Chase Amazon Rewards Credit Card: A Wave of Accounts Closed; $150 Sign-Up Bonus

A big wave of people have had this card shut down over the past couple of days, mostly because of excessive spending and long periods of inactivity. Details below:

• Excessive spending: generally means spending within a billing cycle that is far above your credit limit, even several times over. For example, if Chase gives you a CL of $2,000 and you spend $10,000 during the cycle, that’s five times your limit. This includes repeatedly paying down the balance and then spending again during the same period.
• Long-term inactivity: no spending at all for more than a year.

The timing isn’t all that surprising. Prime Day just ended, and a lot of people may have placed orders for others or resold good Amazon deals themselves, which likely created a lot of spending. Note that after the card is shut down, Rewards can still be redeemed for 30 days, so if yours gets closed, remember to cash out your money. Also, this kind of shutdown apparently doesn’t affect your other Chase cards or checking account; only this one card gets closed.

The sign-up bonus on this card has been increased to $150, so if you spend a lot at Amazon, Whole Foods, or Shopbop, it’s worth considering. The bonus is issued as Amazon gift cards and is given right after approval, with no spending requirement.

• Application link

This offer requires Prime membership, and both trial memberships and student memberships are eligible. If you don’t have Prime, you can get one using the methods below before applying.

• Young Adult Prime: Those aged 18-24 can get a six-month free trial, and after that can continue at half price. Amazon Young Adult sign-up link
• Free trial: If you’re no longer a student, you can try a one-month membership (Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial).

This card is still very useful during Prime Day.

• 2026 Amazon Prime Day: starts June 23-26, with some deals already live!

If you’re not a Prime member, clicking through now shows a reward of 6 months of Prime membership. You can compare whether six months of Prime is the better deal, or whether the bonus you get after upgrading to Prime and applying directly is better.

Chase Amazon Rewards Card Overview

Benefit Breakdown

• Up to 5% back at Amazon and Whole Foods: If you have Amazon Prime (including Student Prime), you can earn 5% back on unlimited spending at Amazon and Whole Foods. This is one of the best cashback cards out there. With this card, you don’t need to deal with quarterly 5x categories or buying gift cards and then spending through them; you can just use the card directly. You also get some credit card purchase protections.
• Old card upgrade: If you have the earlier version of this card and also have Prime membership, you can upgrade to the 5% version. See the official guide here: Official Amazon Rewards card upgrade steps
• Unlimited 2% on dining and gas: Consider this a bonus. If you don’t have other cards that cover these two categories, this card is still a good option.
• Extra 10% back at Amazon Fresh: This card has an added hidden perk: you can get an extra 10% back when shopping at Amazon Fresh, which brings the total to 15% when combined with the standard 5% at Amazon (HT: DoC). Amazon Fresh is Amazon’s online grocery shopping service, available in select areas, where you can buy fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy, and breakfast items. If you use it often, 15% back is very substantial. Check Amazon Fresh availability and details

• No Foreign Transaction Fee (FTF): Most cards with no foreign transaction fee have annual fees, so it’s nice that this one has no annual fee. See: FTF introduction
• This card also quietly picked up an extra perk: you can get 5% back on Shopbop purchases. Shopbop is Amazon’s fashion-focused premium e-commerce platform in the U.S., mainly selling designer brands and trendy apparel for young, fashion-conscious women. Official introduction. Amazon Prime and Shopbop also offer extra benefits; after linking your accounts, Shopbop offers free shipping and additional discounts Shopbop link

Drawbacks

• If you don’t need the card’s built-in purchase protections, getting discounted Amazon gift cards through "category swapping" is a better way to save money
• Chase cards generally don’t have extra ongoing cashback offers, unlike AMEX with AMEX Offers, Citi with Citi Smart Savings, and BofA with BofA Deals

My Review

Overall verdict and comparison:

The biggest feature of this card is the nonstop, unlimited 5% back at Amazon all year long, and because it has no annual fee, it’s a card you can keep for the long term. For people with average credit history and not many cards, it’s still a pretty good starter card. However, if your Amazon spending doesn’t reach more than $1,000 a month, you’re probably better off using Chase Freedom + Discover during the quarterly 5x bonus periods, stocking up on some Amazon gift cards to use at Amazon, and skipping this card altogether. Of course, don’t forget you can also use AMEX Offer to buy Amazon gift cards at 20% off.

• Amazon money-saving shopping guide

How to buy Prime membership cheaply: If you don’t have Prime but do have this card, I strongly recommend getting a Prime membership to earn 5% back

• Student Prime: You can get a six-month free trial, and after that you can continue at half price. Amazon Student sign-up link
• Non-students: If you’re no longer a student, you can try a one-month membership (Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial). You can also buy some discounted Amazon gift cards first to pay for Prime membership fees

If this card’s credit limit is too low, you can also ask Chase to move credit from another card.

【2/10 update】Over the past few days, I saw two shutdown data points for this card on milesperday. In both cases, the cardholder had used the card heavily, and one involved serious credit limit cycling. So my advice is to use Chase cards carefully and avoid the red flags when you can. Of course, if you can run it that hard, you could also earn enough in two years to buy a Tesla... The two data points are listed below:

• Chase shutdown data point 1: Chase cpc; everything except Chase checking/savings was shut down. The Amazon card had a 90,000 limit, and monthly spending usually reached 3x, or 279,000. The Chase Freedom Unlimited also often hit the limit. This went on for two years.
• Chase shutdown data point 2: This card had been shut down by Chase before and then reopened; monthly spending was 300,000.
• US credit card account shutdowns and risk control (1) — Summary of high-risk behaviors
• US credit card account shutdowns and risk control (2) — Chase, AMEX, Citi characteristics
• US credit card account shutdowns and risk control (3) — how I use my cards

[2025.12 update] According to reports from various buying groups, quite a few cardholders have recently received closure letters. However, only this card was closed, without affecting their other Chase cards. My guess is that some people went too hard on Amazon during Prime Day, possibly even far exceeding their credit limits through repeated cycling. If you have this card and use it normally, you should be fine. But if you are involved with a buying group, it is best to be cautious and spread out your spending.

Application

• Recommended for people with at least 6 months of credit history; once you are able to get started with Chase, this card is generally easy to obtain
• Before applying, you will need to use an existing Amazon account or create a new one; the welcome bonus may depend on whether you have Prime, so it is recommended to become a Prime member before applying, since the offer is usually much better

Chase Credit Card Application Guide

• Chase application status check link (login required). Or call: 888-338-2586
• The 5/24 rule: if you have opened more than 5 new cards in the past 2 years (including cards from other banks), you will not be approved for a new Chase card
• You can be approved for at most two Chase credit cards within every 30 days
• If you have received the welcome bonus on this card within the past 24 months (48 months for the Sapphire family), your application will be automatically denied
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-453-9719) to expedite card approval or request a review of a denied application.
• Having a Chase Checking account can help with getting approved for a credit card
• More on applying for Chase credit cards

Application Link