This Perk of the Amazon Prime Visa Is Actually a Drawback in My Mind

If you're someone who shops on Amazon as often as I do, then you may find that getting the Prime Visa is an easy call. Not only does the card come with perks like 2% cash rewards on restaurants and gas, but it also gives you 5% back on your Amazon purchases.

And there's more. Most credit cards make you wait until at least the end of a billing cycle to cash out your reward points. But the Prime Visa doesn't. 

When I rack up cash rewards on Amazon purchases -- which is what I mostly use the card for -- I usually have access to my reward points as soon as the next day. But while some cardholders might say that's a good thing, in my mind, it's actually not so great.

When you blow your rewards because you can

Unless I'm making a larger purchase on Amazon, usually, my rewards arrive in fairly small increments. I might get $7.50 in rewards here or $12.25 in rewards there based on my recent purchases.

Since those cash rewards are available almost instantly when I log into my Amazon account, I tend to spend them on little things -- candy, cozy socks, and other such fun but unnecessary items. I do that because the points are right there on my screen. It's not hard to use them at all -- I just click a button to apply my points at checkout.

The problem, though, is that I really should be saving up my points for bigger, more important purchases. For example, we could use a new vacuum cleaner for my home. And while I could dip into my savings account to buy one, I'd rather not do that because I prefer to leave my balance intact. 

Since our need for a new vacuum cleaner isn't urgent, I could try to bank a few months of reward points and save up for one that way. But somehow, when I see those points available on my screen, it tempts me to buy things to the point where I lose the ability to exercise self-control. And this is coming from someone who saves money regularly. 

Be careful with the Prime Visa

The Prime Visa is a great credit card for Amazon fans. But if you're going to use it, try not to fall into the same trap I do. Instead of cashing out your rewards as soon as they arrive, try to bank them for important things. 

On my end, the one thing I have going that counterbalances my approach to my Prime Visa points is my Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, which is the card I use for the bulk of my purchases. That card goes to the opposite extreme of my Prime Visa in that it only gives me access to my rewards -- which come in cash back form -- one time a year. 

Because I know I'm getting that annual rewards certificate, I tend to be less careful with my Prime Visa. I know I need to change my ways, and I'll try. But it's not easy when you're scrolling through Amazon's daily deals and you come across a fun buy you know your reward points can cover. 

Of course, there's another solution to that problem -- don't shop on Amazon unless you absolutely need a specific item. That, combined with a bit of the self-control I've been lacking, could lead to less spending and less wasting of the reward points you've accumulated.