If you’re a frequent flyer, having an airport lounge membership like Priority Pass or Dragonpass can make travelling significantly more comfortable.

Rather than waiting at a crowded terminal, airport lounge access can mean complimentary food and drinks, Wi-Fi, quiet workspaces and even shower facilities.

You can get lounge passes with certain packaged bank accounts or credit cards with airport lounge access, but that’s not the only way. You could book one-off visits to some airport lounges, for instance, or access global lounge networks by buying a membership – such as with Priority Pass or Dragonpass.

What is Priority Pass?

Priority Pass is an airport lounge programme that gives members access to more than 1,900 lounges across 856 airports in 142 countries.

Your membership may also include benefits such as complimentary Wi-Fi, meals and drinks, shower facilities and dining credits at select restaurants.

The lowest membership tier doesn’t give you free access to lounges – instead, you pay an annual fee and discounted rate on visits. However, no matter what membership you have, you will need to pre-book your slot for an extra £6 to guarantee a space when it gets busy.

Here’s a complete breakdown of membership fees.

What is Dragonpass?

Dragonpass is an airport lounge programme that offers access to more than 1,400 lounges, over 200 fast-track security lanes and around 2,500 travel experiences worldwide.

While Priority Pass gives you access to more airport lounges, Dragonpass is more focused on offering a premium experience, whether it’s meet-and-greet services, dining discounts, spa treatments or fast-track security.

The lower membership tier only gives you one free visit, after which you have to pay for entry. However, you will need to pre-book your slot for around £6 per visit to guarantee a space during busy periods, no matter which membership tier you’re on.

Here’s a complete breakdown of membership fees.

Should you buy a Priority Pass or Dragonpass membership?

For many travellers, Priority Pass offers better overall value thanks to a significantly larger lounge network globally. If your priority is finding a lounge wherever you fly, it’s generally a better option.

However, when it comes to costs, Dragonpass is cheaper and a better choice if you regularly travel through airports where you can take advantage of its fast-track security and premium services like spa and wellness centres.

Before buying either membership, it’s worth checking which lounges are available at the airports you typically go to. It might be that some airports support Priority Pass or Dragonpass but not both.

Is an airport lounge membership worth it?

Whether an airport lounge membership is worth paying for depends on your travel habits. If you only take a handful of flights a year, paying for individual lounge access can be more cost-effective than buying an annual membership.

However, if you fly several times a year, particularly on long-haul or international trips, and want to access an airport lounge, you could save with a membership. Lounge entry usually costs between £35 and £50 per visit, so frequent travellers could save money while enjoying a quieter and more comfortable airport experience.

It’s worth considering whether you already have access through another financial product. Many premium credit cards, travel reward cards and packaged current accounts include Priority Pass or Dragonpass membership as a benefit, meaning you may not need to buy a separate membership.

If you travel regularly for work or enjoy holidaying abroad, the right credit card could make a big difference. A rewards credit card which offers flight points could mean you cut flight costs – helping you save money on a holiday – or let you upgrade your seat for less.

There are several credit card providers offering airline or flight points as a reward for spending, such as American Express, Virgin Money and Barclays.

But which is the best credit card for flight points, such as Avios or Virgin Points? We break down the different options available right now, comparing what’s on offer, monthly or annual fees and any extra perks like airport lounge access or travel insurance.

What is an airline miles credit card?

An airline miles credit card is a type of reward credit card that lets you collect points on your everyday spending, which can then be used towards flights.

Once you’ve collected enough points or airline miles, you can typically redeem them – unlocking perks like free or reduced flights, seat upgrades, extra baggage, airport lounge access or even other travel expenses like hotel stays or car hires, depending on the provider.

Different airlines have their own schemes. The most popular ones are Avios, run by British Airways – which can also be used with BA’s partner airlines – and Virgin Atlantic’s Virgin points.

Are airline miles credit cards worth it?

Airline miles credit cards can offer lucrative rewards, particularly if you’re a higher spender or you travel often. They can make your journey more rewarding.

However, there are a few caveats. You can only redeem points with certain airlines or providers, and you will need to be flexible with your travel itinerary, as flights paid for with points tend to have limited availability, especially during peak travel times.

Keep in mind that you will have to repay your credit card bill in full each month, or you will be stung with high interest rates.

The best credit cards for flight points

Below, we round up the top credit cards for airline miles and reward points. We’ve done a breakdown based on annual cost, representative APR, welcome bonus and extra perks you can get.

American Express Rewards Credit Card

This is the most cost-effective travel reward credit card for customers, as it lets you earn points on your spending but has no annual fee. It comes with these perks:

• 10,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £2,000 in your first three months. You don’t qualify if you’ve already had an Amex card in the past 24 months.
• Earn 1 point for every £1 spent on purchases.
• Earn 4,000 points for inviting a friend – provided their application is approved.

Membership Rewards points don’t have to be redeemed as flight points, but you have the option to transfer them to an Amex loyalty partner programme such as an airline’s frequent flier scheme.

For instance, 40,000 points could get you a return economy flight to Dubai with Virgin Atlantic. You can also redeem your points on eligible purchases at PayPal, Amazon, Boots, Currys, etc.

British Airways American Express Credit Card

Another cost-effective option is the British Airways American Express Credit Card. It doesn’t have an annual fee, and it lets you collect Avios on any purchases you make. Some of its perks include:

• 5,000 bonus Avios when you spend £2,000 in your first three months
• One Avios for every £1 spent on purchases.
• 1,000 Avios when you add the first Supplementary Card – an extra card issued to a family member or friend – to your account.
• Earn 4,000 points for inviting a friend – provided their application is approved.
• Get a companion voucher when you spend £15,000 each cardmembership year.
• Covered for Travel Accident Insurance of up to £75,000 on public transport.

You can redeem vouchers when booking a British Airways, Iberia or Aer Lingus Reward flight. We look at Avios-only flights and companion vouchers in a separate guide.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

If you’re a frequent traveller and want more value for your money, the American Express Preferred Rewards Credit Card may be a suitable option. While it comes at a steep cost of £195 (£0 in the first year), it could be offset by the amount of points and rewards on offer. This includes:

• 40,000 bonus Membership Rewards points when you spend £5,000 in the first six months. This reverts to 20,000 points once the offer ends after 26 May 2026. You don’t qualify if you’ve already had an Amex card in the past 24 months.
• Earn three points for every £1 spent on Amex Travel, two points for every £1 spent directly with airlines, and one point for every £1 spent on eligible purchases.
• Four complimentary Priority Pass airport lounge passes a year at up to 1,300 lounges at airports around the world
• Get US $100 hotel credit when you book two or more nights with The Hotel Collection, which can go towards spa purchases, food and beverage, late check-out, room upgrades and more.
• Free Travel Accident Insurance up to £250,000 and Travel Inconvenience Insurance up to £200.
• £10 back per month on Deliveroo, or effectively £120 a year

American Express Nectar Credit Card

If you’re a regular Sainsbury’s shopper, you might find that the American Express Nectar Credit Card offers you the best value for money. It has an annual cost of £30, which comes in the second year, so you can trial the card for a year to see if it’s ideal for you. Here’s what you’ll get:

• 20,000 bonus Nectar points when you spend £2,000 in your first three months. You don’t qualify for this offer if you’ve already had an Amex card in the past 24 months.
• Earn 3 points for every £1 spent at Nectar partners, and 2 points for every £1 on purchases
• Invite a friend and earn 5,000 points if they are approved.

Nectar points can be converted into Avios – 400 Nectar points equal 250 Avios. This means the welcome bonus is worth 12,500 Avios.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card

If you fly with Virgin or are a banking customer of theirs, you may want to consider getting the Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card. It has no annual fee. The perks that come with this card include:

• 3,000 welcome bonus points when you make a purchase in the first 90 days.
• Until 18 May, earn another 3,000 Virgin Points if you spend £1,000 within 90 days of taking out the card. Make sure you link your Flying Club number to your credit card by 16 August to be eligible for the bonus.
• 0.75 Virgin Points for every £1 spent on everyday purchases, and 1.5 points for every £1 spent with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays.
• Get a flight upgrade or a companion ticket when you spend over £20,000 in a year.

We take a look at how Virgin Flying Club works in a separate guide.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus Credit Card

For higher spenders and frequent flyers, it’s worth checking out the Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus Credit Card, a premium version of the above reward credit card. The annual fee is £160, but this may be offset using Virgin Points. Here’s how you can earn them:

• 18,000 welcome bonus points when you make a purchase in the first 90 days.
• Until 18 May, earn another 18,000 Virgin Points if you spend £3,000 within 90 days of taking out the card. Make sure you link your Flying Club number to your credit card by 16 August to be eligible for the bonus.
• 1.5 Virgin Points for every £1 spent on everyday purchases, and 3 points for every £1 spent with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays.
• Get a flight upgrade or a companion ticket when you spend over £10,000 in a year.

Barclaycard Avios

If you fly British Airways and want to collect Avios, Barclaycard Avios may be a good place to start, considering it comes with no annual fee. Here are the perks you can get:

• Collect 5,000 Avios if you spend £1,000 in the first three months
• 1 Avios for every £1 spent on eligible purchases.
• When you hit £20,000 spent on your card within 12 months, you can choose between a British Airways cabin upgrade voucher to use on an Avios Reward Flight booking, or opt for 7,000 bonus Avios.

If you change from an existing Barclaycard to this one, you can still get 1,000 Avios when you spend at least £1,000 within three months.

For example, if you have collected 19,500 Avios points, by spending just £1, you can get a peak-time, economy return flight from London to Milan.

Barclaycard Avios Plus

For premium flyers and avid points collectors, the Barclaycard Avios Plus can mean you get more points and rewards on your travel. This is the most expensive card on the market, costing £20 monthly, or £240 annually. Here are perks that come with the premium card:

• Collect 25,000 Avios if you spend £3,000 in the first three months
• 1.5 Avios for every £1 spent on eligible purchases.
• When you spend £10,000 on your card within 12 months, you can choose between a British Airways cabin upgrade voucher to use on an Avios Reward Flight booking, or opt for 7,000 bonus Avios.
• Access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide at a discounted rate of £20.50 per lounge pass per person.

If you change from an existing Barclaycard to this one, you can still get 5,000 Avios when you spend at least £3,000 within three months.

For example, if you use 43,000 Avios points and pay £33, you can get a peak, Club Europe business-class return flight from London to Venice, Lisbon or Madrid.

Which is the best credit card for flight points?

If you’re new to credit cards and still want to make the most of your travel, you might want to trial a credit card with a £0 annual fee – or opt for an Amex Preferred Rewards Gold card, which is free for a year, to determine if the rewards are worth it.

If you’re keen on a companion voucher or flight upgrade without having to fork out hundreds, you can trial the Barclaycard Avios or the British Airways Amex card. We look at the best credit cards for airport lounge access in a separate guide.

According to Head for Points, the Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus Credit Card is “clearly the best deal” in the first year, given the boosted bonus. “36,000 Virgin Points easily offsets the £160 annual fee for the first year. More importantly, once you have the Reward Plus card, you are earning the superior 1.5 points per £1 whenever you shop. You also trigger the annual voucher more quickly.”

However, consider if you’re likely to use Virgin points before you apply. If you typically fly with British Airways instead, collecting Virgin points might not be right for you.

As per Which?, the Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus Credit Card is the most competitive, but its free version is more cost-friendly. The American Express Rewards Credit Card is a ‘best buy’ due to its zero annual fee and flexibility.

However, it’s worth remembering that based on your needs and preferences, one card could be more suitable than the other – so if you value premium services, you might be comfortable paying more to get value for money.

British Airways has launched new Avios-only flights, offering more opportunities to redeem your Avios points.

Avios is a major loyalty programme with airlines British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus all signed up. Under the scheme, you receive points when buying flights, spending with certain retailers or if you’ve got an affiliated credit card. These points can then be redeemed on flights, holiday extras and more.

A popular way to spend Avios points is via reward flights. On these flights, you pay with your Avios points, as well as a cash amount to cover taxes, fees and carrier charges.

British Airways introduced Avios-only flights in 2023, which members of The British Airways Club can book as reward flights. So far, there have been around 50 Avios-only flights, with destinations including the Middle East, Caribbean and Africa.

How exactly do these flights work and who is eligible? We reveal everything you need to know below.

What are Avios-only flights and who is eligible?

British Airways typically allocates a certain amount of seats on its flights to customers with Avios points to redeem as “reward flights”.

On flights to and from Heathrow and Gatwick, the airline guarantees eight seats in economy, two in premium economy and four in business class.

For flights to and from London City Airport, four reward seats are guaranteed, with two in business and two in economy.

However, since 2023, British Airways has released Avios-only flights where 100% of seats are available to British Airways Club members collecting Avios points. You can use some cash to cover the cost of these flights, but a fixed amount of Avios points has to be redeemed.

The flights are often to popular holiday destinations and run at peak times of the year, offering those with Avios points greater priority.

British Airways says Avios-only flights always sell out to customers with Avios due to their popularity.

Where do Avios-only flights travel to?

Previous Avios-only flights have gone to places across Europe, the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East, including Cape Town, Barbados, Sharm El Sheikh, Málaga and Marrakesh. In February, British Airways announced two more Avios-only flights, from London City Airport to Madrid and Toulon Saint-Tropez.

You can find out where you can travel to on the British Airways Club website or via the Avios app.

In June, two additional flights from London Heathrow to Tenerife and Reykjavik were added for those planning to travel over the October half-term break. All Euro Traveller seats are available from just £5 and 33,500 Avios return, or £40 and 60,000 Avios return with Club Europe, including checked luggage.

More recently, a limited-edition Avios-only flight was launched for those travelling from London Heathrow to New York JFK on select dates in October 2026. Seats are available exclusively to BA Amex cardmembers, who can register their interest in booking the flight up until 24 June. It will cost £0 in every cabin and between 25,000 and 160,000 Avios for the flight, and those travelling in first class will receive a complimentary BLADE helicopter transfer between JFK and Manhattan upon arrival.

When and how can you book Avios-only flights?

British Airways announces new Avios-only flights on its website and via the Avios app. You can book one-way and return journeys on the website and via the app.

Reward flights can be booked through a British Airways Club account or by calling the contact centre on 0344 493 0747 (if calling from the UK).

Seats are sold on a first-come, first-served basis and often sell out fast.

In May, reward flight prices went up, which means flyers will have to fork out more cash for booking Avios-only flights.

For instance, a one-way trip in Club Europe from Heathrow to Rome will now cost £20 and 22,000 Avios. Before 27 May, this was £15 and 22,000 Avios, British Airways said.

Can you use American Express companion vouchers for Avios-only flights?

American Express British Airways companion vouchers can be used when booking Avios-only flights as well as regular flights. They effectively double the value of your Avios.

How does the companion voucher work?

When you book a reward flight for two people, the voucher lets you take someone with you on the same flight and in the same cabin for no extra Avios. While you won't need to use additional Avios, you will need to pay any applicable taxes, fees and charges for both travellers.

