American Express UK Cashback Credit Card vs Zilch Anywhere Virtual Mastercard

I love the Zilch card, which is why I set up this website, but when the merchant is not listed and you have to pay the £2.50 for using Zilch Anywhere, is it worthwhile to use American Express UK Cashback credit card, instead? For a limited time, Amex are offering 5% cashback (for the first three months on purchases up to £100), and it’s genius if you want to get the best possible deal cashback wise.

So forget about the Zilch Anywhere and apply for the American Express UK Platinum Everyday Cashback Credit Card instead and earn 5% on everything that you spend within the first three months, up to £100.

Sure, it’s Amex and not every store in the UK accepts American Express UK, but you can always use a search engine and take a look before you buy, or shop in-store. After the three months offer of 5% cashback has expired, the everyday credit card will still give you 0.5% and up to 1.00% cashback on every purchase. Read more.

There is another card by American Express that has an annual fee of £25, and which offers 5% cashback for the first three months up to £123, then 0.75% and up to 1.25% on every purchase thereafter. Read more.

It’s not quite as much as the 2% cashback when you use the Zilch virtual card, but if the merchant is not listed with Zilch, it is worthwhile to get a few pennies (or pounds) back with the Amex credit card.

Let’s look a two examples (post three month 5% cashback deal)

First Example

Local furniture shop (not listed with Zilch). The item you want costs £1500.

With Zilch Anywhere, you would pay a one-off fee of £2.50 and you would pay the £1500 toward the furniture company through your virtual card. 2% cashback on £1500 is £30. So you would receive a total 3000 Zilch reward points equivalent to £30. Don’t forget that your purchase was £1502.50. So, it’s a total of £27.50 cashback.

With the Amex Platinum Everyday Cashback Credit Card at 0.5%, the total cashback you would receive on the same £1500 purchase is £7.50.

With the Amex Platinum Cashback Credit Card at 0.75% cashback (annual fee £25), the total cashback you would receive on the same £1500 purchase is £11.25.

Second Example

You want to buy an item that is not listed on Zilch, therefore you would have to pay the Zilch Anywhere fee of £2.50. The total cost of the item is £350. So you would pay £352.50.

If you purchased through Zilch Anywhere, the total cashback you would receive is £7. Minus the £2.50, the total cashback is £5.

If you purchased through the Platinum Cashback Everyday Credit Card at 0.5% cashback, you would receive £1.75 cashback.

If you purchased through the Platinum Cashback Credit Card, which offers 0.75% cashback you would receive £2.62.

The best cashback deal, in this instance, is STILL with Zilch Anywhere. As long as you are paying £150 or over online or in-store for your purchase (minus the £2.50 Zilch Anywhere fee), you would still earn 50 reward points, equivalent to 50p.

So, the American Express UK cards are worthwhile to use only in the first three months, but Zilch Anywhere is still worthwhile to earn a small amount of cashback when you are making significant purchases, but not worthwhile on anything costing under £150.

Zilch Anywhere WINS

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