back on all other purchases
New cardholders are eligible to receive a $150 Amazon Gift Card instantly upon approval exclusively for Prime members, which will be loaded into their Amazon.com account. An welcome bonus you can use that day is an unusual feature.
How to redeem Prime Visa rewards
The points earned on the Prime Visa are worth a penny per point for a variety of options, so redeeming 10,000 points would be worth $100. Here’s what you can do with your earnings.
Shop with points
You can redeem your points earned from previous purchases on the card toward future purchases on Amazon.com. A point is worth a penny this way and there’s no minimum redemption amount. Although this is likely the way many people will choose to use their points due to the ease of use, it’s worth pointing out that a more valuable use is to apply your rewards as a statement credit to your card balance so you earn points on every purchase. When you use your points to pay for an Amazon purchase, you won’t earn any points on that purchase.
You can also buy gift cards through Amazon for a wide variety of merchants using your points.
Redeem points for a statement credit
As mentioned above, this is likely the best use of your rewards earned on the card. A point is worth a penny when redeemed this way and you can pay yourself back for your Amazon purchase while still earning points for the buy. You aren’t limited to just redeeming rewards for an Amazon purchase, you can choose to redeem your rewards from the card at any time and in any amount as a statement credit.
Redeem to a bank account
If you’d prefer to have the money in hand, you can have your rewards deposited into an eligible U.S. checking or savings account. You either make this redemption online through your account or by calling the number on the back of your card.
Redeem points for travel through Chase
You can redeem your rewards to book travel through Chase Travel. This includes flights, hotels, cruises, and rental cars . A point is also worth a penny when redeemed this way. Although these rewards can be redeemed for travel through Chase, they are not the same as Chase Ultimate Rewards and cannot be combined with the earnings from other Chase cards. Additionally, you cannot transfer Amazon points to any of Chase’s travel loyalty partners.
Additional benefits
- Auto rental collision damage waiver: Receive secondary rental coverage on most cars when you decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card.
- Baggage delay insurance: If your baggage is delayed by more than six hours, you can get reimbursed for essential purchases up to $100 a day for up to three days.
- Extended warranty protection: Extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.
- Lost luggage reimbursement: You’re covered up to $3,000 per passenger If you or an immediate family member check or carry on luggage that is damaged or lost by the carrier.
- Purchase protection: New purchases are covered for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim.
- Travel accident insurance: You are eligible for accidental death or dismemberment coverage of up to $500,000 when you pay for your air, bus, train, or cruise transportation with your card.
Credit cards similar to the Prime Visa
Maybe you don’t shop with Amazon enough to justify the annual Prime membership fee or you simply don’t want to be forced to pay a fee to unlock the benefits of the Prime Card. There are other options to consider that can still earn strong rewards with the online retailer.
 Prime Visa |
 Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card |
 U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards™ Visa Signature® Card |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | Annual fee | Annual fee |
| $0 annual fee, requires Prime membership to apply | $0 | $0 intro annual fee for the first year ($95 year thereafter) |
| Welcome bonus | Welcome bonus | Welcome bonus |
| $150 Amazon Gift Card instantly upon approval exclusively for Prime members | $50 Amazon.com gift card | $250 bonus after you spend $2,000 in eligible purchases within the first 120 days of account opening. |
| Rewards | Rewards | Rewards |
| 5% back on Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and Chase Travel℠ purchases with an eligible Prime membership 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and local transit and commuting, including rideshare 1% back on all other purchases |
3% cash back on Amazon.com and Whole Foods purchases 2% cash back on gas station, restaurant, and drugstore purchases 1% cash back on general purchases |
6% cash back on your first $1,500 in combined eligible purchases each quarter with two retailers you choose 3% cash back on your first $1,500 in eligible purchases on your choice of one everyday category (like wholesale clubs, gas and EV charging stations, bills and utilities)1.5% cash back on all other eligible purchases |
| Our Take | Our Take | Our Take |
The Prime Visa is an ideal cash-back card for those who know their delivery driver on a first-name basis. With an industry-leading 5% cash back on Amazon and Whole Foods purchases it’s a no-brainer as long as you’re already paying for a Prime Membership. |
The Amazon Visa only makes sense if you spend heavily at Amazon and Whole Foods but are firmly against buying Prime membership. | The US Bank requires effort to maximize, but if you're willing to play the game you could end up a winner. |
|
Learn more at Cardratings.com |
Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card vs. Prime Visa
The Amazon Visa could satisfy those who shop occasionally at Amazon.com but can’t stomach the idea of paying the Prime membership fee. The card has no annual fee, no membership requirement and earns 3% back on Amazon and Chase Travel purchases compared to the Prime Card’s 5% in those areas. The Amazon Visa earns the same rate as the Prime Visa of 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and local transit and commuting and 1% on all other spending. All of the other card perks, benefits and redemption options are identical.
You’d have to spend $2,780 a year in one or more of the Prime Card’s 5% categories to break even with the cost of the $139 annual Prime membership. That should help you determine if the Amazon Visa or the Prime Visa is a better fit for your spending habits.
U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards™ Visa Signature® Card vs. Prime Visa
If you’re willing to put in a little work, the U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards Card could work out to be even more lucrative on your Amazon spending than an Amazon cobranded credit card. For an annual fee of $0 in the first year, $95 after that, the card earns up to 6% on your first $1,500 spent quarterly with two participating retailers of your choice, 5.5% on prepaid hotel reservations and car rentals made through the U.S. Bank Travel Rewards Center, 3% cash back on the first $1,500 you spend each quarter in an eligible category you choose, and 1.5% back on everything else.
There’s a long list of categories eligible to choose from for the 6% rewards but let’s assume you want it to always be Amazon. That means over the course of a year, you can earn 6% back up on a total of $6,000 in spending at Amazon or $360 in Amazon spending compared to earning $300 on $6,000 in spending at 5% from the Prime Card. But most people’s spending habits are not split into neat quarterly chunks and tracking the multiple rates and spending caps on the U.S. Shopper Cash Rewards card is best left for those who enjoy tracking the minutiae of how to maximize every dollar spent.
Choosing between these two cards will depend on which one more closely aligns with your spending habits, including how you spend in areas that aren’t Amazon along with your willingness to pay attention to category caps.
Is the Prime Visa right for you?
Every day can feel like Prime Day with the Prime Visa. If Amazon spending is a prominent part of your budget and you already have a Prime membership, adding this card into the mix is a smart move to earn high rewards.
If a Prime membership is unappealing to you, or you only shop a few times a year with Amazon, look to a card that offers benefits and rewards that you’ll get more value from.
Frequently asked questions
Is Amazon Prime free with the Prime card?
No, the Prime Visa card does not include a free Amazon Prime membership. Amazon Prime membership is currently $14.99 a month or $139 annually
Is the Prime card a credit card?
Yes, Amazon’s Prime card is a Visa Signature card which means you can use it anywhere Visa is accepted.
How can I redeem rewards with the Prime card?
You can redeem rewards at checkout for Amazon purchases, for a statement credit for your Prime card, for gift cards, or to book travel through Chase.
What credit score do I need to get approved for the Prime Card?
Like most rewards cards, you’ll need good or better credit to be a likely candidate for approval for the Prime card. However, most issuers take a number of factors into consideration in addition to your credit score, including your income and other debt obligations.
Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying.
Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Our Take: Amazon addicts will find ample reason to love the Prime Visa , most of all the generous 5% cash-back rewards on spending.
Pros
- Unlimited 5% back on Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and Chase Travel℠ purchases with an eligible Prime membership
- No annual fee for the card with Prime membership
- Amazon gift card upon card approval with no purchase required
Cons
- A $139 annual Amazon Prime membership is required to apply for the card
- The 5% rate on groceries only applies to Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods, not other supermarkets
- There’s no intro APR offer on purchases
Prime Visa: Overview
Amazon’s Prime Visa card should be in the hands of pretty much anyone who has a Prime membership and shops at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh and/or Whole Foods with regularity. The main event with this card is the high rewards rate on those categories of purchases. If you’re already forking over for the annual Prime membership fee, you might as well earn top-notch rewards on your spending with the brand.
The Prime card is basically a store card, but Amazon isn’t just any old store. The uber-retailer is known for being able to deliver almost anything from alarm clocks to zucchini, and get it to you within a day or two in most urban and suburban areas. Prime membership grants you the speediest of deliveries without any additional costs, along with some other valuable benefits and services. Whether or not Prime membership is right for you is for you to decide. But you need it to apply for the Prime Visa, and the card is the only one that earns an unlimited 5% back at Amazon, Whole Foods and Chase Travel.
