November 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 blog.

November’s credit card & BNPL update video

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

November’s credit card & BNPL news

Amex axes Shop Small

Bad news for anyone looking forward to the annual Shop Small promotion from American Express – it won’t be returning in 2024. Instead there is a competition to win £1,000 for you and £10,000 for a small business. I’ve covered it in our guide to Shop Small.

Amex revamps Platinum dining credit & Harvey Nicholls offers

Those with a American Express Platinum card – or thinking of getting one – will want to take advantage of a couple of credit offers exclusive to the card.

Until the end of 2024 you can get £150 to spend at selected UK restaurants and £50 to spend at Harvey Nicholls. Both offers were due to end this year, but have now been extended into 2025.

The £50 Harvey Nicholls offer remains the same but will now end 30 June 2025. if you’ve already activated the offer you won’t need to do it again in the new year.

The dining credit deal is changing though, and will need to be selected in the Amex offers tab from January 2025. The new format is for £100 between January and June, and another £100 between July and December. So you’ll get more money to spend, but it’ll be split over two (or more) visits.

All in, these two offers will be worth £450 between now and the end of next year if you’re yet to use them in 2024. We’ve gone into more detail in our look at the American Express dining credit offers article.

The overseas dining credit will also work in the same way, but this is a hard one to actually use unless you visit one of the small list of cities with participating restaurants.

November’s credit card special offers

Amex Platinum: up to £550 welcome offer & £600 in perks

This could be a very lucrative offer – though you’ll need to spend a huge amount to qualify.

First up, it’s unlike most other Amex welcome deals as some existing customers will qualify. Normally you can’t get the bonus if you’ve had any Amex in your name in the last two years, but this one only excludes those with the Gold, Rewards or Platinum card.

The offer itself is an increased 80,000 Amex points (worth £400) when you spend a huge £10,000 in the first six months. You’ll also earn another 10,000 points (worth £50) for that spending.

This is boosted to 100,000 (worth £100) if you go via a refer a friend link, or you can get £100 in cashback if apply go via TopCashack (though check Quidco too as rates can change). So all in that’s £550 you’ll get from this deal.

You do need to balance that against the £650 annual fee, but once you have the card you’ll get other perks easily worth £600, including:

• free family worldwide travel insurance
• £150 to spend in selected UK restaurants in 2024
• £200 to spend in selected UK restaurants in 2025
• £50 to spend in Harvey Nicholls in 2024
• £50 to spend in Harvey Nicholls in 2025
• Airport lounge access

This offer ends 14 January 2024 – more details in our Amex Platinum deals page.

Amex Gold: boosted 30,000 points welcome

Or if you’re a brand new cardholder, you could go for the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card. This one is more achievable when it comes to spend, though it’s still a decent amount.

You’ll need to spend £3,000 in the first three months to get 30,000 Amex points (up from the normal 20,000), which along with the 3,000 points earned from that initial spending works out as £165.

Again you can go via cashback sites, with £70 available from Quidco, adding up to £235.

This card is free in the first year, and you’ll get perks like £10 off Deliveroo each month and four airport lounge passes. But ditch it in year two as you’ll be paying £195 a year. Here’s our full American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card review.

Amex Cashback Everyday: extra £25 welcome

There’s an extra £25 on offer for new Amex Cashback Everyday cardholders, with 5% back on the first £2,500 spend rather than the usual £2,000. More details in our American Express deals page.

HSBC: £60 offer stack

This offer is back from HSBC and Quidco. You’ll get £35 if you apply successfully for the Purchase Plus credit card via cashback site Quidco, and then another £25 from HSBC when you spend £100 on the card. The HSBC side of the offer ends 16 December 2024.

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

If you open a credit card with Asda Money you can nab 5% back on Asda spending, up to a £50 bonus in your Asda Reward app. Ends 6 January 2025. More details in our credit card deals page.

John Lewis Money: get a £40 voucher

Until 6 January, new card holders who spend £250 in the first 45 days you’ll get a £40 John Lewis voucher. More details in our credit card deals page.

Amazon Barclaycard: £20 or £50 welcome

This offer is still going, though I’d keep an eye out during Black Friday to see if it’s boosted (this was a regular occurrence on the old Amazon credit cards).

As it stands, new applicants for the Amazon Barclaycard Rewards card will get a £20 Amazon credit, while anyone who had the previous Amazon credit cards can get £50 in credit.

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: