Difference Between Amazon Cards & Approvals

[Jazee]

I spend a ton of money with Amazon and just have always ignored the credit card offers.  I was reading the CC Approvals forum and my head was left sort of spinning trying to figure the difference between the different versions seeing people referring to the  "store" card, Prime card and different banks like Chase, Synchrony, etc.

Seeing how many people shop at Amazon, it would be SO useful if someone could write up a summary on what the options are and the main differences and if there are differences in approval requirements?  It sure would be of interest to me!

I'm expecting some updates to happen on my score shortly that should bring put me at about a 680 (not sure I would bother applying with anything less than that.)  I don't care about the rate as I would not carry a high balance, just the approval for a "fair credit" score and most importantly the best rewards.  

[Anonymous]

There are 2 Amazon cobranded credit cards:

1.  The Synchrony store card.

2.  The Chase Amazon Visa.

There are 2 different card designs and cashback amounts for Amazon Prime and non-Prime members, but the accounts themselves are the same.

The Synchrony store card is probably easier to get approved for if your scores aren't great, and CLIs are easier to obtain (and are usually SP... Chase always HPs for CLIs).  But the Chase card can be used anywhere Visa is accepted.

Rewards are 5% on both cards for Prime members.  If you're a non Prime member, the Chase card gives you 3% while the Synchrony card offers no cash back (though other promotions may be available)  The Synchrony card also offers 0% financing on certain, more expensive items.  The Chase card is supposed to be offering these as well, but AFAIK that hasn't quite happened yet, but it should be soon.

The Chase card also offers cashback on non Amazon purchases... 2% on gas and restaurants and 1% on everything else.

Chase's APR is better... ranges from around 15-26% depending on creditworthiness.  The Synchrony card has the same higher APR (26.99%)  regardless of credit score.  If you intend to carry balances, the Chase card may be a better choice, unless you take advantage of the 0% financing offers.

If your credit allows, I'd go with the Chase card over the Synchrony one.

[Jazee]

That's a great summary! Thank you!

Well now I find myself in another conundrum.  I'm about to apply for an Auto Loan.  I was able to determine the hard credit pulls for CC and Auto Loans are not lumped together in a 14 day period to accommodate "rate shopping."  In addition the inquiry is factored into the FICO score for 12 months and I'd like to keep my score maximized going forward even though I don't anticipate applying for any loans for the next 12 months after this Auto Loan.

The 5% is really juice though as I spend about $15K AT LEAST at Amazon every year, that's a cool $750 in my pocket - would pay a couple months worth of my auto loan payment! LOL.

I would think it would be risky to assume applying for any particular product with any particular lender will FOR SURE be a soft pull.

So seems to me though if I really want that 5% cash back, apply for the Auto Loan and wait until I'm approved, then apply for the Synchrony Amazon card and cross my fingers it will be a soft credit pull whether I get approved or not.

I know getting the two new accounts will bring the average age of my accounts down.  But if I don't expect to be applying for any more loans for a year, the hit on the lower age average is going to happen whether I get the Amazon card now or later.  Getting it "over with" now my be best as then I'd have a higher average account age a  year from now and then both inquiries would roll off.

[Jnbmom]

If you apply it will be a hard pull.

[Jazee]

I suppose I need to remind myself, a hard pull typically lowers a score like 5 points (from what I read) so worse case, I am denied (after I get my Auto Loan) and my score is 5 points lower for the next year or two.  Big deal.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

There are 2 Amazon cobranded credit cards:

1.  The Synchrony store card.

2.  The Chase Amazon Visa.

There are 2 different card designs and cashback amounts for Amazon Prime and non-Prime members, but the accounts themselves are the same.

The Synchrony store card is probably easier to get approved for if your scores aren't great, and CLIs are easier to obtain (and are usually SP... Chase always HPs for CLIs).  But the Chase card can be used anywhere Visa is accepted.

