Amazon launches cobranded credit card in Germany and the UK

Yesterday was Amazon’s big day to announce the launch of two new co-branded credit cards. In the UK, Amazon partnered with Barclays (Finextra) and in Germany the e-commerce giant partnered with Santander’s Zinia (Finextra). The two offering look more or less identical. A free Visa credit card with a cash back feature for purchases at Amazon (1-2%) and outside of Amazon (0.5%). And the similarities don’t stop there. The choices for Barclays in the UK and Santander in Germany are likely not the only area where Amazon partners with the banks. Barclays is already Amazon’s BNPL partner and Zinia is most likely the partner of choice for Amazon’s BNPL product in Germany and other European countries. This would make the deal financially more interesting for Amazon’s bank partners. In Germany, Amazon was struggling to find a bank to replace its previous partner LBB, which was likely caused by the low margin of such products and high demands from Amazon. Adding BNPL in multiple countries to the partnership was likely helpful signing the deal.