The Prime Visa’s earnings in other categories are fine, but if you’re doing most of your spending on groceries that aren’t at Whole Foods or shelling out a bundle for gas, dining and transit you’d be better off getting a card that earns high reward on spending in those areas. There’s a plain-Jane Amazon Visa too that doesn’t require a Prime membership. But the rewards are watered-down to 3% back on Amazon spending, Whole Foods and Chase Travel purchases. If you spend a decent amount of money choosing to “Amazon it”, the Prime Card (and Prime membership) will likely both streamline your shopping and save you money in the form of rewards.
Who is the Prime Visa good for?
If your doorstep is greeted with cardboard boxes on the daily, or if you fill most of your shopping needs with a few clicks, the Prime Visa is a worthwhile option to score high rewards on shopping with Amazon that can translate into cash back in your pocket.
Who shouldn’t get the Prime Visa?
If you rarely shop with Amazon, you’re better off with a card that earns high rewards in the areas where you spend the most. Even if you spend a lot on Whole Foods shopping without any Amazon orders, you’re still likely to find greater value in a card that earns high rewards on grocery shopping in general, freeing you up to shop at other food stores.
Prime Visa: How to earn rewards
The Prime Visa earns rewards at the following rates:
- 5% back on Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and Chase Travel℠ purchases with an eligible Prime membership.
- 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
- 1% back on all other purchases
New cardholders are eligible to receive a $150 Amazon Gift Card instantly upon approval exclusively for Prime members, which will be loaded into their Amazon.com account. An welcome bonus you can use that day is an unusual feature.
How to redeem Prime Visa rewards
The points earned on the Prime Visa are worth a penny per point for a variety of options, so redeeming 10,000 points would be worth $100. Here’s what you can do with your earnings.
Shop with points
You can redeem your points earned from previous purchases on the card toward future purchases on Amazon.com. A point is worth a penny this way and there’s no minimum redemption amount. Although this is likely the way many people will choose to use their points due to the ease of use, it’s worth pointing out that a more valuable use is to apply your rewards as a statement credit to your card balance so you earn points on every purchase. When you use your points to pay for an Amazon purchase, you won’t earn any points on that purchase.
You can also buy gift cards through Amazon for a wide variety of merchants using your points.
Redeem points for a statement credit
As mentioned above, this is likely the best use of your rewards earned on the card. A point is worth a penny when redeemed this way and you can pay yourself back for your Amazon purchase while still earning points for the buy. You aren’t limited to just redeeming rewards for an Amazon purchase, you can choose to redeem your rewards from the card at any time and in any amount as a statement credit.
Redeem to a bank account
If you’d prefer to have the money in hand, you can have your rewards deposited into an eligible U.S. checking or savings account. You either make this redemption online through your account or by calling the number on the back of your card.
Redeem points for travel through Chase
You can redeem your rewards to book travel through Chase Travel. This includes flights, hotels, cruises, and rental cars . A point is also worth a penny when redeemed this way. Although these rewards can be redeemed for travel through Chase, they are not the same as Chase Ultimate Rewards and cannot be combined with the earnings from other Chase cards. Additionally, you cannot transfer Amazon points to any of Chase’s travel loyalty partners.
Additional benefits
- Auto rental collision damage waiver: Receive secondary rental coverage on most cars when you decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card.
- Baggage delay insurance: If your baggage is delayed by more than six hours, you can get reimbursed for essential purchases up to $100 a day for up to three days.
- Extended warranty protection: Extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.
- Lost luggage reimbursement: You’re covered up to $3,000 per passenger If you or an immediate family member check or carry on luggage that is damaged or lost by the carrier.
- Purchase protection: New purchases are covered for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim.
- Travel accident insurance: You are eligible for accidental death or dismemberment coverage of up to $500,000 when you pay for your air, bus, train, or cruise transportation with your card.
Credit cards similar to the Prime Visa
Maybe you don’t shop with Amazon enough to justify the annual Prime membership fee or you simply don’t want to be forced to pay a fee to unlock the benefits of the Prime Card. There are other options to consider that can still earn strong rewards with the online retailer.
|
Prime Visa |
Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card |
U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards™ Visa Signature® Card |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | Annual fee | Annual fee |
| $0 annual fee, requires Prime membership to apply | $0 | $0 intro annual fee for the first year ($95 year thereafter) |
| Welcome bonus | Welcome bonus | Welcome bonus |
| $150 Amazon Gift Card instantly upon approval exclusively for Prime members | $50 Amazon.com gift card | $250 bonus after you spend $2,000 in eligible purchases within the first 120 days of account opening. |
| Rewards | Rewards | Rewards |
| 5% back on Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and Chase Travel℠ purchases with an eligible Prime membership 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and local transit and commuting, including rideshare 1% back on all other purchases |
3% cash back on Amazon.com and Whole Foods purchases 2% cash back on gas station, restaurant, and drugstore purchases 1% cash back on general purchases |
6% cash back on your first $1,500 in combined eligible purchases each quarter with two retailers you choose 3% cash back on your first $1,500 in eligible purchases on your choice of one everyday category (like wholesale clubs, gas and EV charging stations, bills and utilities)1.5% cash back on all other eligible purchases |
| Our Take | Our Take | Our Take |
The Prime Visa is an ideal cash-back card for those who know their delivery driver on a first-name basis. With an industry-leading 5% cash back on Amazon and Whole Foods purchases it’s a no-brainer as long as you’re already paying for a Prime Membership. |
The Amazon Visa only makes sense if you spend heavily at Amazon and Whole Foods but are firmly against buying Prime membership. | The US Bank requires effort to maximize, but if you're willing to play the game you could end up a winner. |
|
Learn more at Cardratings.com |
Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card vs. Prime Visa
The Amazon Visa could satisfy those who shop occasionally at Amazon.com but can’t stomach the idea of paying the Prime membership fee. The card has no annual fee, no membership requirement and earns 3% back on Amazon and Chase Travel purchases compared to the Prime Card’s 5% in those areas. The Amazon Visa earns the same rate as the Prime Visa of 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and local transit and commuting and 1% on all other spending. All of the other card perks, benefits and redemption options are identical.
You’d have to spend $2,780 a year in one or more of the Prime Card’s 5% categories to break even with the cost of the $139 annual Prime membership. That should help you determine if the Amazon Visa or the Prime Visa is a better fit for your spending habits.
U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards™ Visa Signature® Card vs. Prime Visa
If you’re willing to put in a little work, the U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards Card could work out to be even more lucrative on your Amazon spending than an Amazon cobranded credit card. For an annual fee of $0 in the first year, $95 after that, the card earns up to 6% on your first $1,500 spent quarterly with two participating retailers of your choice, 5.5% on prepaid hotel reservations and car rentals made through the U.S. Bank Travel Rewards Center, 3% cash back on the first $1,500 you spend each quarter in an eligible category you choose, and 1.5% back on everything else.
There’s a long list of categories eligible to choose from for the 6% rewards but let’s assume you want it to always be Amazon. That means over the course of a year, you can earn 6% back up on a total of $6,000 in spending at Amazon or $360 in Amazon spending compared to earning $300 on $6,000 in spending at 5% from the Prime Card. But most people’s spending habits are not split into neat quarterly chunks and tracking the multiple rates and spending caps on the U.S. Shopper Cash Rewards card is best left for those who enjoy tracking the minutiae of how to maximize every dollar spent.
Choosing between these two cards will depend on which one more closely aligns with your spending habits, including how you spend in areas that aren’t Amazon along with your willingness to pay attention to category caps.
Is the Prime Visa right for you?
Every day can feel like Prime Day with the Prime Visa. If Amazon spending is a prominent part of your budget and you already have a Prime membership, adding this card into the mix is a smart move to earn high rewards.
If a Prime membership is unappealing to you, or you only shop a few times a year with Amazon, look to a card that offers benefits and rewards that you’ll get more value from.
Frequently asked questions
Is Amazon Prime free with the Prime card?
No, the Prime Visa card does not include a free Amazon Prime membership. Amazon Prime membership is currently $14.99 a month or $139 annually
Is the Prime card a credit card?
Yes, Amazon’s Prime card is a Visa Signature card which means you can use it anywhere Visa is accepted.
How can I redeem rewards with the Prime card?
You can redeem rewards at checkout for Amazon purchases, for a statement credit for your Prime card, for gift cards, or to book travel through Chase.
What credit score do I need to get approved for the Prime Card?
Like most rewards cards, you’ll need good or better credit to be a likely candidate for approval for the Prime card. However, most issuers take a number of factors into consideration in addition to your credit score, including your income and other debt obligations.
Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying.