Rewards are 5% on both cards for Prime members.  If you're a non Prime member, the Chase card gives you 3% while the Synchrony card offers no cash back (though other promotions may be available)  The Synchrony card also offers 0% financing on certain, more expensive items.  The Chase card is supposed to be offering these as well, but AFAIK that hasn't quite happened yet, but it should be soon.

The Chase card also offers cashback on non Amazon purchases... 2% on gas and restaurants and 1% on everything else.

Chase's APR is better... ranges from around 15-26% depending on creditworthiness.  The Synchrony card has the same higher APR (26.99%)  regardless of credit score.  If you intend to carry balances, the Chase card may be a better choice, unless you take advantage of the 0% financing offers.

If your credit allows, I'd go with the Chase card over the Synchrony one.

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+ if you use Whole Foods the prime Chase card gives 5% for purchases at WF, an additional 10% off sales prices, and some deep discounts on items that change weekly.

[SBR249]

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@Jazee wrote:

I was able to determine the hard credit pulls for CC and Auto Loans are not lumped together in a 14 day period to accommodate "rate shopping." 

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How were you able to determine this? AFAIK, when you are rate shopping all the hard pulls will still show up on your CR, it's just that the FICO algorithm will only factor all the rate shopping HPs in a short period as one HP for score calculation. So they won't all be lumped into one listing but will be scored as if they are. 

As for the effects of HPs on FICOs, it's not a linear additive effect of ~5pt/HP, it's more like a binned effect where if you hit certain thresholds your scores will go down by approximately a certain amount. So 4 HPs will unlikely impact your scores more than 3 HPs but 10 HPs will hit it harder than 5 HPs (for illustrative purposes, I don't know what the actual threshold or bins are). 

[staticvoidmain]

There is the store card and the co-branded Visa card.

The Amazon Store Card can only be used in Amazon. 

- Amazon.com Store Card gets 0% rewards. I'll avoid this.

- Amazon Prime Store Card gets 5% on Amazon purchases. Needs prime.

- Both cards are issued by Synchrony bank.

The Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card, can be used everywhere, like a regular credit card.

- Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card gets 3% on Amazon and whole foods, 2% on gas, food, etc., 1% evereywhere else.

- Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card - same as above, but gets you back 5%. Needs Prime.

- Issued by Chase.

There are other differences, in rates, and financing terms. If you are a Prime member, I highly recommend the Prime cards. Also, I would get the Visa card because you can use it for other purchases as well. And between Synchrony and Chase, I would choose Chase. I really do not see the point of the store card when Amazon has a cobranded card.

[HeavenOhio]

The Synchrony store card is relatively easy to get. To get the Chase Visa, it's best that your oldest card be at least a year old and that you don't have too many new accounts. A score of 680 should be fine for either card.

[Anonymous]

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@staticvoidmain wrote:

There is the store card and the co-branded Visa card.

The Amazon Store Card can only be used in Amazon. 

- Amazon.com Store Card gets 0% rewards. I'll avoid this.

- Amazon Prime Store Card gets 5% on Amazon purchases. Needs prime.

- Both cards are issued by Synchrony bank.

The Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card, can be used everywhere, like a regular credit card.

- Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card gets 3% on Amazon and whole foods, 2% on gas, food, etc., 1% evereywhere else.

- Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card - same as above, but gets you back 5%. Needs Prime.

- Issued by Chase.

There are other differences, in rates, and financing terms. If you are a Prime member, I highly recommend the Prime cards. Also, I would get the Visa card because you can use it for other purchases as well. And between Synchrony and Chase, I would choose Chase. I really do not see the point of the store card when Amazon has a cobranded card.

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Not everyone is able to get the cobranded Visa. Take my own case: I burned Chase for $13K+ on a Chase Visa in my 2014 BK, so I'm pretty much foreclosed from applying to them directly for a card until the BK leaves the report, and even thereafter it may be quite difficult depending on whether they choose to hold a grudge against me. I'm given to understand that cobranded cards such as Amazon are somewhat more realistic prospects, but they're still going to be difficult to get, will likely require manual recon, and might well be bucketed so that CLI's are impossible to get.  So for me, at least for the next few years anyway, the Prime store card is it.