Amazon Store Card Customers are the Best

We recently looked at Amazon-branded credit card holders. We know that in general, branded credit cards connect retailers and their most dedicated customers. Over time, those branded cards have migrated to branded bank cards, primarily Visa and MasterCard. Amazon offers an Amazon Visa card in partnership with Chase. Almost uniquely at this point, Amazon also offers an Amazon Store Card through Synchrony Bank. The Store Card is basically an Amazon-only credit card.

Amazon’s branded credit card customer base is divided about 55% Visa and 45% Store Card. The store card is a powerful marketing tool, as it ties the customer exclusively to Amazon shopping. It also operates outside of the bank card marketplace, where reward programs compete and there is some threat that the Credit Card Competition Act will cut card issuer margins and hinder their ability to offer generous rewards.

When you think about it that way, it makes sense that Amazon Store Card holders have the highest average annual spending at Amazon. The Store Card holders spend $1,900 per year at Amazon on average, about 25% more than their Amazon Visa cardholder counterparts (Chart 1).