December 2024’s credit card & BNPL news & offers

The latest news to help you get the most from your credit card.

Here’s my monthly update sharing changes for leading UK credit cards, as well as some of the relevant articles you might have missed on the site.

December’s credit card & BNPL update video

I go into more detail on some of this month’s updates in this video.

December’s credit card & BNPL news

Chase credit card starts to roll out

In the middle of November, Chase began piloting it’s credit card to some existing customers. Initially this is gradually being rolled out to around 25,000 people in Chase’s ‘customer panel’, but it’ll then be offered to more existing customers over the coming months, before a likely full release at some point in 2025.

Those of you who have seen the Chase credit cards in the USA, you might be excited. There are big welcome bonuses and decent cashback or points on your spending. Sadly that’s not what we’re seeing in this test phase.

They key feature that make it worth a look is 0% fees on overseas spending, so it’d be a back up for your standard Chase debit card abroad.

Other than that there’s also 0% on spending for a limited time, which if you need it could be useful, but there are other and probably longer promotions on other cards.

And that’s it. No rewards, no welcome deals. That’s not to say that won’t come eventually, and the features will likely change from the current offering when it’s fully released, but I wouldn’t expect those perks any time soon.

I guess those who are already using Chase as their main current account and savings account might like to have everything in one app, but otherwise I wouldn’t get excited.

If you’re eligible to apply you’ll find it in your Chase app. Once accepted (there will be a hard credit check), you can access the digital card straight away.

Virgin Money launches cashback card

Another new card that anyone can apply for is from Virgin Money. The Everyday Cashback Card does what it says – earn you money back on all your spending.

The rate isn’t great, just 0.25%. However it is fee-free to use overseas and has no annual charge. It’s also a Mastercard.

This makes it a decent alternative to the Barclaycards Reward for overseas spending when you need a credit card. Picking this instead would mean you would be open to getting another Barclaycard, such as the Avios card.

However the cashback is capped at £15 a month, which means spending over £6,000 wouldn’t earn anything. Still if you’re doing the majority of your spending on the 1% earning Chase debit card, this is just for when you do need a credit card.

Ombudsman and BCWYC force American Express points payouts

You might remember a while back I shared in one of these updates that a few readers had reported Amex not giving the full boosted welcome bonuses for offers in the summer.

The 60,000 rather than 25,000 points for the BA American Express Premium Plus was only available if you applied via the BA Executive Club, and Amex said the customers in question hadn’t followed the right link.

We challenged them on the behalf of a handful of readers, but were told the decisions not to give the full points was correct.

Well one of you took it further and complained to the Financial Ombudsmen. They decided in the reader’s favour, and awarded them not just all the owed points but some cash compensation too. You can read about this here.

Off the back of that article, another reader got in touch with us and we went back to Amex regarding their case – and they too also then got the full points added!

If you also lost, out go back to American Express and raise a complaint, and send them our articles. Please do let us know if you’re successful or not in getting what you’re owed.

Virgin Red drops Greggs

If you’re earning Virgin points, then it’s probably best you use them for flights (despite some recent changes to how you redeem them). But if you’re planning on using your points for Greggs, the bad news is they’re no longer available.

December’s credit card special offers

Amex offers boosted upgrades to Platinum

If you have an existing American Express Reward or Preferred Rewards Gold credit card, take a look to see if you’ve been offered the chance to upgrade to the Platinum card.

I found it in my app and online account, though I’ve been unable to complete the upgrade (and have a complaint in with Amex about this).

If you see the offer, you’ll notice it’s the same deal brand new Platinum customers can apply for worth 80,000 points with a £10,000 spend in six months, along with other credits and freebies on top.

Though most other Amex cardholders qualify for this offer, normally Reward and Gold cardholders are ruled out. Here’s my full analysis of the offer.

Ongoing offers

The following are still all available, but covered in detail in previous updates. Hit the links for more information.

• Amex Platinum: up to £550 welcome offer & £600 in perks – ends 14 January 2025
• Amex Gold: boosted 30,000 points welcome – ends 14 January 2025
• Amex Cashback Everyday: extra £25 welcome
• Asda Money: get up to £50 back in Asda Pounds – ends 6 January 2025
• John Lewis Money: get a £40 voucher – ends 6 January 2025
• Amazon Barclaycard: £20 or £50 welcome

This month’s best credit cards

As always when talking about credit cards the best credit card for you will depend on your credit report and why you need one. Make sure you read my rules for having and applying for a credit card.

But assuming you’ve got a great credit report, don’t need one to clear existing debts and will clear the balance completely each month, these are my top picks: