Amazon Credit Builder is the newest program of the Amazon Store Card, and is extended to Amazon.com members who do not qualify for a regular Amazon Store Card. This new credit offering is designed to give customers with poor or bad credit scores, a chance to build credit card history that will be tracked by TransUnion CreditView.
Offered by Amazon in collaboration with Synchrony Bank, the Amazon Credit Builder comes with the same amenities as the regular Amazon Store Card, including the five percent (5%) cash back reward on every purchase made at the Amazon Store.
An important aspect to understand is that a credit builder account requires a minimum deposit. Amounts of credit-builder purchases including interests, will be limited to the amount required as deposit upon approval of one’s credit-builder card.
It would be wise to look closely at the features and requirements of the Amazon Credit Builder program to determine if this new credit offering will work well for you.
The Finer Details About the Amazon Credit Builder Card
Amazon’s Credit Builder program is touted as a “no annual fee offering,” but an application is still subject to credit approval by Synchrony Bank. Also, know beforehand that in order to qualify, you have to have an Eligible Amazon Prime Membership,
An approved credit-builder account starts off as an Amazon.com Store Card Credit Builder. After seven (7) months from the date of activation, Synchrony Bank automatically evaluates the Amazon.com Store Card Builder to determine if the card holder qualifies for an upgrade into an Amazon Prime Store Card Credit Builder.
Approval of a credit-builder card into a Prime Store Card Credit Builder depends on the cardholder’s payment and other credit history details, which include:
- Seven (7) consecutive on-time settlement of credit purchases made using the Amazon.com Store Card Credit Builder account over a period of 12 months.
- The cardholder’s credit file does not show recent records of bankruptcy declaration, foreclosure or repossession proceedings or delinquency events
- The cardholder meets a credit score qualified under Synchrony Bank’s underwriting criteria.
After seven (7) months as holder of the upgraded Amazon Prime Store Card Credit Builder, Synchrony will once again evaluate if the cardholder qualifies for another upgrade, based on the same set of criteria. This time, evaluation is geared toward determining if the credit-builder qualifies for upgrade as holder of a regular Amazon.com Store Card.
By the way, in order to mitigate its risks as credit provider, Synchrony charges interest on every purchase made using the credit-builder card. Widely known in the credit industry as Annual Percentage Rate or APR, the Amazon.com Store Card Credit Builder interest rate starts at 28.24% per annum.
