You need to be quick if you fancy a card that can help you spread the cost of purchases and pay you cashback to boot!
Time is running out to get your hands on the American Express Platinum Cashback Card Exclusive.
The card, which offers 16 months of 0% interest on purchases as well as 1.25% unlimited cashback for every £1 spent. The card, which comes with a £25 annual fee (18.7% representative APR), is being withdrawn on 4th July.
So if you are looking for a piece of plastic that can help you spread the cost of one big purchase or lots of smaller ones, and get paid for the privilege, you’ll need to act quickly.
You can only apply for the American Express Platinum Cashback Card Exclusive through selected partners including lovemoney.com, but you’ll need to have a household income of at least £20,000 and a decent credit history to be successful.
How it compares
Credit cards which allow you to earn cashback rarely come with decent 0% offers on purchases.
This means anything you spend needs to be paid off each month to ensure what you earn in cashback isn’t wiped out by interest charges.
So the American Express Platinum Cashback Card Exclusive is pretty unique.
However, the Nationwide Select Credit Card and the Santander 123 Credit Card are two other cards you could go for that also offer the chance to spread the cost of purchases and earn cashback at the same time.
The Nationwide Select Credit Card offers 15 months of interest-free spending and allows you to earn 0.5% unlimited cashback on all sterling purchases. On top of that it also provides the option of 26 months of 0% interest on balance transfers for a 2.4% fee or 15 months 0% on balance transfers for a cheaper 0.55% fee.
The card is fee-free and comes with a relatively low representative APR of 15.9%. However, you will need to hold a Nationwide current account to be eligible to apply for it.
[SPOTLIGHT]The Santander 123 Credit Card on the other hand is available to everyone. It offers 18 months 0% interest on purchases and pays tiered levels of cashback up to 3% on certain spends. It pays 1% cashback at supermarkets, 2% at department stores and 3% (on spends up to £300) at petrol stations as well as National Rail and TfL tickets. Plus cardholders can get 1% bonus cashback with all major airlines, hotels and travel agents until 31st August 2014.
The card attracts a £24 annual fee, but you can get this waived for the first year if you have or open a Santander 123 Current Account. The representative APR on the card is 16.5%.
Compare 0% purchase credit cards
Chasing the best deals
Although a card offering a combination of 0% on purchases and cashback is a handy piece of plastic to have, it’s worth pointing out you can get a better deal by getting separate cards.
If you think you need longer than 16 months to freeze interest on your purchases for example you could go for the Tesco Bank Clubcard Credit Card for Purchases instead, which is offering a market-leading 19 months interest-free on purchases.
Or if you think you can pay off your balance in full each month and can forego a 0% purchase offer, you can earn a better rate of cashback with the market-leading cashback credit cards.
The American Express Platinum Cashback Credit Card, for example, pays 5% cashback on purchases up to £2,500 during the first three months, giving you the chance to earn up to £125. After this introductory period you’ll receive a flat rate of 1.25% cashback. It attracts a £25 annual fee and comes with a representative APR of 18.7%.
If you want a fee-free deal there's the American Express Cashback Everyday Credit Card. It also pays 5% cashback in your first three months but on purchases up to £2,000, which means you could earn up to £100. Thereafter you can earn between 0.5% and 1.25% cashback, depending on how much you spend. The representative APR on this card is 19.9%.
You can keep up to date on the market-leading cards in the best cashback credit cards and the best 0% purchase credit cards.
More on credit cards:
The best money transfer credit cards
The best 0% balance transfer credit cards