Alternatively, solo travellers can use half of the Avios required for one person, with the companion voucher. They will still need to pay the taxes, fees and charges.

Cardmembers can now also redeem their companion voucher when booking with British Airways Holidays using Avios to pay or part-pay, and get 25% Avios back. This offer is available on holiday package bookings made before 31 March 2027.

Can you cancel Avios-only flights?

Yes, Avios-only flights can be cancelled up to 24 hours before departure for a full refund, although you will be charged a £35 fee.

If you cancel within 24 hours of your outbound journey, and you’ve paid the taxes, fees and charges, these are refunded to the account used to book. For bookings made using Avios and money, the cash portion of the price isn’t refunded.

A £35 service fee is also charged if you change your flight date. If the new date costs more, you will have to use additional Avios points, and if it costs less, you will receive the difference in Avios points back.

In 2010, the fastest way to move money on the same day from New York to London was to catch a flight from JFK to Heathrow and deliver it yourself, noted JPMorgan’s 2021 report “Payments are Eating the World”. Fewer than ten years later, thanks to a new wave of payment providers, consumers could make the same transaction at virtually no cost, in any currency, in seconds, to anywhere on the planet.

It’s impossible to put into words how much the global payments industry has changed over the past 15 years. The payments industry is the most valuable part of the financial-services sector, generating $2.5trillion in revenue and $2quadrillion in value flows, supported by 3.6 trillion transactions worldwide every year, according to McKinsey’s Global 2025 Payments Report. And those numbers are growing every second.

When JPMorgan’s report was published, global payments revenues were still recovering from the pandemic, having fallen from $1.8trillion to $1.7trillion between 2019 and 2021. However, since then volumes have jumped to $2.5trillion, driven mainly by growth across Latin America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), where volumes have compounded at a double-digit annual rate.

Historically, the market was dominated by the big banks and a couple of network operators, predominantly MasterCard and Visa, but as JPMorgan’s report predicted five years ago, payment providers have indeed started to “eat the world”, as consumers demand more and new platforms emerge that have to fight for market share.

Payment providers – going beyond your flexible friend

Over the past two decades, the entire global payments industry has undergone a complete overhaul. Back in the mid-2000s, cash payments accounted for around two-thirds of all transactions in both the US and UK. Larger transactions required cheques or bank transfers, taking several days to process. One of the biggest innovations in the UK was the introduction of the Faster Payments Service in May 2008. The service facilitates real-time payments of up to £1 million, including on weekends and holidays, within 90 seconds. For smaller transactions, the service has largely replaced the older systems, Bacs, Swift, and Chaps, in the UK (but not for larger transactions).

Bacs (owned by independent non-profit Pay.UK) was first introduced in the 1960s in the UK as a faster, cheaper alternative to cheques. Still widely used, payments can take up to three days to process, meaning that, while outdated, the system is still useful for regular direct debits. Swift (The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), introduced in 1973, remains the global standard for international payments, which typically arrive within an hour, but can take as long as five days (75% of payments on the Swift network now reach beneficiary banks within ten minutes) and the network covers 11,000 banks and foreign institutions in 200 countries, with almost 60 million transactions passing through the system daily. The Faster Payments Service has more in common with the vast global networks operated by the likes of Visa and MasterCard, both of which are the modern-era, consumer equivalents of Bacs and Swift networks.

Visa was founded in 1958 by Bank of America (BofA) as the BankAmericard credit-card programme, while MasterCard was founded in 1966 as Interbank, a cooperative of regional banks formed to compete with BankAmericard. Both networks were created to achieve a simple goal: providing faster payment methods than cash or cheques for small transactions. Visa and MasterCard are the credit networks, often described as the rails on which the world’s global payment system operates. Banks issue cards that work on these networks, which is why the Visa or MasterCard logo is featured on almost every plastic card issued (except in China). The logo denotes the payment network used to process payments, not the card issuer; the name of the issuer or bank is usually displayed as well. While Visa and MasterCard facilitate this payment network on cards, bank-to-bank and international transactions are still processed on systems such as Bacs, Swift and local internal payment networks.

The next key part of the process is the acquirer/ processor function. Three of the key players in this segment are Fiserv, Global Payments and Worldpay (the latter are in the final stages of finalising a merger). These have historically been the go-to service providers for the hardware (card readers) and the back-end connection to the bank. They help mid- to large-scale businesses fulfil key payments processes and manage relationships with all other stakeholders. Fiserv’s customer-facing software is called Clover, a cloud-based Android point-of-sale (POS) and business-management system. This system reads the customer’s card when it’s swiped or scanned, and then sends the data via Fiserv to the Visa network. Visa asks the user’s bank if there’s enough money or credit in the requested account. If the answer is yes, the message is transmitted back via the Visa network to Fiserv, and the Clover terminal acknowledges the sale and prints a receipt. The whole process takes milliseconds.

These companies have built systems and economies of scale that can handle huge numbers of transactions all over the world, as they have the scale, global logistics, hardware and software support that would be almost impossible to build from the ground up.

American Express: the first payments revolutionary

If there’s one true revolutionary payment provider, however, it’s American Express. Since its founding, American Express has been a truly integrated payment provider. It was founded in 1850 to meet the growing demand for shipping across the rapidly expanding regions of the US. Thanks to the company’s reputation and country-wide network, users started to trust it with handling their money and valuables, in a world where cross-country, let alone global, payments were virtually unheard of.

To meet the demand, American Express (Amex) introduced American Express Money Orders and Travellers’ Cheques in the late 1800s, which quickly became new forms of currency worldwide. (Travellers’ cheques, interestingly, simply modernised a very old idea. The Knights Templar developed them in the 1200s, coming up with a secure system for pilgrims to deposit money in Europe and withdraw it in the Holy Land, using coded letters of credit.) American Express presided over another massive shift in payments when it launched the American Express Card in 1958, widely regarded as the first true credit card.

What sets Amex apart is the fact that it’s both a network and a credit provider (a bank, in other words, or a closed-loop provider that services the whole customer relationship). As Amex keeps customers’ assets and liabilities on its balance sheet, its balance sheet is several times larger than those of its peers, Visa and MasterCard. It has also always targeted more affluent customers, with an annual fee attached to the card and network processing fees of around 2.5%-3.5%, compared with 1%-3% for Visa and MasterCard transactions. That extra cost comes with added benefits, such as reward schemes, travel insurance and a global concierge service. The average annual spend on American Express cards in the US is 2.9 times that of cards on other networks, while the average annual spend on American Express cards issued outside of the US is four times that of the spending on cards on those other networks internationally.

However, Amex is tiny compared with Visa and MasterCard. In the US, Amex has been accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards since the end of 2019. Internationally, penetration is far, far lower. Since 2017, the company has grown the number of merchant locations that accept Amex by nearly five times to 160 million, but there are still big gaps, especially with smaller, local retailers.

American Express is now looking to the next stage of growth. Early last year, the company partnered with Alipay, the open platform for payments and digital services in China, to facilitate inbound digital payments into China, enabling travellers and tourists to spend across borders. The group was also the first foreign payments network licensed to clear Chinese yuan transactions in mainland China. The company also teamed up with Coinbase last year to launch the Coinbase One Card, on the American Express Network. This card gives unlimited cash back in Bitcoin of between 2% and 4% of purchases, depending on assets held on the Coinbase platform, and allows users to pay their credit-card bills in Bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies.

American Express is one of the best examples of the power of the global payments industry. The group has transformed day-to-day payments over nearly the past two centuries, breaking down borders, speeding up payments and transforming the relationship between credit and network providers and the end customer by offering benefits and good service. Yet now there’s a new crop of businesses that are becoming increasingly ingrained in the fabric of the global economy.

From PayPal to Venmo: the new kids on the block

Global finance is now moving from a world of swiping cards and handing over cash to invisible payments embedded directly into the software we use for work and shopping. At the same time, payment providers are shifting business models away from increasingly commoditised payment services towards value-added services, taking a leaf out of American Express’s book. If payments were starting to “eat the world” five years ago, they’ve moved past the starter and are well into the main course today.

PayPal was one of the first companies to make the stride into the modern, online-first era. Founded in the late 1990s, PayPal’s internal payment network became the go-to platform for the use of the fledgling auction platform eBay as the internet unlocked a new market for small businesses and consumer-to-consumer payments. The auction platform acquired the company in the early 2000s.

One of PayPal’s advantages is its front-of-house software, which is embedded with the processor that handles the back-end work and the network. Money sent from one PayPal wallet to another never needs to touch an external network such as MasterCard, Visa or American Express. Over the years, the company has added tools to help businesses manage their transactions, accounting and cash flow (via working capital loans). It has also worked to streamline the experience for customers; PayPal’s “buy it now” became the gold standard for a streamlined, secure checkout.

Since its spin-off from eBay in 2015, PayPal has rapidly expanded its footprint by acquiring Venmo (via the Braintree acquisition), Xoom (for international transfers), Honey (for shopping discounts) and iZettle (for physical store hardware). Venmo has become so popular in the US that it’s sometimes used as a verb (“to Venmo”). Users have their own wallet in the Venmo app and can pay friends (or small businesses) from that wallet using a QR code or a username. Like PayPal, when money is deposited on the platform, it remains on the Venmo ledger, with the company taking a small slice out of each transaction. Users can transfer money from their bank or use Visa/MasterCard to pull money into their account. Fees are higher for Visa/MasterCard transactions.

PayPal was really the first of the next generation of online, integrated, international payment platforms designed to empower small businesses and customers to move money cheaply and quickly around the world. For small businesses, it also removed the need to try to negotiate with the likes of Worldpay and Fiserv, both of which are just too large to care about trying to work with smaller businesses.

The rise of digital wallets and BNPL schemes

Stripe, Block (formerly Square), SumUp and Adyen have taken on the model PayPal pioneered. Stripe is one of the world’s most valuable private companies, having carved out a profitable niche with its simplicity. Its “seven lines of code” model means a developer can set up a checkout page in minutes without ever speaking to a salesperson. It also arrived on the scene at a key point in the development of the internet. Stripe runs the software behind entrepreneurial and gig-economy apps such as Shopify, Lyft and Airbnb, where payments are split between the platform, buyers and sellers.

This is where PayPal should have had an edge, but Stripe’s simple interface helped it take market share. The group has also developed the software powering complex subscriptions for companies such as Netflix, OpenAI and Slack, handling features such as free trials, “prorated” upgrades, and “failed card” retries. On top of this, the company has moved into the physical world with the Stripe Payments terminal for small businesses, which serves the same role as a platform such as Clover. The terminal also connects to the Stripe dashboard and accounting software, streamlining payment, accounting and forecasting for small businesses.

Compared with Stripe, Block’s system is more suited to in-store, in-person transactions for small and medium-sized businesses. Adyen, on the other hand, is best for large enterprises needing more control and unified omnichannel (online/in-store) payment processing. SumUp is aimed squarely at small businesses, mobile vendors, coffee shops, boutiques, and pop-up stores, with flat fees, integrated business accounts, card readers that are easy to use with 4G/Wi-Fi, and plug-and-play setup. Another group that’s stepped into the market is Shopify, an all-in-one e-commerce platform that provides tools for anyone to create, manage and grow an online business. It is gaining serious traction with larger merchants.

Stripe and Block stepped into the market just as another payment revolution was taking place – contactless and wallet payments. Digital wallets, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal, now account for more than 60% of global e-commerce transactions and, in the US, Apple Pay now controls roughly 49% of the mobile wallet user base. Digital wallets are software applications that store payment information and enable secure transactions using mobile devices, replacing physical cards and cash. Security is enhanced through encryption and biometrics, such as fingerprint/ face ID scans. The key selling point for both consumers and businesses is convenience. Digital wallets don’t require bulky card terminals. Businesses only need compatible devices, or even just printed QR codes. Digital wallets have accelerated the growth of digital payments, particularly for SMEs, which in the UK at least account for 99.9% of all private-sector businesses. Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) providers such as Klarna and Affirm have only added fuel to the fire.

BNPL providers have more in common with traditional banks’ credit-card businesses, with added flexibility. Users can open accounts in minutes, pay via digital wallets and manage all payments through a single app, with clearly defined repayment terms. Research has shown that offering BNPL as a payment method leads to more transactions and higher customer spending. Industry volumes have risen ten times since 2019 to $217billion.

The best payment provider stocks to buy now

Technology has opened up a whole new world of payment methods and consumers and businesses now have more choice than ever before. But in this huge market, power is consolidated in the hands of a few core players, and these are the ones that look best-positioned to continue growing as the volume of payments flying around the world every second continues to increase.

The most appealing buys for investors are MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and Visa (NYSE: V), the world’s two most important payment networks. Visa recorded a 10% rise in transaction volumes in 2025, and earned net income of $20billion on just $100billion of assets, which shows just how profitable these businesses have become. MasterCard reported $14billion of operating income on $53billion of assets. Both companies booked a net margin in the region of 50%.

Block (NYSE: XYZ) and Klarna (NYSE: KLAR) also look appealing as they’re both still in growth mode. UBS believes Klarna’s total addressable market is around $10trillion. If the company can gain 10% of that, it would mean a ten-times increase in the current payment volume going through the Klarna platform. Block, meanwhile, is only just getting started. Transactions on the company’s Square platform outside the US jumped 26% in the third quarter.

In the UK, it could be worth considering Paypoint (LSE: PAY). Paypoint is tiny in comparison with the likes of Block and Stripe, but has a tight hold over the UK convenience-store market, where its technology helps small businesses manage payments and customers pay bills, such as council tax. It’s highly cash generative and offers a dividend yield of 4.1%.

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A companion voucher is an exclusive benefit offered to American Express British Airways (BA) credit card customers.

The voucher lets you boost the power of your Avios points when you book a BA reward flight.

A BA reward flight means a flight booked with Avios as the main payment method – depending on how many points you have, your flight could cost you as little as £1 in cash.

Avios points and the BA companion voucher are different to British Airways tier points, which we look at in a separate guide.

What is a British Airways American Express companion voucher?

BA Amex companion vouchers allow cardmembers to effectively double the power of Avios points when purchasing reward flights.

This can be done in one of two ways:

• Travelling with a companion: You can use a companion voucher to take someone with you on the same flight and in the same cabin without spending any extra points.
• Travelling alone: You can use a companion voucher to discount the Avios price of your reward flight by 50%.

If you choose to bring a companion along by using a voucher, you will not need to spend any additional Avios points, but you will need to pay any applicable taxes and other flight charges.

Customers travelling with a companion who have multiple vouchers can use a maximum of two of the same type on one reward flight booking. This amounts to a maximum of four passengers (excluding infants under two years old).

Solo travellers can only use a maximum of one voucher per booking.

Use a companion voucher with BA Holidays

British Airways Amex card holders who book with British Airways Holidays using Avios points (either full or part payment) can now redeem their companion voucher on the package, to get 25% of the Avios back.

The offer is available on holiday package bookings made before 31 March 2027.

British Airways American Express card members can get up to 50,000 Avios back per booking, while British Airways American Express Premium Plus cardmembers can get up to 200,000 Avios back per booking.

In order to redeem the voucher, you will have to submit an online form within 72 hours of booking via BA Holidays.

25% of the Avios used will then be credited back to your BA account. For instance, if you put 40,000 Avios towards a holiday in Rome, 10,000 would be returned to your account.

When using a voucher on a reward flight, customers must fly on the outbound flight before the voucher expires. However, with this offer, the voucher only needs to be valid at the time of booking – letting customers travel on their BA holiday after the companion voucher expires.

How do you get a BA Amex companion voucher?

To earn a BA Amex companion voucher, you must spend £15,000 on your participating BA Amex card in a given year.

The current cards eligible for companion vouchers are the British Airways American Express Credit Card and the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card.

You are only able to earn one companion voucher per year.

Companion vouchers earned with the British Airways American Express Credit Card will be eligible for 12 months after they are earned.

Meanwhile, companion vouchers earned with the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card will be eligible for 24 months after they are earned.

Note that you cannot earn a companion voucher if you spend the required amount on a different Amex card.

For a full rundown of all of Amex’s available cards, read ‘Which is the best American Express credit card?’.

What are the different types of companion vouchers?

The type of companion voucher you have depends on when and how you earned it.

Companion vouchers earned through the British Airways American Express Credit Card after 1 September 2021 are displayed on your British Airways Club account as 'BA American Express Credit Card Companion Voucher'.

Meanwhile, companion vouchers earned through the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card after 1 September 2021 will be displayed as ‘BA American Express Premium Plus Companion Voucher'.

Finally, if you earned your companion vouchers before 1 September 2021, they will be displayed in your account as 'BA American Express Companion Voucher'. These have different terms, validity, and benefits than the others. BA says more information about these can be found at ba.com/amex-companion.

You cannot combine two different types of companion vouchers in one booking.

How to redeem a BA Amex companion voucher

Once you have spent the required £15,000 on your eligible BA Amex card, you will be able to see your voucher displayed in your British Airways Club account.

You can then redeem it by going to ba.com/bookwithavios and signing in. You can then select your voucher at the top of the page and choose your destination and dates.

You can then look through the available flights, choose them, and book your tickets.

If the companion voucher is used on a reward flight, the outbound flight would need to be taken within the eligibility period, before the voucher expires.

American Express (Amex) credit card customers are being offered a new tool to split payments on purchases.

As with any credit card, users can make a purchase and then pay the bill at the end of the month, but Amex has unveiled a new tool called Plan It, which lets users select an instalment plan instead for parts or all of their latest statement.

It comes amid the rising popularity of buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) schemes, which let customers spread the cost of a purchase and pay it off interest-free in equal instalments as long as the payment is made on time.

The Amex offer isn’t a BNPL scheme and is arguably less risky as you are using a regulated credit card provider and are able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service if things go wrong.

Amex argues that Plan It gives customers more flexibility in how they repay their credit card bill.

There are some limits to watch out for though.

What is the Amex Plan It tool?

The Plan It tool offers a different way for Amex customers to pay their credit card bill.

A credit card is an effective way to make purchases and in the case of Amex you could also earn cashback or Avios points.

As long as the bill is paid off each month there will be no interest charged.

But Amex is offering a different way to payoff some of a credit card bill.

Amex customers will be able to select a transaction or an amount from their most recent statement to put into an instalment plan for three, six or 12 months.

How does Plan It work?

Plan It is available on most major Amex credit cards such as its Platinum Cashback or British Airways American Express Credit Card but not charge cards.

Once your statement is ready, you will be able to select a transaction or a series of payments to put into the Plan It scheme and spread them over a three, six or 12-month time period in return for a monthly fee.

This can be setup in your Amex online account or through the app.

The amount must be a minimum of £100 and can be worth up to a maximum of 85% of the statement balance.

You still earn Avios, membership rewards or cashback if your card is eligible.

The Plan It instalment plan is automatically included in your minimum due payment each month. If a customer does not pay their monthly minimum due payment, in full, for two consecutive statements, any instalment plans on the account will be cancelled and it will be added to the main balance. Late fees may also be charged.

How much does Plan It cost?

The monthly fee for Plan It will depend on how much is in the plan and its length.

 The longer the instalment plan, the more you will pay.

MoneyWeek understands that the fees will be comparable to the interest a cardmember would have paid if they had carried the same balance on their account, without the instalment plan.

Is Plan It worth it?

It is always positive to have more choice when it comes to repaying any type of bill.

Plan It offers Amex customers more flexibility and transparency on how much you will pay for the plan.

But it involves an extra level of administration as you need to make sure you keep on top of the instalment repayments as well as the rest of your credit card balance.

That may work for those who are good at budgeting and keeping on top of various different bills.

But paying off your credit card in full each month is often the best way to manage you account to avoid interest being added.

If you fail to keep up with your instalment payments then just like any credit card bill, you risk late payment fees and could end up having an arrears or default added to your credit report.

Some may question if a credit card is right for you if you also need to further spread the payments on your credit card bill as you risk racking up further interest being added.

If you have large credit card debts, it may even be worth considering a balance transfer credit card where some offer interest-free repayment period.

American Express credit cards – commonly known as Amex cards – are a popular choice among customers looking for extra rewards when spending money.

These cards come in all sorts of forms, from cashback credit cards to cards which reward you with points. Some are free to get, while others have a fee attached.

If you want to clear debt, you may be better off using a 0% balance transfer credit card. For those planning a holiday, take a look at our guide on the best cards for travel abroad.

If you’re seeking maximum value on your day-to-day spending and travel perks, and will pay off the balance due in full each month, a card which offers rewards might be a good option.

Amex offers a number of rewards credit cards – although these cards might not be as widely accepted as Mastercard and Visa cards.

The best American Express credit cards

There isn’t necessarily a ‘best’ Amex credit card, as different options may or may not suit people’s spending habits.

For instance, someone who doesn’t travel abroad often might not get as much use out of an Amex card that offers Avios points, compared to a frequent flyer.

Below, we list some of the most popular credit cards for different uses, such as no annual fee, cashback, rewards and travel perks.

You won’t be eligible for any “welcome bonus” offers if you have held an Amex card in the past 24 months. See how British Airways Amex companion vouchers work in our guide.

The best Amex card with no annual fee

If you’re just dipping your toes into the world of credit cards or Amex, the British Airways American Express Credit Card may be a good option. It doesn’t have an annual fee, and it lets you collect Avios on any purchases you make, giving you more value for your money.

Some of its perks include:

• 5,000 bonus Avios when you spend £2,000 in your first three months of cardmembership.
• One Avios for every £1 spent on purchases.
• 1,000 Avios when you add the first Supplementary Card – an extra card issued to a family member or friend – to your account.
• Get a companion voucher when you spend £15,000 each cardmembership year.

Eligibility:

• Earn at least £15,000 per year

The best Amex card for cashback

Out of the Amex range, the American Express Cashback Everyday Credit Card gives the most cashback without having to pay any annual fees.

Some of its perks include:

• 5% cashback on your purchases (up to £125) for the first three months of your cardmembership.
• After the bonus period, earn 1% cashback on spending above £10,000, which falls to 0.5% if you spend less than £10,000.
• There is no limit on how much cashback you can earn in a year, provided you spend a minimum of £3,000.

Eligibility:

• Earn at least £15,000 per year

The best Amex card for rewards

The American Express Preferred Rewards Credit Card comes with a host of rewards and points that can help offset the cost of the card – a £195 fee that comes in after a year.

Some of its perks include:

• Earn 20,000 bonus Membership Rewards points when you spend £3,000 in the first three months. You don’t qualify if you’ve already had an Amex card in the past 24 months.
• Earn three points for every £1 spent on Amex Travel and two points for every £1 spent directly with airlines
• Get £10 back per month on Deliveroo, which could equate to £120 back a year
• Four complimentary Priority Pass airport lounge passes a year at up to 1,300 lounges at airports around the world
• Other benefits include US $100 hotel credit when you book two or more nights with The Hotel Collection, which can go towards spa purchases or food and beverage, late check-out, room upgrades and more.

Eligibility:

• Earn at least £20,000 per year

You can use points towards purchases made on your card, whether you’re going on holiday or dining out. For instance, 40,000 points means up to £200 in gift cards.

We look at other credit cards offering airport lounge access in a separate guide.

The best Amex card for travel

The American Express Platinum Credit Card comes with a substantial fee of £650 per year, but depending on how you use the travel benefits offered, it may be worth getting.

Some of its perks include:

• Earn 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards points when you spend £6,000 in the first three months. You don’t qualify if you’ve already had an Amex in the past 24 months.
• Get £250 in travel credit, which can be used on a single prepaid purchase of flights, hotels and car hire. It’s valid for 12 months from the date of issue.
• Get up to £200 in dining credit to spend in the UK, and another £200 abroad for participating restaurants
• Earn 2x points on Amex Travel for every £1 spent.
• Earn one point for every £1 spent
• Complimentary access to over 1,400 lounges at airports around the world
• Travel rewards, including US $100 hotel credit, travel insurance, car rental and complimentary hotel benefits

Eligibility:

• Earn at least £35,000 per year

If you’re unsure whether this card works for you, you may consider testing it out for a year. The sign-up bonus of 75,000 Membership Rewards points (worth £375) and £400 annual dining credit in the UK and abroad could work out to be more than the fee for the first year.

The best Amex card for frequent flyers

An alternative option is the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Credit Card, which offers extra Avios points for a limited time. This account has a £300 annual fee and a representative APR of 135.7% variable.

Some of its perks include:

• Welcome bonus of 30,000 bonus Avios when you spend £6,000 in your first three months of cardmembership.
• Get a companion voucher in any cabin – including business and first class flights – when you spend £15,000 in a year.
• Earn 3x Avios with British Airways or BA Holidays for every £1 spent
• Earn 1.5x Avios for every £1 spent on purchases.

Eligibility:

• Earn at least £35,000 per year

We look at the best time to book flights for savvy travellers who want the best value for money on their holidays.

Which is the best American Express Avios credit card for me?

The right card will ultimately come down to your spending habits. The more you spend on the card, the better value the Premium Plus card becomes, since the greater gain of Avios points will mitigate the annual fee. It’s also worth bearing in mind that other credit cards offer Avios rewards, such as those from Barclaycard, while you can also boost your Avios balance by opting for specific bank accounts.

Other American Express credit cards to consider

American Express offers a handful of other credit cards tied to specific reward schemes or brands. If you are a regular customer of these firms, then you may be better off considering one of these cards.

For example, the American Express Nectar Credit Card allows you to earn two Nectar points for every £1 spent (rising to three points on spending with Nectar partner firms). You can bag a bonus of 20,000 further points if you spend £2,000 in the first three months with the card.

There’s also the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Credit Card, which offers two points on each £1 you spend, moving to six points when you spend on eligible Marriott properties. You get an automatic silver status upgrade and receive 15 Elite Night Credits towards the hotel’s loyalty programme. You can also earn an introductory bonus of 20,000 points when you spend £3,000 in the first three months. There’s an annual fee of £95 to consider, though.

Get the most from your American Express card

Whichever American Express card you go for, if you want to make the most of the ability to earn rewards, you’ll need to put as much of your usual spending each month as possible on the card.

This can be a little trickier with American Express cards since they are not accepted by all retailers, but enough retailers do to allow you to put a significant portion of your spending on the card and maximise your returns.

However, it’s important that you do not view this as a reason to spend more than usual each month. Rewards credit cards only benefit shoppers who can clear their balance in full every month; otherwise, the interest charged on any outstanding balance will quickly eat into the value of the rewards you’ve earned.

One of the best ways to protect your money from the impact of inflation is to move your cash to a high-interest savings account. Another strategy is to try and earn cashback on the money you spend.   

Selecting the right financial product or adapting the way you shop can ensure that virtually every time you spend money you get a portion back in the form of cashback.

Below we run through the best ways to earn cashback: from spending on cashback credit cards, current accounts and through cashback websites.    

1. Earn cashback from your credit card

One of the easiest ways to earn cashback is by using the right credit card. A range of different cards reward shoppers with cashback simply for using the card for purchases. Cashback is calculated as a percentage of the money spent, and it’s paid either monthly, quarterly or annually, depending on the individual credit card. In some cases, the card will pay a higher rate in the first couple of months. 

To get the best value from a cashback credit card, it’s important to put as much of your regular spending on the card as possible. That way you earn cashback on the maximum amount each month. 

Make sure you don't use this as an excuse to overspend. Cashback credit cards, and other forms of reward credit cards, are really only suitable for shoppers who can clear their balance in full every month. Otherwise, the interest charged on the outstanding balance will swiftly erode the cashback earned, leaving you with little to nothing in the form of rewards.

American Express Cashback Everyday Credit Card

This is the cashback card now pays a rate of 5% in the first five months, and cashback is capped at £125. This makes it the highest cashback earn rate of any UK credit card. After the welcome period, you earn a rate of 0.5% if you spend less than £10,000 in a year or 1% above that level. The best part? There’s no annual fee for this Amex card. 

American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday Credit Card

The other American Express card that offers cashback is its Platinum Cashback Everyday credit card, but this has an £25 annual fee. New customers can earn 5% cashback on up to £125 for three months – plus a £25 cashback bonus. 

One downside to American Express credit cards is that not all retailers accept them. As a result,  it may be difficult to maximise the cashback earned on your spending.

Lloyds Bank World Elite Mastercard

One non-Amex alternative is the Lloyds Bank World Elite Mastercard, which offers 1% cashback on purchases above £15,000. For purchases below that sum, you earn 0.5%. But, there is a £15 monthly fee for this credit card. 

2. Earn cashback from your bank account

A host of current accounts now offer customers cashback when they spend through their current accounts. This is generally focused on the payment of household bills using direct debits and sometimes on spending with your debit card. As most cashback current accounts charge a monthly fee, it’s important to take this into account when deciding if the product is the right one for you. If you want to get a larger lump sum from your current account, you might prefer to opt for an account where you get a bonus for switching banks. 

Here are a few of the top bank accounts for cashback. 

Santander Edge

1% cashback on household bills, for example, council tax, supermarket spending and energy bills, capped at £10 a month. You must pay by direct debit to qualify. The account has a £3 monthly fee.

NatWest reward account 

You can earn 1% cashback with selected retailers with NatWest Rewards, capped at £5 a month. To qualify, you must have at least two direct debits set up for a minimum of £2. You can redeem your rewards as money back into your account, donate to charity or trade them for an eGift card. This account has a £2 monthly fee. 

Club Lloyds Silver Account

This account is ideal if you’re looking for a packaged bank account, as it comes with more perks than just cashback, You can earn up to 15% back with selected retailers including Costa, Sainsbury’s and Just Eat. Plus, the card offers fee-free spending abroad, mobile phone insurance and UK roadside breakdown family cover, to name a few of the benefits available. This all comes at a £3 monthly fee, which can be waived if you pay in a minimum of £2,000 a month into your account. 

The Halifax Reward account 

This reward card pays cashback no matter how you spend your money. It pays account holders £5 a month so long as they stay in credit and spend at least £500 a month, or keep £5,000 in the account.  

