Here are the best credit cards for shopping on Amazon

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If you’re looking to maximize your savings and rewards when shopping on Amazon, then this list of credit cards should be your first stop. CNBC Select crunched the numbers to determine which cards provide the biggest benefit for Amazon shoppers (whether you use Prime or not) to help you click “add to cart” with confidence. Here are the best cards for shopping on Amazon.

Who’s this for? The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is a great option for families and individuals who spend a good amount on groceries and streaming subscriptions. Its welcome bonus offers a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your new card within the first six months.

Although the card doesn’t earn bonus rewards on online retail stores like Amazon, certain Amazon purchases will qualify for 6% cashback. Prime Video and Amazon music subscriptions qualify for 6% back under the streaming services category. Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh are reported to qualify as U.S. supermarket purchases (earn 6% on up to $6,000 per year, then 1%). Plus, you may be able to purchase Amazon gift cards at U.S. supermarkets to earn 6% cashback.

You can redeem your cash back for statement credits that directly reduce your account balance and help offset the cost of everyday purchases.

Who’s this for? The Prime Visa card rewards users with an unlimited 5% cash back for all purchases at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods and through Chase Travel.

In addition, you can get unlimited 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and and on local transit and commuting (including rideshare).

If you’ve been waiting for a reason to sign up for a $139 annual Amazon Prime membership, this card might be the deciding factor: New cardholders can currently get a $200 Amazon Gift Card instantly upon approval exclusively for Prime members.

Who’s this for? The Prime Store Card, available to those with a Prime membership, earns 5% back on Amazon.com purchases. However, unlike the other Amazon cards, you do not earn cash back at Whole Foods or any other purchase.

There’s an added benefit to this card if you’re looking for ways to pay for your orders over time: Cardholders have the option to forgo 5% cash back on their Amazon purchase over $150 in exchange for the ability to pay for their purchases over six, 12 or 24 months with 0% interest.

You need to be careful with this card: To avoid interest charges, you must make equal payments on time and in the full amount each month. If you don’t pay off the full amount by the end of your promotional period, you will have to pay deferred interest.

For example, say you purchase a new laptop for $700, you could split the payments up over 12 months, at roughly $58 per month. But if you take advantage of the financing, you won’t receive the 5% cash-back reward (worth $35) on that $700 purchase.

If you decide to take advantage of the interest-free financing, make sure you have a plan to pay off the balance in full before the promotional period ends so you don’t get whacked with high interest charges, thereby undoing any savings you enjoyed through your Prime membership.

Who’s this for? If you don’t have an Amazon Prime membership but still frequently use the website to shop, another option is the Amazon Visa.

This credit card offers 3% back at Amazon, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods and Chase Travel, along with 2% back at restaurants, gas stations and local transit and commuting and 1% on all other purchases, so you can earn plenty of rewards even if you’re not an everyday Amazon shopper.

To take advantage of Prime Day deals, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial membership of Prime and consider applying for the Amazon Visa card, which doesn’t require you to have a Prime membership.

New cardholders get a $50 Amazon gift card once their application is approved. This card also has no foreign transaction fee.

If you later decide to become a Prime member, you’ll be upgraded to the Prime version of this card, but you won’t qualify for the welcome bonus.

Who’s this for? If you want to stick with a credit card that earns rewards on all spending (not just Amazon and Whole Foods), and you love to travel, consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

If you’re planning to make a big purchase from Amazon, it could be a good way to help you earn the Sapphire Preferred card’s welcome bonus: New Sapphire Preferred cardholders can earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. (Read about the eligibility requirements.)

Although the card earns just 1X points on Amazon purchases, cardholders enjoy purchase protection and extended warranty protection. Purchase protection covers your purchases for 120 days against damage or theft, up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account. Meanwhile, the extended warranty protection adds an additional year for eligible warranties of three years or less.

Who’s this for? The Citi Double Cash® Card is for shoppers who want to maximize their money by earning 2% cash back on all spending everywhere (not just Amazon and Whole Foods).

Here’s how it works: Earn 1% cash back on purchases and 1% when you pay off your bill. That makes the card’s appeal almost universal, as there are no hoops to jump through or bonus categories to keep track of. Through 12/31/24, you can also earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked on the Citi Travel^SM portal.

