Rewards Credit Cards
Our favourite for February
For generous YourPoints rewards
NatWest YourPoints World MasterCard
- 2500 introductory points promotion
- No balance transfer fee
- 0% on purchases for 6 months
- 1 NatWest YourPoints for each £ spent
- FREE insurances, best price protection
Representative APR 16.9%
Also consider
Comprehensive Rewards Scheme
Play.com Credit Card
- Earn 2 Play points for £1 spent at Play.com
- Earn 1 Play points for £1 spent elsewhere
- 0% on purchases for 9 months
- 0% on balance transfers for 6 months
- Spend £150 1st 90 days for a £15 voucher
Representative APR 16.9%
Rewards Credit Cards have exploded onto the UK scene in the last 5 years, inspired by our desire to get the best deal when we shop, or to get something for nothing! If your spending profile is right, you can really pick up some fantastic benefits with the best rewards credit cards.
If you’ve got a business, or you can claim back your day to day work expenses, pay with a rewards credit card and you could end up a with a free holiday once a year or nice stack of gift vouchers to spend in the sales! To get the best from a rewards card, take a look at our comprehensive guide below.
Here are our best rewards credit cards, highest overall rewards cards at the top.
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Play.com Credit Card | 0% for 6 months on balance transfers, 1,500 bonus Play points | 1.5% (1st 90 days) | 16.9% APR |
1500 PlayPoints when you spend £150 2 play points each £1 spent at play.com 1 play point each £1 spent elsewhere Low 1.5% balance tranfer fee (1st 90 days)
No transfers from MBNA or Virgin cards |
NatWest YourPoints World MasterCard | 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 13 months | 2.9% min. £5 | 17.9% APR |
0% for 13 months on purchases 0% for 13 months on balance transfers NatWest YourPoints on all your purchases A variety of complimentary insurances No balance transfers from other NW or RBS cards |
Tesco Clubcard Credit Card | 0% on purchases for 15 months & balance transfers for 9 months | 2.9% | 16.9% APR |
Doubles as Tesco Clubcard Wide variety of rewards on spending Points can be converted to Avios Allows £ transfers to your bank account No interest free period on money transfers |
BA Premium Plus American Express Credit Card | 18,000 bonus Avios if you spend £3000 in the 1st 3 months | 3% | 50.1% APR |
Summer promotion, 18,000 free Avios Best Avios card Purchase protection & travel insurance Companion ticket on spend over £10k p.a. Annual fee |
American Express Platinum Charge Card | 40,000 bonus points on spend of £1500 in 1st 3 months | Charge Card | Charge Card |
Charge card, so no interest to pay No pre-set spending limit Comprehensive rewards program Travel and personal protection insurance Annual fee |
American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card | 10,000 bonus Starpoints when you spend £1000 in 1st 3 months | 3% handling fee | 34.5% APR |
Starpoints on all your spending Starpoints transferrable to airline programs £75 annual fee |
Orange Prepaid Credit Card | Orange rewards points 1 for every £1 spent | Prepaid | Prepaid |
Contactless payment Very competitive charging structure Orange rewards points FREE loading via bank or debit card What's not to love! |
AA Credit Card | 0% balance transfers for 12 months & purchases for 10 months | 3.00% | 16.9% APR |
Good dual offer 12/10 £ transfers as well as balance transfers Cashback on fuel spend AA Rewards points No balance transfers from MBNA cardsRewards Credit Card Guide
How do you arrange your finances?
Are Rewards Credit Cards right for you?
As you’ve probably already seen, the credit card market is brimming with cracking deals at the moment, so how do you know which one’s right for you? Let’s start by looking at the type of spender you are, and we can then cut through the credit card companies’ puff and see what kind of credit card will make best sense to you financially!
If you’re not sure which type of card suits your financial profile, check out ‘Which credit card is best for me?’ This may mean you’re back here at the rewards credit cards page in a couple of minutes, maybe not!
Rewards credit cards used effectively you can make you thousands of pounds, if you don’t chose the right one, or don’t manage it effectively, they can end up costing you just as much.
How do Reward Card Programs work?
We classify rewards credit cards as cards that give you something back apart from the basic facilities you’d expect from any credit card. You get these rewards for your loyalty to the brand that issues the card. That means you spending money on the card you’re looking at.
If I need to spend to get rewards, how can I be sure I’ll be better off?
Rewards credit cards are great, but you have to remember that there’s a cost to these eye catching rewards and benefits. Seeing how those costs are structured and understanding how to use the cards within the issuer’s Terms but without incurring those costs is your key to making money.
So how do you avoid the costs that can cancel out the rewards?
Firstly, a bit of credit card industry inside information. Credit card issuers have years of statistical information that gives them real insight into the typical financial behaviour of each type of customer. They employ clever people called ‘actuaries’ who analyse this data. They look at all the variables of life like your age, residential status, and employment profile and compare this to what others with a similar profile have done in the past. This gives them an outline of their ideal low risk and profitable customer.
When you apply for a new credit card, card issuers credit check and credit score you. They’re not just looking at you to see if you’re credit worthy, they’re analysing whether you’re going to be profitable to them. The credit crunch has meant that like never before, banks and financial institutions are looking at new customers from the perspective of their potential to make money from them.
Taking into account the profile of their ideal customer, the card issuers design their products to make them tempting and to make customers spend money on the card. This is where the rewards come in.
They’ll also know the typical way that this ideal customer organises their finances, and they’ll structure the charges on the credit card product to make sure their ideal or typical customer pays the maximum amount in charges without actually ripping them off. This might sound mercenary, but think about the reality of life, this is what businesses do.
To come to the key points, your avoiding these costs, and making a personal gain out of your rewards credit card is all about not being the typical customer. This means paying back money you charge to your rewards credit card every month without fail. That means you being well organised and disciplined with your finances, and not spending beyond your budget.
Lets look more closely at the charges. Which ones are optional? Credit card companies fund rewards programs in 3 different ways:-
- They get a share of the money generated for processing each transaction you make, via the money they charge the retailer for collecting the money from you and paying them for the goods.
- On some rewards credit cards, card issuers charge an annual fee for having the card.
- By charging the card holder for outstanding balances on the card via monthly interest.
Point 1 doesn’t affect you, and therefore isn’t a problem.
Point 2 – unless you are budgeting on spending enough money on the card to more than offset the annual fee, chose a rewards credit card that doesn’t charge an annual fee.
Point 3 is the big one. If you want to make financial gain from a rewards credit card, set up a direct debit to clear the outstanding balance on the card before the due date every month without fail.
It is key that before you start to compare the rewards on offer, you have a mental chat with yourself and decide if you’re the sort of person who’s always capable of paying off any monthly balance you may accumulate on your new credit card. If you’re not, you may be better off long term looking at low interest rate credit cards.
If you’re carrying a balance on an existing credit card, you should also consider a balance transfer credit card.
All this maybe putting you off! This doesn’t mean that rewards credit cards aren’t a great idea, just tread carefully to maximise your part of the deal, you can be sure the cards issuers will!
Rewards Credit Cards Check List – make sure you take into account..
- Many of the best rewards credit cards charge an annual fee, calculate your budget and check if with your projected annual spend the rewards would more than offset this fee. If not chose a rewards card with no annual fee.
- Some rewards credit cards state a minimum annual or monthly spend to get their top rewards. Understand your spending profile and what this means to your expectations of rewards.
- Rewards only accumulate on specific types of expenditure, these vary with different cards. Fees, interest, gambling transactions, cash advances, money transfers and sums re-credited to your card as refunds are likely to be excluded.