3. Earn cashback from your online shopping

Finally, it’s worth flagging up the potential to earn cashback every time you shop online through cashback websites.

Cashback websites like TopCashback and Quidco have partnerships with thousands of retailers. The idea is that if you head to the retailer’s website via a tracked link on the cashback website, and then spend money with that retailer, you will get a portion of that spend back in cashback. These sites get paid a referral fee for your custom, and then hand over some or even all of that fee to users in the form of cashback. 

Most cashback apps require you to make purchases through their app, but this isn’t so ideal when you’re in a rush. Mobile app Cheddar is another cashback option, and all you need to do is link your current account to your Cheddar app. Once this is done, the app will track your spending and you automatically earn cashback when you spend with selected retailers. You can then transfer your cashback to your linked bank account. 

Generally, cashback sites have a free membership tier, with a premium tier that will set you back around £5 a month but means you get faster cashback, and sometimes a higher rate of cashback too. 

The sums you get may seem small when you look at individual purchases but they can add up substantially over time if you get into the habit of using a cashback site every time you shop online. 

Many cashback sites offer a browser plug-in so that whenever you visit a retailer you get a notification if you can earn cashback on that site, which is a helpful reminder.  Some sites have mobile apps allowing you to earn cashback even when shopping in person.

Picking the right credit card could make a huge difference to the cost of your next holiday, with bonus offers on financial products linked to the Avios scheme coming to an end shortly.

Avios is a loyalty points scheme, and you can use the points you earn - known as Avios - to reduce the cost of flights, hotels and even car hire.

There are various ways to earn Avios, including by making use of credit cards on offer from both American Express and Barclaycard. These cards can provide a tremendous way to get upgraded flights and hotels at a discount, but it relies on you being able to pay off the balance in full each month.

Before you apply, it is a good idea to go through an eligibility checker, such as the one on our sister site Go.Compare to see if you’re likely to be accepted for the card.

Here’s what you need to know about collecting bonus Avios points and how the scheme works.

GET 40,000 BONUS AVIOS WITH AMERICAN EXPRESS PLATINUM 

• 40,000 bonus points
• Annual fee: £650 
• Representative APR: 704.6%

The American Express Platinum card comes with a bonus 40,000 membership rewards points.

These membership rewards points can then be converted into Avios, allowing you to slash the cost of your holiday.

To qualify for the bonus points, you will need to spend £6,000 in your first three months with the card, at which point you will get 40,000 points. 

The Platinum card comes with a host of additional benefits for travellers. For example, you get complimentary access to over 1,400 airport lounges across more than 140 countries. You also get comprehensive worldwide travel insurance and £150 in statement credits to spend in restaurants overseas.

Your regular spending with the card also allows you to earn membership reward points, at a rate of one point for every £1 spent, doubling to two points per pound when spending with Amextravel.co.uk.

The offer is only available to those who haven’t held a personal membership rewards-enrolled American Express card within the last 24 months. Those who have can still take the card out and benefit from all other perks, but won’t receive the points.

The American Express Platinum card is very much a premium credit card, as it comes with an annual fee of £650, but if you travel often, this fee may well be worthwhile.

You can either apply directly or go via go.compare’s eligibility checker to see if you will be accepted for this card.

GET 20,000 BONUS AVIOS WITH AMERICAN EXPRESS PREFERRED REWARDS GOLD 

• 20,000 bonus points
• Annual fee: Free for first year, then £195
• Representative APR: 88.8%

Again you benefit from membership reward points, which can be converted into Avios.

With the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card you can get up to 20,000 bonus points. To do so, you will need to spend £3,000 in the first three months of card membership, at which point you will get 20,000 membership reward points. 

The offer is only available to those who haven’t held a personal membership rewards-enrolled American Express card within the last 24 months. Those who have can still take the card out and benefit from all other perks, but won’t receive the points.

Your spending on the card also earns reward points, at a rate of one point for every £1 spent. This doubles to two points when spending directly with airlines or three points when spending with American Express Travel.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is another premium card in that it comes with an annual fee of £195. However, that fee is waived for the first year.

A further perk to the card is that you get four complimentary priority pass airport lounge visits per year.

You can either apply directly or go via go.compare’s eligibility checker to see if you will be accepted for this card.

American Express also offers a couple of cards that are directly linked with the Avios scheme itself.

BRITISH AIRWAYS AMERICAN EXPRESS PREMIUM PLUS 

• 25,000 bonus points
• Annual fee: £250 
• Representative APR: 113.1%

New holders of the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card are eligible for 25,000 bonus Avios when they spend £3,000 in their first three months of card membership. If they spend £10,000 in a card member year, they can also get a companion voucher, which they can use to take a “plus one” on the same flight and cabin (including business and first class).

If you spend £10,000 and are travelling solo, you can get a 50% discount on the Avios price you pay for your flight. Vouchers are redeemable on British Airways, Iberia, or Aer Lingus Reward flights and in any cabin.

The offer is only available to those who haven’t held a personal British Airways American Express Card within the last 24 months. Those who have can still take the card out and benefit from all other perks, but won’t receive the points.

The points will be added to your account once you spend the minimum amount, but they can take up to a month to be awarded.

After that, you will earn 1.5 Avios for every £1 spent, and twice that when you spend with British Airways or BA Holidays.

This card comes with an annual fee of £250, but if you travel often, this fee may well be worthwhile.

You can either apply directly or go via go.compare’s eligibility checker to see if you will be accepted for this card.

BRITISH AIRWAYS AMERICAN EXPRESS 

• Bonus: 5,000 Avios
• Annual fee: £0
• Representative APR: 31%

If you would rather not pay an annual fee, you can opt for the British Airways American Express credit card. It comes with a welcome bonus of 5,000 Avios points when you spend a minimum of £1,000 during the first three months of opening the account. After that, you will accumulate one Avios point for every £1 spent on the card.

The 5,000 point offer is only available to new members who haven’t held any personal American Express Cards during the past 24 months.

What’s more, if you spend £12,000 with the card in a year you’ll be eligible for a companion voucher. This means that when you book a flight, you can take someone with you in the same cabin, though you can also use the voucher to get 50% off the Avios price you pay for the flight.

The card has a representative APR of 31% so you should always aim to pay off the bill in full each month.

You can either apply directly or go via go.compare’s eligibility checker to see if you will be accepted for this card.

American Express isn’t the only card provider that allows you to earn Avios on your spending, however ‒ you can also earn points with Barclaycard.

BARCLAYCARD AVIOS PLUS

• Bonus points: 25,000
• Annual fee: £240 (£20 per month)
• Representative APR: 80.1%

With the Barclaycard Avios Plus credit card you can get a bonus 25,000 Avios if you spend £3,000 in your first three months with the card.

After that, you get 1.5 points for every £1 you spend, and can benefit from a British Airways cabin upgrade if you spend £10,000 within the first 12 months.

Be warned, it does come with a monthly fee (£20) that you’ll need to include in your decision-making process.

Barclaycard Avios 

• Bonus points: 5,000
• Fee: £0
• Representative APR: 29.9%

Alternatively, there’s the straightforward Barclaycard Avios credit card.

This card gives you one Avios for every £1 spent with no monthly fee.

If you spend £20,000 on the card within 12 months, you can receive a British Airways cabin upgrade flight.

Barclaycard Avios Rewards

Finally, it’s worth mentioning the Barclays Avios Rewards current account. This is another way to top up your Avios account, and you can even combine it with one of the cards above to really ratchet up your points balance.

