September 2025’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.

September’s credit card & BNPL update video

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

September’s credit card & BNPL news

Barclaycard allows existing customers to get Amazon card

The Amazon Barclaycard launched a year ago, but existing Barclaycard holders were barred from applying. The good news is that has changed. The bad news is you can’t get this as well as your existing card, you’ll need to switch it.

The card itself is decent if you regularly shop at Amazon. There’s 1% back there, doubled on sales like Black Friday and Prime Day. For the first year there’s also 0.5% back on spending elsewhere, falling to 0.25% after.

Right now there’s a £20 Amazon gift card available for new customers, though I’d expect that to increase come Black Friday (£50 was available during Prime Day).

However, do check what Barclaycard perks you’d be giving up by moving over. The Barclaycard Rewards card is one of our top travel picks as it’s fee-free abroad and offers 0.25% back too. Or there’s the Barclaycard Avios which can earn points on spending towards flights.

It’s also worth noting you can’t use the Amazon Barclaycard on Apple Pay.

Barclaycard closes Cashback Rewards

If you’ve got a Barclaycard you may have activated the Cashback Rewards feature, which was on top of any other cashback you earned on some Barclaycards. This allows you to activate offers at specific retailers and earn some money back.

Well, that’s going to close on 1 October 2025. In it’s place will be Barclays Cashback Rewards. Now, this already exists if you have a Barclays current account, and is pretty much the same. So I assume it’ll just be a case of registering for this nearer the time.

In the meantime it’s worth checking your existing Barclaycard Rewards account and claiming any cashback that’s available. You should also ensure the account linked to your Barclaycard so you can claim any cashback due to hit the account this month.

Santander reduces Edge rate and hikes fee

The Santander Edge credit card cashback rate in the first year has been cut from 2% to 1% for new customers. Though 1% is still decent compared to most other credit cards, it’s capped at £10 a month.

You also need to factor in the monthly fee, which has increased. That’s now £4 a month rather than £3. Again this is just for new customers.

Combined it means the most you can earn is actually 0.6% back, and that’s if you spend exactly £1,000 on the card each month. Spend less or more and the rate reduces. In fact, you’ll be losing money if you spend less than £400 a month.

Amex changes Gold bonus points

From 14 October, you’ll potentially get fewer bonus points on spending from the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card.

At the moment, these tiered points are triggered for each £5,000 spend up to £25,000. From October they’ll be activated when you spend £10,000 and then £20,000.

If you spend bang on £10,000 or £20,000 then you’ll get the exact same bonus, but spend more or less and you’ll be down.

I’ve covered the changes in more detail in our American Express Preferred Gold credit card review.

Amex extends Platinum Dining credit

The American Express Platinum credit card offers £100 dining credit every six months, and was due to finish at the end of 2025. That’s now been extended by another year, so new or existing card holders will be able to claim a further £200 when eating out at selected UK restaurants.

Also extended is the same promotion for overseas restaurants, though I find these locations are harder to find (for example, there’s nothing in Dublin or San Francisco) and really depend on you visiting these places.

BA Amex adds British Airways Club tier points

Back in December, British Airways said you’d soon be able to earn tier points for British Airways flights via the BA American Express Premium Plus credit card. Finally in late June we had the details.

You’ll need to register your card in the Amex app before 25 January 2026 to earn these points, which can be used to get free seat reservations and other perks on British Airways bookings. These are separate to the Avios points you earn from spending, which are carrying on as normal.

In total there are 2,500 points available, and the points last 12 months.

• Spend £15,000 a year to get 750 tier points
• Spend £20,000 a year (cumulatively) to get another 750 tier points
• Spend £25,000 a year (cumulatively) to get another 1,000 tier points

This isn’t a regular feature for the card, instead a temporary offer which ends 1 February 2026, and that’s also the deadline for the cumulative spending above. The BA website says there’ll be another way to earn tier points from April 2026.

It’s worth noting that even if you get all 2,500 points, that’s still not enough to activate Bronze, the lowest tier membership. You’ll need to spend another £1,000 with British Airways to get the extra 1,000 points needed.

If you were an existing card holder on 18 June 2025 you’ll have got 500 free tier points.

September’s credit card special offers

Amex offers increased welcome deals on Gold and Platinum cards

Until 14 October there are boosted welcome offers for the Platinum and Gold credit cards, doubling the normal points available. We’ve covered these in detail in separate articles via the links below.

• Amex Preferred Reward Gold: Boosted 40,000 points welcome bonus
• Amex Platinum: boosted 80,000 points welcome offer + more

Amex Everyday Cashback boosted by £35

The Amex Everyday welcome cashback rate of 5% is still increased to cover the first £2,500 rather than the usual £2,000. But an extra boost is another £10 on top the first time you use the card.

Upgrade Amex Reward or Gold to Platinum for 50,000 points

There’s also an offer running for existing Reward or Gold credit card users to upgrade to the Platinum. You’ll get 50,000 points if you spend £6,000 in the first three months. Those combined 56,000 points are worth £280, and you’ll get the other perks and credits available. Remember there is that £650 annual fee.

Ongoing offers

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

• Amazon Barclaycard: £20 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: