Is the Prime Visa or the Amazon Store Card better?

The Prime Visa, for almost everyone. Both reach 5% at Amazon with an eligible Prime membership, but the Visa also earns 2% and 1% elsewhere and works anywhere Visa is accepted. The Store Card wins only when the Visa is not available to you.

Which Amazon card is easier to get approved for?

The Store Card is reported as more accessible on fair credit, with starting limits commonly around $400. It is issued by Synchrony rather than Chase, which is why the answer can differ for the same applicant.

Do both Amazon cards give 5% back?

Both reach 5% at Amazon for cardholders with an eligible Prime membership. The difference is everywhere else: the Visa keeps earning, and the Store Card cannot be used at all.

Can you have both the Prime Visa and the Amazon Store Card?

They are separate products from separate issuers, so holding both is possible. It is rarely useful, because on Amazon purchases they earn the same rate and only one of them earns anywhere else.

Compare

Prime Visa vs Amazon Store Card

Same headline rate, completely different card. For most people the Visa wins; there is one reader for whom it does not.

The short answer

Prime Visa or Amazon Store Card?

The Prime Visa, for almost everyone. Both reach 5% at Amazon with an eligible Prime membership, but the Visa also earns on everything else and works anywhere Visa is accepted. The Store Card wins in exactly one case: when Chase will not approve you and Synchrony will.

Spec by spec

The comparison table

The two cards on the specs that decide the answer.
	Prime Visa	Amazon Store Card
Issuer	Chase	Synchrony Bank
Network	Visa — open loop	Closed loop, no network
Where it works	Anywhere Visa is accepted	Amazon and Amazon-owned services only
Amazon rate with eligible Prime	5% back	5%
Other earning	2% back on gas, restaurants, transit; 1% back elsewhere	None — the card cannot be used elsewhere
Annual fee	$0	$0
Purchase APR	18.74%–29.99% variable	29.49% variable
Foreign transaction fee	None	Not applicable — Amazon only
Welcome offer	a $150 Amazon Gift Card loaded into your Amazon Gift Card balance on approval	Varies; check the current offer
Promotional financing	Not a feature of this card	Equal Monthly Payments only since February 2026
Reported approval tier	A general-purpose Chase card	More accessible on fair credit

Sources: Chase — Prime Visa · Firstcard — Amazon Visa vs Store Card · verified 2026-08-11 Includes figures confirmed against a corroborating source because the issuer’s own page could not be reached.

Reading the table

Three rows do all the work

Row 3: where it works

This is the whole comparison in one line. The Store Card works for Amazon purchases only — Amazon.com, Amazon Go, Amazon Fresh, Audible, AWS, Alexa Skills, and your Amazon Prime membership charge (Yahoo Finance — Amazon Store Card review, secondary source, verified 2026-08-11). The Prime Visa works wherever Visa does. When two cards pay the same rate in one shop and only one of them exists outside that shop, the argument is over unless something else intervenes.

Row 5: other earning

The Prime Visa earns 2% back (Chase — Prime Visa, verified 2026-08-11) at gas stations, restaurants, and local transit and commuting (including rideshare) and 1% back (Chase — Prime Visa, verified 2026-08-11) on everything else. The Store Card earns nothing on any of that, not because its rate is worse but because there is no transaction to earn on. For a household spending a few thousand a year on fuel and restaurants, that gap is real money.

Row 10: promotional financing

Until this year, this row was the Store Card’s counter-argument. Deferred-interest promotional financing was a genuine feature the Visa did not have, and it justified holding a closed-loop card. From the week of February 16, 2026 (Firstcard — Amazon Visa vs Store Card, secondary source, verified 2026-08-11), Synchrony stopped offering deferred-interest promotional financing on new Amazon Store Card purchases; Equal Monthly Payments remains (Firstcard — Amazon Visa vs Store Card, secondary source, verified 2026-08-11). What replaced it, and why the replacement is safer.

Any comparison written before February 2026 — and a number written since — still weighs the Store Card’s financing as a live advantage. It is not, on new purchases.

The verdict

Who each card is for

Choose the Prime Visa if you can be approved for it

It matches the Store Card at Amazon, adds earning everywhere else, works as a normal card, and charges $0 (Chase — Prime Visa, verified 2026-08-11). There is no configuration of spending where the closed-loop card beats it on the merits. The full break-even arithmetic.

Choose the Amazon Store Card if you cannot

It is reported as more accessible on fair credit, with starting limits commonly around $400 (Firstcard — Amazon Visa vs Store Card, secondary source, verified 2026-08-11), and it reaches the same 5% at Amazon through a different bank. If the alternative is no card, a card that works in the one shop you use most is a good outcome, and it reports payment history like any other account. What to do first if a Chase application has already been declined.

Choose neither if you do not have Prime

Both cards’ headline rates are conditional on an eligible membership. Without one, the right Amazon card is the Amazon Visa, which earns 3% at Amazon with no membership attached.

Where the answer is no

Skip this if…

You carry a balance on either card
The Prime Visa is 18.74%–29.99% variable and the Store Card is 29.49% variable. At those rates interest overtakes 5% rewards within weeks, and the comparison above stops mattering.
You were choosing the Store Card for its financing
Deferred-interest promotional financing ended on new purchases in the week of February 16, 2026. If that was the deciding factor, the decision has changed.
You are thinking of applying for both
Two hard credit inquiries for two cards that pay the same rate in the same shop. Apply for the Visa, and treat the Store Card as the fallback rather than the pair.

See the current Prime Visa offer Or read the Store Card breakdown

#ad New cardmembers only, approval is Chase's decision, and the 5% rate requires an eligible Prime membership. We earn a flat fee if you sign up through this link, at no cost to you. How we’re paid.

Common questions

Is the Prime Visa or the Amazon Store Card better?: The Prime Visa, for almost everyone. Both reach 5% at Amazon with an eligible Prime membership, but the Visa also earns 2% and 1% elsewhere and works anywhere Visa is accepted. The Store Card wins only when the Visa is not available to you.
Which Amazon card is easier to get approved for?: The Store Card is reported as more accessible on fair credit, with starting limits commonly around $400. It is issued by Synchrony rather than Chase, which is why the answer can differ for the same applicant.
Do both Amazon cards give 5% back?: Both reach 5% at Amazon for cardholders with an eligible Prime membership. The difference is everywhere else: the Visa keeps earning, and the Store Card cannot be used at all.
Can you have both the Prime Visa and the Amazon Store Card?: They are separate products from separate issuers, so holding both is possible. It is rarely useful, because on Amazon purchases they earn the same rate and only one of them earns anywhere else.
Does the Store Card still have special financing?: Not on new purchases. Synchrony stopped offering deferred-interest promotional financing on new Amazon Store Card purchases from the week of 16 February 2026, leaving Equal Monthly Payments.

The 2026 Store Card financing change — the detail that moved this comparison from close to one-sided
If the Prime Visa said no — the situation where the Store Card becomes the right answer
The difference between every Amazon card — the wider reference, including the two cards this page leaves out

Written by Stephen V. — An enthusiast who's genuinely into this. I read the terms, compile the published rates, and do the math. No lab coat, no credentials, no test lab.

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Last verified: 2026-08-11