You have been using the Amazon Prime Credit Card for a while. You love its rewards but you’re not keen on how much you’ve been spending because of it, so you wish to cancel it.
Should you cancel your Amazon Prime Credit Card?
There are some things to consider before you go ahead and cancel your card, such as how it will affect your credit.
With that in mind, let’s explore everything you need to know about the Amazon Prime Credit Card, as well as how to (and if you should) cancel it. We’ll start by looking at what the card has to offer if you sign up for it, which is useful if you’re tempted to open a card.
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What To Know About The Amazon Prime Credit Card
If you want to get an Amazon Prime Credit Card, it’s good to know what its pros and cons are.
This card is called the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card. It’s regarded as one of the best online shopping credit cards as a result of offering high rewards.
You have to be an Amazon Prime member in order to be eligible for this card, however, and that comes with a membership cost of $119 per year (or $12.99 per month).
However, if you’re already an Amazon Prime member, there are many good reasons why you would want to own this credit card. You will gain 5% back on your Whole Foods and Amazon.com purchases, 2% back on purchases from restaurants, drugstores, and gas stations, and 1% back on all other purchases.
You can also redeem these rewards on eligible Amazon purchases, gift cards, travel, and even to get some cash back. The fact that you can achieve the same value from this card with cash back as you would if you made eligible Amazon purchases makes the credit card so much more versatile than other store-branded credit cards.
In addition to the above, you can also use this credit card wherever Visa is accepted.
Do You Need Strong Credit To Get Approved For The Card?
Having fair credit is considered enough in order to ensure you get approved for the card, but it’s always a good idea to have as good a credit rating as possible to increase your chances of being approved.
A fair credit rating is considered between 580 and 669 for FICO as well as 650 and 699 for VantageScore. Bear in mind that besides for your credit history and score, Amazon will also take other important factors into consideration when deciding if they should issue you a card, such as your monthly rent/mortgage payments and income.
Amazon Rewards Credit Card Vs Amazon Prime Rewards Credit Card
Amazon has taken their benefits up a notch with the Amazon Prime Rewards Credit Card, so you might be tempted to opt this card or upgrade it from your Amazon Rewards Credit Card.
What are the differences between these cards that you should know about (especially since they sound so similar)?
- While the regular Amazon Rewards Card offers a $50 gift card when you are approved for the card, the Amazon Prime Card offers $70.
- When it comes to Whole Foods discounts, the Amazon Rewards Card offers 3% back, but Amazon Prime offers 5%.
- In addition to the above, it still gives you the same benefits that you could enjoy with the ordinary Amazon card, such as when it comes to the 1% cash back and 2% cash back rewards that we mentioned earlier.
What Happens To Your Amazon Prime Credit Card If You Cancel Your Prime Membership?
If you want to cancel your Amazon Prime membership, you might worry that it will have a negative effect on your Amazon Prime Credit Card.
However, this doesn’t mean that your credit card will become useless. You will still be able to use your card, but you won’t be able to claim as many rewards and benefits. For instance, your rate of rewards will decrease from 5% cash back to 3%.
You will also have to exchange your Amazon Prime Visa Signature Card for the Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card.
Can The Amazon Credit Card Affect Your Credit Score?
As with any retail card, you might worry that closing it will affect your credit score. Whenever you close a credit card, it will have a temporary impact on your credit score.
That said, don’t let that fear stop you from closing your Amazon Prime Credit Card if that’s what you want to do, because you can prevent a knock to your credit score from happening. Before you close your credit card, make sure that you have reduced your credit balance first – aim for $0 – as this will decrease or completely prevent harm to your credit score.
How To Cancel Amazon Prime Credit Card
Although this credit card is one of the best cards to own for retail and other purchases, you might want to cancel it. How do you go about doing this?
The easiest way to cancel your Amazon Prime Credit Card is to call customer service on this number: 888-247-4080. By calling Chase, the credit card issuer, you will be able to cancel your card within minutes.
You won’t be charged with closing your account, but if you have any outstanding balances on the card you will have to settle them.
It’s easy to cancel your card whenever you want, but you should consider if it might just be better to keep it open.
Should You Leave Your Credit Card Open?
If you’re responsible with your credit card, you might consider keeping it open instead of cancelling it.
There are some good reasons to do this. For starters, it can be a positive boost to your credit score, especially if the card displays that you have a good history of making payments on time.
If you’ve had the card for a while, this can also help to improve your credit score, so you might want to reconsider cancelling it because doing so will decrease the average age of your credit.
Finally, if this card is your only source of credit, you should leave it open and just make sure you control your spending so that you don’t end up with a financial problem on your hands.
If your card doesn’t have an annual fee, such as with the Amazon Prime Credit Card, it’s also a good idea to keep it open, and this is especially valuable if you’ve had the card for a long time. This will help to improve your credit report, as we mentioned earlier, but it also serves another important benefit: it will improve your credit utilization ratio.
Let’s not forget: if you keep your Amazon Prime Credit Card open, you always have the chance to use it if you need it in an emergency or if you get the opportunity to reap its rewards more than you used to, such as if you start traveling more and can finally use the perks that used to go to waste.
Related Questions
What is credit utilization ratio?
Credit utilization ratio is the amount of credit that you’re using divided by the amount of credit you have available, or how much you owe divided by your credit limit.
A lower credit utilization ratio is healthy, because it shows that you’re keeping your credit under control.
What’s a good credit utilization ratio to have?
It’s recommended to ensure your credit utilization rate stays below 30%. So, if your credit limit is currently $20,000, make sure your balance doesn’t go over $6,000.
Conclusion
If you have an Amazon Prime Credit Card, you might not want to use it anymore. Perhaps you’re just tempted to purchase too many things and it’s making you spend a lot of money, so you might consider cancelling it.
In this article, we’ve looked at how to go about cancelling your credit card, as well as what you need to know about factors that influence your card and cancelling credit cards in general.
In addition to the above, we’ve also looked at what you need to know about the Amazon Prime Credit Card so that you consider signing up to its valuable benefits. It’s so worth it if you regularly shop on Amazon or want to make use of rewards in your everyday life, such as when traveling.
