July 2024’s credit card & BNPL news & round-up

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 blog.

July’s credit card & BNPL update video

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

July’s credit card & BNPL news

Natwest launches new travel credit card

Natwest has released a new credit card marketed at people going abroad. So how does it stack up?

Well with the Travel Reward card you can spend fee free abroad, though there’s a charge for cash withdrawals, which is no different to the other Natwest cards.

Where it is different is a 1% cashback rate on travel spending, though it’s only on eligible spending before you go overseas. I couldn’t find an exhaustive list, but it includes:

• Hotesls & accomodation
• planes
• car hire
• buses
• cruises
• trains
• campsites
• travel agents

You’re earnings will go into a Reward Wallet, so you’ll need to cash that out, but it’s easy to do – you just need to remember to do it.

The card is free, so you’ll keep all that cashback. However, since there are other cards offering the same rate without category restrictions you might be better using those instead. Of course, earning on the Chase debit card is limited to £1,500 of spending each month so this could be handy if you go above that.

With this Natwest card you’ll only earn 0.1% back on other spending, so it’s not worth it for that.

eBay drops Amex

From 17 August 2024 you won’t be able to pay with American Express on eBay, down to what the reselling platform calls “unacceptably high charges”.

You can get around this by using PayPal to pay, though if the item costs more than £100 you will be sacrificing Section 75 protection.

Of course, this could change, as we saw with Amazon and Visa a few years ago.

More BA Amex changes

Following changes to the annual fee and a hefty increase to the companion voucher eligibility (starting this November), there’s another change to the British Airways Premium Plus American Express.

New eligible cardholders will now have to spend £6,000 in three months to trigger the bonus, double the previous amount. That’s a lot to spend for many people.

At the same time the standard welcome offer has increased from 25,000 to 30,000 Avios points. That’s not much of a hike compared to what’s required.

The spend requirement has also doubled on the free BA Amex card from £1,000 in three months to £2,000 in three months.

As ever, it’s best to wait for any boosted offers, which I’ll share here when live.

Yonder adds flight redemptions

If you’re a paying member of Yonder you can now use your points for flights. You simply need to pay for your flight using the Yonder card and you’ll see an option to use points instead in the Yonder app.

It’s still not massively clear how much points are worth, but there’s a welcome offer right now worth 10,000 points which could be worth “up to £50 at Experiences” (i.e. restaurants).

We wrote a little about the free tier of Yonder in our March update, or you can read customer reviews at Smart Money People, where it’s scored 4.99 out of 5 from users.

LayBuy goes into administation

Buy Now Pay Later service LayBuy would let you spread purchases over six weeks without interest – as long as you didn’t miss payments. Well, it’s now in administation, which is important news for the 300,000 UK users.

This means it’s no longer accepting new transactions. But if you’re an existing customer that has borrowed via this service, it doesn’t mean you won’t have to repay your debt. Make sure you keep making those payments otherwise you will find those late payment charges are added.

July’s credit card special offers

Amex Platinum: new boosted offer

There’s a new boosted deal from Amex on their Platinum card. Where this is unlike other Amex offers is you might be able to get this even if you already have an American Express credit card. You’ll only be ruled out if you’ve had any Reward earning card in the last two years, namely:

• Amex Platinum
• Amex Gold
• Amex Rewards

The boosted offer is different to previous offers as you don’t get boosted Amex Reward points (that stays at 40,000 when you spend £6,000 in three months). Instead you get £400 credit to spend with Amex travel. Plus if you go via Quidco there’s another £100 on offer.

You’ll also be entered into a draw to win a pair of tickets to Wimbledon 2025. The offer ends 27 August 2024.

Once you take into account the £650 annual fee you’re left with a profit of £80. But you’ll also get free annual family travel insurance, airport lounge access and additional cardholder offers worth at least £250. I’ve explained all in a separate analysis article.

Asda Money: get up to £50 back in Asda Pounds

If you open a credit card with Asda Money by 15 July 2024 then you can get 5% for 90 days back on Asda spending in your Cashpot, up to £50.

After 90 days it drops to 1% on your Asda spend. From day one you’ll receive 0.3% everywhere else.

This is only available for new customers, or those who’ve not had an Asda credit card in the last 12 months. You’ll need to stay within the terms of your credit agreement to get the Asda Pounds.

Amex Gold boosted offer: earn up to £210

Still going is the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card welcome offer is boosted again, this time from 20,000 Amex points to 25,000. You can improve this to 30,000 by using a referral link, but it’s better to go via Quidco or TopCashback where there’s up to £70 available. Combined that’s worth £210.

You can also earn a further 5,000 points (worth £25) if you stay past the first year. But since you’ll then be paying the huge £195 annual fee (it’s free in the first year), I don’t think it’s worth it. Here’s our full analysis of all parts of the offer.

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: