Amazon Prime Store Card?

[realityinabox]

I got a mailer the other day saying I was pre-approved for the Amazon Prime Store Card.  5% back on Amazon.com purchases.  It says it is a statement credit though, and I'm not sure how that works.  I read a few reviews where people said that when they paid the adjusted amount (bill - credit) that they were charged interest on the credited amount. 

Anyone have any experience with this card?  5% sounds nice since I use Amazon a lot, but I'm just starting out on using credit cards for rewards, so I'm a bit of a n00b.

[pbkmaine]

I use the credit towards Amazon purchases.

[realityinabox]

I use the credit towards Amazon purchases.

Does it work more like a gift card balance?  Meaning, if I pay off the CC balance in full every month regardless of the rewards balance, does the rewards balance just get deducted from the cost of future purchases?  Maybe that is where the other person went wrong; thinking of it as a statement reduction when really it is only a credit toward future purchases...?

[pbkmaine]

Yes, exactly like that.

[Anomalous]

I have the Amazon Prime Store Card (the one direct from Amazon that can't be used as a regular card, not an Amazon branded one from a bank) and the and the 5% back is deducted from the amount owed. It is not carried over to the next month like a gift card balance. Each month I get a bill for 95% of whatever I spent on Amazon, pay that in full, and have not been charged any interest.

[kib]

Yes, there are two kinds, so both answers are correct.  The bank card (with Chase) gives me a credit balance of 3% back in cash that I can apply to the next month's purchases, when I go to pay for things there's a little radio button asking me if I want to use the credit, similar to a gift balance.  The store card (with Amazon directly) just takes 5% off the bill at the time the statement closes.

Note:  the amazon store card becomes the default for things like Subscribe and Save.  When you apply for the card, Amazon will change the settings of anything you've set up to that new account.  It's not a big deal but does require manually resetting if you don't want it that way.

[realityinabox]

Yes, there are two kinds, so both answers are correct.  The bank card (with Chase) gives me a credit balance in cash that I can apply to the next month's purchases, when I go to pay it asks me if I want to use the credit, similar to a gift balance.  The store card (with Amazon directly) just takes 5% off the bill at the time the statement closes.

Thanks for the clarification.  I think I'd prefer the store card method as you described it.  I think that having a credit to spend would encourage purchases that I wouldn't have otherwise made since they'd be "free".  I was ready to pass if this were the case, but now I'm reconsidering.

edit:  I found the following at www.amazon.com/preapproved, which doesn't jive with what you're saying frufrau:

5% back (as a statement credit) benefit. Net qualifying purchases (purchases less returns and other credits) made on or after 3/16/15 with your Amazon Prime Store Card on Amazon.com will result in a statement credit equal to 5% of such net qualifying purchases on your Amazon Prime Store Card account, except as provided by Synchrony Bank below. Please allow up to two billing cycles for your statement credit to post to your account.

[kib]

Hmm.   Mine always shows up in the same cycle.  Strange. 

I don't think mine is an amazon PRIME store card... maybe that's the difference? I don't have amazon prime.

[Anomalous]

I do have Amazon Prime, but in some places my card is referred to as "Amazon Prime Store Card" and other places it just says "Amazon Store Card", so I'm not sure if they're two separate things or if the regular store card just behaves differently when you have a Prime subscription.

I only recently signed up for the Amazon store card in June, so I only have 4 months worth of statements. So far every month has applied the statement credit in the same period as the purchases, so I only have to pay 95%. Maybe it's not guaranteed to be that way though. Here is a picture of my first month's statement; you can see the credit applied, and I didn't have the card prior to this month so it's obviously not carried over: picture of statement.