There’s no annual fee and no limit to how much cash back you can earn. Cardholders can redeem cash back for statement credits, a mailed check or direct deposit, gift cards, travel or merchandise. Plus, if you have another Citi ThankYou® points earning card like the Citi Strata Premier^℠ Card (see rates and fees), you can transfer your points to all of Citi’s travel partners like Air Canada and Turkish Airlines, where you can maximize the value of your points.

Cardholders can benefit from 0% intro APR for the first 18 months on balance transfers (then a 19.24% – 29.24% variable APR). You have to initiate your balance transfer within 4 months of opening an account.

Who’s this for? Many of the best cash-back cards require good or excellent credit, but there are some options for people with fair/average credit that offer good cash-back rates.

One example is the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card that gives consumers a competitive 1.5% cash back on all purchases, with no limit on the amount of cash back you can earn. You can redeem cashback at any amount, without the typical $25 minimum of some other cards set. Plus, there are no foreign transaction fees if you use this card abroad.

You have two main ways to use credit card rewards when shopping on Amazon. The simplest method is to link your rewards account to your Amazon account and redeem points for purchases. This option is available with Discover, American Express, Chase, Citi, U.S. Bank, Bank of America, Bilt and more.

While linking your rewards to Amazon is a convenient way to use your points, you should proceed with caution. Using points to pay for Amazon items can give you less value than redeeming your points for cash back and using that cash back to pay for your Amazon charges. For example, you can redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for one cent per point for cash back. However, when you redeem Chase points directly with Amazon, the value per point drops to roughly 0.8 cents. This isn’t the case with all rewards, but it’s something to be aware of.

As you consider what card you want to use for Prime Day, pay attention to how rewarding is it for Amazon purchases. Ideally, you’ll want to choose a card that offers bonus rewards at Amazon. However, outside of co-branded Amazon cards, there aren’t many cards that offer additional points, miles or cash back at Amazon. Your next best option is to find a card with a high flat-rate return on every purchase, such as the Citi Double Cash, which offers a minimum of 2% back on every purchase (1% when you buy and 1% when you pay).

Keep in mind, that not all rewards are created equal. The value of a point or mile varies depending on what type of reward it is. Flexible travel rewards tend to have a higher value because you have more redemption options. Generally, earning American Express Membership Rewards points or Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be more lucrative than cash back. On the other hand, cash back is much simpler to redeem and with the top cash-back cards, you may be able to earn a better return.

If you’re looking to open a new card, Prime Day can be the perfect time to scoop up a deal and take a big chunk out of a new credit card’s welcome bonus spending requirement. The best intro bonuses can easily be worth $500 to $1,000, but they often require spending $4,000 or more within the first three months you have the card. If you can comfortably meet the spending requirement without going into credit card debt, that’s an amazing return on your spending.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best credit cards for Amazon.

To determine which cards offer the best value for Amazon purchases, CNBC Select analyzed over 250 major credit cards issued through FDIC-insured banks and NCUA-insured credit unions that are widely available in the U.S.  

We compared each card on a range of features, including rewards (e.g., cash back, points and miles), annual fees, welcome bonuses, introductory and standard APR and balance transfer fees and foreign transaction fees. We also considered additional perks (e.g., ongoing travel or merchant statement credits), cardholder protections (e.g., purchase protection, $0 liability protection and travel insurance), the application process when available (e.g., is there a credit pull or required credit score) and how easy it is to redeem points (e.g., are rewards are tied to a specific brand; if transferable, to how many/which partners, can you redeem for straight cash back). 
 
We also considered CNBC Select audience data when available, such as general demographics and engagement with our content and tools.  

For the cards that offered a rewards program, we considered consumer spending data forecasts from location intelligence firm Esri to determine where U.S. consumers are spending the most money, like on dining and travel. We used this to help determine what bonus categories are most useful for consumers. Since the value of a point or mile varies based on what they can be redeemed for, we also considered things like transferability and the ability to redeem for cash-back. 

When choosing the best credit cards for Amazon, we focused on earning rates for Amazon and other relevant benefits, such as purchase protections.

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For rates and fees for the Blue Cash Preferred Card, click here

Information about Amazon credit cards has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer prior to publication; if you purchase something through Select links, we may earn a commission.