Amazon Prime Secured Card review: Build credit and earn rewards at Amazon.com
The no-annual-fee Amazon Prime Secured Card lets users build credit while earning 2 percent back on eligible Amazon purchases with a security deposit of at least $100.
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Snapshot
3.4
Bottom line
The Amazon Prime Secured Card helps build credit while earning 2 percent back on eligible Amazon purchases. Although there’s no annual fee, you’ll need a security deposit of at least $100 and an Amazon Prime membership to get value from this card. If you have decent credit, you may want to consider other options.
Regular APR
10.00% Non-variable
Annual fee
N/A
4.5
Cardholder rating
Extra perks
Meets needs
Online tools
Customer service
3.4
Bankrate score
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Amazon Prime Secured Card overview
The Amazon Prime Secured Card might be a good option for people with a low credit score or no credit history. It's a secured credit card, so you'll need to put down a security deposit as collateral, but it could more accessible than other secured cards since you only need a minimum deposit of $100.
You’ll also get free credit tracking tools that can make it easier to see your credit progress until you can upgrade to the unsecured Amazon Prime Store Card. This secured card is ideal if you frequently shop with Amazon, earning 2 percent back with an eligible Prime membership. However, unlike other secured cards, this is a closed-loop store credit card, meaning it will only work at Amazon.com and Amazon physical stores. As a result, you might not be able to build credit and earn rewards if you don’t shop at Amazon often. Other credit-building cards work at all merchants, offer better rewards rates and have shorter card upgrade review periods.
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Rewards
- 2 percent back on Amazon purchases with an eligible Prime membership
Expert Appraisal: Unimpressive
See our expert analysis -
Rates and fees
- Annual fee: $0
- 10.00 percent fixed APR
- Late fee: up to $5
- Minimum interest charge of no less than $1.50
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis -
Credit-building features
- Access to TransUnion CreditView™ Dashboard to track your credit score
- Reports to all three major credit bureaus
- Potential to upgrade to Amazon Store Card after 12 months
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
Other cardholder perks
- Zero fraud liability
- Equal monthly payments (based on credit approval)
Expert Appraisal: Unimpressive
See our expert analysis
Amazon Prime Secured Card pros and cons
Pros
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This no-annual-fee card has low rates and fees.
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You can upgrade to the Store Card after 12 months of responsible card use to earn a higher rewards rate.
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This card reports to all three credit bureaus to help build your credit score.
Cons
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You need a $139 Amazon Prime membership to earn rewards with this card.
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This card doesn’t work outside of Amazon.com or Amazon physical stores, so your rewards options are limited.
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You’ll need a hefty security deposit to get a higher credit limit.
Why you might want the Amazon Prime Secured Card
The Amazon Prime Secured Card is a good choice for Amazon Prime members building credit, leading to possible upgrades after 12 months of responsible card use. You’ll also have low rates and fees if you carry a balance or miss a payment.
Credit-building: Solid features
Like many other secured cards for building credit, the Amazon Prime Secured helps you improve your credit score. You’ll have access to the TransUnion CreditView dashboard, which lets you track your credit score and use educational resources like credit scenario simulators. However, TransUnion uses the VantageScore credit scoring model instead of the more popular FICO Score. If a creditor uses a FICO-based model, they may base their lending decisions on something different than what you saw from TransUnion.
After you use the Amazon Prime Secured Card responsibly for 12 months, you may be eligible to upgrade to an Amazon Store Card. You can qualify by maintaining a good credit utilization ratio and paying your bill on time. If you upgrade to the Amazon Store Card, you’ll get your full security deposit refunded and boost your rewards rate on Amazon purchases to 5 percent back. However, the Amazon Store Card is still a closed-loop store card, so you can’t use it for purchases outside Amazon.
Rates and fees: Low APR and late fees
The Amazon Prime Secured Card has significantly lower rates and fees than other credit-building cards. It has a late fee of just $5, which is very low compared to other cards. Also, instead of a variable interest rate, the card has a fixed 10.00 percent APR, which is considerably lower than the average credit card APR. This is an excellent deal since inflation has increased the prime rate and variable APRs.
The card’s minimum security deposit and maximum credit limit are also terrific. The $100 minimum security deposit (based on approval) is well below the typical $200 to $300 minimum. The maximum deposit of up to $1,000 can give you extra room to maintain a positive credit utilization ratio if you are willing to deposit that much.
However, keep in mind that while the card has no annual fee, you’ll need an Amazon Prime membership, which costs at least $139 per year if you pay annually or up to about $180 if you pay monthly. Without Prime, you won’t earn any rewards on this card. This membership fee can be difficult to offset with 2 percent rewards since you’d need to spend almost $600 monthly on Amazon purchases to break even.
Why you might want a different secured card
If you aren’t an Amazon Prime member, then you won't be eligible for this card but similar cards could be available to you. Also, unlike some secured cards or store cards, there’s no added value of a welcome offer or intro APR to give any immediate benefit.
Rewards rate: Better options are available
As an Amazon Prime member, you’ll earn 2 percent back on all purchases at Amazon.com and Amazon physical stores. While you’ll earn rewards at physical stores like Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go and Amazon Style, you won’t earn rewards at Whole Foods Market, which has more widespread locations than the others.
You can redeem rewards directly for Amazon.com purchases during checkout, as a one-time statement credit or you can set up your account to automatically redeem your available rewards balance for a statement credit at the end of your billing cycle. Although this card earns points, Amazon displays your rewards balance as a dollar amount. Each point is worth $1 apiece, so your 2 percent back rewards rate translates to 2 cents (0.002 points) per dollar you spend.
Only earning 2 percent back isn’t the best rate for Amazon spending. Other Amazon credit cards have more robust reward rates. For example, with a fair credit score (above 640), you could qualify for the closed-loop Amazon Prime Store Card and earn 5 percent back on Amazon purchases, skipping the 12 months to upgrade this secured card to the Store Card.
Bankrate’s take: It could take up to two billing cycles for your earned rewards to appear in your account and up to another two billing cycles to receive your rewards if you redeem for a statement credit. That’s much longer than other rewards cards, which typically add earned rewards to your account within a few days up to the end of the billing cycle you earned them.
Perks: Equal monthly payment offer could up your balance
Amazon occasionally offers an “equal monthly payment” introductory 0 percent APR (10 percent APR after the intro offer ends) on eligible purchases at checkout if you don’t have a balance on your card. However, calling these “0 percent APR” offers may be misleading since it doesn’t work like a typical 0 percent intro APR on purchases. Instead, it adds your payment plan’s fixed monthly payment to your balance’s original minimum payment.
This means it’s more like deferred interest since you could accrue additional costs if you don’t pay off the balance by the end of the intro period. If you don’t, instead of paying interest, a monthly late fee is added to your card’s minimum payment until you pay off your balance. The total additional late fees also charge the 10.00 percent APR. These offers can add significant costs to your balance, so assess the payment plan carefully before accepting.
Intro offers: No added value
The Amazon Prime Secured Card doesn’t have a welcome bonus or intro APR offers, typical for secured credit cards. However, some retail cards offer introductory rewards rates, financing options or other perks, so it’s disappointing that Amazon doesn’t offer any incentive for a card that exclusively works in its marketplace.
If you are interested in a welcome offer, your best bet is likely the Discover it® Secured Credit Card. It matches all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year.
How the Amazon Prime Secured Card compares to other secured cards
Before you sign up for the Amazon Prime Secured Card, you should check out other secured credit cards to compare how they stack up. These options also help you build credit and earn rewards with no annual fee.
Amazon Secured Card
Annual fee
Intro offer
Rewards rate
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Intro Offer: Unlimited Cashback Match - only from Discover. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year! There's no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a dollar-for-dollar match.
Rewards rate
Earn 2% cash back at Gas Stations and Restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, automatically. Earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card
Annual fee
Intro offer
Rewards rate
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Who is the Amazon Prime Secured Card right for?
As this is a closed-loop card that works only within the Amazon brand, its ideal user is a frequent Amazon shopper who may need to work on their credit.
Bankrate’s Take — Is the Amazon Prime Secured Card worth it?
If you want to build credit and already have an Amazon Prime membership, the Amazon Prime Secured Card could be ideal for you. You can only use it for Amazon purchases, which could be either limiting or beneficial based on your needs.
Plenty of other secured credit cards have more substantial rewards and credit-building features. Still, the Amazon Prime Secured Card might be a great fit if you’re a frequent Amazon shopper and want a low-interest rewards card to build credit.
How we rated this card
Our proprietary card rating system takes into account a mix of factors when scoring credit cards for students and people building credit, including each card’s cost, APR, credit-building tools and more.
We analyzed over 50 of the most popular cards designed for students and people with no credit history, bad credit or a fair credit score and scored each based on where its key features stood in relation to others in its category.
Here are some of the key factors that gave this card its score:
Frequently asked questions
What cardholders think
Amazon Secured Card
In May 2024, Bankrate collaborated with third-party SliceMR to survey 6160 cardholders nationwide. Bankrate and Slice MR collected, averaged and presented website analytics and cardholder responses to six questions on a 5-point scale. Responses are based on individual cardholder’s product details, and therefore cannot be verified for accuracy. Users received an incentive for their feedback. User ratings are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by credit card issuers, nor do these ratings reflect Bankrate’s own reviews of these cards.
Community Reviews
* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.
