Amazon Classic and Platinum Credit Cards to Be Axed Next January

18

March 2022
Amazon Classic and Platinum Credit Cards to Be Axed Next January

Amazon Classic and Platinum Credit Cards to Be Axed Next January

If you have an Amazon Classic or Platinum card, it will stop working in January 2023, as partner NewDay terminates its partnership with the online retail giant - a blow to customers who were earning cashback on their Amazon spending with the cards.

Amazon currently offers two credit cards through NewDay: the rewards card Platinum Mastercard and the credit-builder card Classic Mastercard. 

An estimated 800,000 Brits use the cards and will be affected by their closure. They'll be able to keep using the cards until January, but Amazon Reward Points they've accrued will have to be spent before then or forfeited.

Currently, Amazon Platinum cardholders earn 0.75 Amazon Reward Points points for every £1 spent at Amazon (Prime subscribers earn even more: 1.5 points for every £1 spent at Amazon) and 0.25 points for every £1 spent elsewhere. For every 1,000 points you earn, you’ll receive a £10 Amazon gift card. That means the Platinum card offers up to 1.5% cashback on Amazon purchases and 0.25% cashback elsewhere.

The Amazon Classic Mastercard is designed to help customers build their credit ratings. Users don’t earn reward points as they spend. But if they make at least one transaction per month, make all of their monthly repayments on time, and stay within their credit limit for 12 months they're upgraded to the points-earning Platinum card.

With both cards, you’ll receive a £20 Amazon gift card with a successful application. The Platinum card has an APR of 21.9%, while the Classic card offers an APR of 29.9% but come with 0% interest for the first three months. There are no annual or monthly fees for either card.

Unfortunately, the cards are facing the chop next January after card provider New Day confirmed it had terminated its partnership with Amazon after “extensive commercial discussions.”

NewDay chief financial officer Paul Sheriff said: “We have enjoyed a successful partnership with Amazon over the past few years and we wish them all the best for the future.”

The Mirror reports that NewDay exited the partnership because it wasn’t lucrative for the company.

Cardholders can continue to use their Amazon Platinum or Classic cards as normal until the partnership officially ends in January, on a date that hasn’t been confirmed yet. However, all reward points earned on the Platinum card will become worthless from January unless they’ve converted to an Amazon voucher beforehand. It’s unclear what will happen to points you have below the 1,000-point redemption threshold.

If you haven’t closed your Amazon card by next January, you’ll be automatically moved to a NewDay Pulse credit card. You’ll be sent a new card but will keep the same APR rate and credit limits as on your Amazon card. You also won’t face a credit check as you’re transferred.

The Pulse card will pay 1% cashback for the first three months and then 0.25% cashback on every transaction after that. However, your cashback earnings will be capped at £150 per year. There’s also no cashback boost on Amazon spending.

You can beat those cashback rates with other cashback credit cards on the market, especially if you spend a lot every year. For example, the American Express Platinum Everyday card pays 5% cashback for the first three months, capped at £100. After that, you’ll earn 0.5% on spending up to £10,000 and 1% cashback on spending over £10,000. However, you need to spend a minimum of £3,000 yearly to qualify for any cashback earnings.

Meanwhile, both the Lloyds cashback credit card and the Halifax cashback card give you 0.25% on spending up to £4,000 and then 0.5% for spending over £4,000. You’ll also get £20 cashback if you spend £1,000 within the first 90 days of opening the accounts.

Amazon hasn’t commented on the end of the partnership with NewDay or announced if it will launch relief cards with a new partner.

Sources