The Barclays Avios rewards account gives you 1,500 Avios every month, on top of a welcome bonus of 25,000 Avios if you switch using the Current Account Switcher Service. If you’ve been with Barclays for four months or more, you get 2,500 Avios as a joining bonus. You’ll also get an upgrade voucher each year as an anniversary present.

The Barclays Avios Rewards account comes with a monthly fee of £12.

What are Avios points worth?

Of course, the big question is how much these points are really worth, and how much they can save you on your travel plans.

Let’s take an example, and say that you spend an average of £2,000 a month on each card. Over a year you would earn 29,000 points with the British Airways American Express card, including that initial bonus, which would be more than enough for a flight to Europe.

However, that same spend with the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card would see you rack up a whopping 71,000 points. That would be enough to cover a far longer flight, for example to the Caribbean or south Asia.

Existing American Express customer? Here’s how to boost your Avios points

The bonus Avios are generally only on offer to new customers. However, there may be ways to further boost your Avios balance if you’re an existing customer.

For example, American Express runs a ‘Refer a Friend’ scheme. If you have the fee-free British Airways American Express card and get a friend to take one out too, then you’ll pocket an additional 4,000 Avios. This isn’t limited to a single friend either ‒ you could make up to 90,000 extra Avios from selling the benefits of the card to your friends, should they then be approved.

The rewards are even more significant on the Premium Plus card, with a 9,000 Avios bonus for each friend. The same 90,000 bonus Avios annual cap applies, however.

How to make the most of your Avios points

With any rewards credit card, whether it is tied to the Avios scheme or offers a different form of reward like cashback, making the most of it will mean putting all of your regular spending on the card.

It’s money that you planned to spend anyway, but by using these cards, you ensure that you get something back for every £1 spent. This allows you to maximise rewards, build a bigger Avios balance and therefore save more cash on your future travels. This approach also improves your chances of qualifying for the companion flight deals.

This may be easier said than done of course, since not all retailers accept American Express cards. Nonetheless, it is worth trying.

It’s really important that the rewards on offer from your card are not seen as a reason to increase your spending. Reward cards are designed for people who can clear the balance in full each month. If you are unable to do that, then the interest charged on your outstanding balance will wipe out the value of any rewards you have built up.

Outside of the credit cards, there are ways to boost your Avios balance. For example, British Airways has its own e-store, which works rather like a cashback site. You shop online via the links on the BA website with retailers including John Lewis, M&S and Selfridges, and any money you spend is tracked. You then earn further Avios based on how much you spent.

The offers will vary depending on the retailer in question. For example, if you spend with Booking.com you can earn up to eight Avios for every £1 spent, but with John Lewis this drops to up to two Avios for each £1 spent.

You can also link your supermarket reward scheme to Avios - for example, you can convert your Nectar points into Avios to spend with British Airways. Check out our article on The top supermarket reward schemes to earn air miles.

How does the Avios points scheme work?

Avios is the name of a points scheme, with travellers able to convert their Avios points into discounts on flights, hotels and car hire.

If you are using Avios to cover the cost of a flight, you will nonetheless have to pay taxes and fees, even if the cost of the flight itself is entirely covered by the Avios points.

You will need different amounts of Avios to cover those flight costs based on your destination. For example, a trip to North America will start at 50,000, but this drops to 18,500 for flights to Europe.

Other factors will influence the Avios required too, such as the time of your trip. Travelling during off-peak times will generally cost fewer Avios than if you head off at the busiest times.

You don’t need to cover the entire cost using points either; you can use the points you have and then top it up with cash in order to pay for those flights, hotels, or car hire.

While British Airways is the main airline associated with Avios, you can also use your points to book flights with partner airlines such as Aer Lingus and Iberia.

Cashback credit cards give you rewards on your everyday purchases, paying you a percentage of what you spend. If you pay off your statement in full every month, these cards can help you earn hundreds of pounds worth of rewards each year.

The rewards you earn can build up over time, but make sure you pay off your balance in full, otherwise interest charges may outweigh the perks.

These cards usually come with a cap on the amount of cashback you can earn, and note that some have a monthly fee.

We look at the top credit cards for cashback to help you make the most of your spending.

What are the best cashback credit cards?

How do cashback credit cards work?

If you have a credit card that gives you cashback at a rate of 0.5%, for every £100 you spend, you get 50p back. As attractive as the promise of free money sounds, there are downsides, too.

Credit card companies may offer attractive cashback rates for only a fixed period of time, such as the first five months. In order to get the most out of using cashback credit cards you need to be mindful of two things: it may be beneficial to use them for all your spending (but watch out for credit card fees with any purchases) and you must pay off the full amount every month.

The introductory cashback offers could be useful if you know you're going to be buying something expensive. But if you carry a balance over just once, the resulting interest charge could wipe out any cashback you get.

Cashback credit card providers can charge a fee and typically offer uncompetitive interest rates. Some also require a minimum spend before you can generate cashback savings.

As with any credit card, be careful to pay it off in full to avoid being charged interest, and always check the terms and conditions to make sure the card is the right one for you.

For years the only way to collect Avios points – the British Airways air miles scheme – has been with an American Express credit card. The issue with that has always been that many retailers don’t accept Amex. But now you can collect your Avios points with a Mastercard.

Barclaycard has launched two new credit cards that earn Avios points every time you spend. They are “the most generous Mastercard or Visa credit cards available,” according to Rob Burgess, the editor of Head for Points, a website for frequent flyers looking to maximise their rewards.

The first new card is the Barclaycard Avios. It has no fee, and you can earn one Avios point for every pound spent. If you spend £1,000 in the first three months, you’ll get a bonus 5,000 Avios. That’s enough for a flight to Paris or Amsterdam. Plus, if you spend £20,000 a year on the card, you’ll get a free flight upgrade voucher.

Alternatively, you can pay £20 a month for the Barclaycard Avios Plus card. That gets you 1.5 Avios points per £1 spent. If you spend £3,000 in the first three months, you’ll get 25,000 bonus Avios points and spend £10,000 a year and you’ll get a cabin upgrade voucher.

On top of that with both cards you’ll get a five-month free subscription to Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+ and Apple Arcade. “You honestly couldn’t ask for more from a non-Amex credit card,” says Burgess.

The Amex option

The key advantage of the Barclaycard Avios cards is they are operated via Mastercard rather than American Express. Mastercard is much more widely accepted than American Express, so you won’t face the annoyance of missing out on Avios points when your Amex is rejected. That said, the Amex cards are still attractive.

The fee-free British Airways American Express card earns points at the same rate as the free Barclaycard version and has the same joining bonus. But you only need to spend £12,000 a year to get a companion voucher – that’s £8,000 less than the Barclaycard and you get a free flight (although taxes and charges apply) rather than just an upgrade.

The Barclaycard Avios Plus card is £10 a year cheaper than the Amex equivalent and certainly worth considering if you are willing to pay a fee for your credit card. It offers the same earnings rate as the BA Premium Plus Amex and the same welcome bonus. The difference is that if you spend £10,000 a year on the Amex card, you’ll again get a free companion voucher rather than just a cabin upgrade. So, it all depends on whether you want a cheap flight for a friend or to fly in style yourself.

Reward credit cards can be a great way of getting more when you shop but are best avoided if you can’t pay off your balance in full each month. The interest rates on these types of credit card tend to be high and, if you pay it, you’ll soon wipe out the benefits. Both the Barclaycard Avios cards charge interest at a 23.9% annual rate, but you can avoid this if you pay your bill on time and in full every month.

Amazon has reached an agreement that paves the way for it to continue accepting Visa credit card payments across all of its websites and stores, ending months of uncertainty over credit card fees.

Under the deal, Amazon will no longer levy an additional fee to customers who use Visa Cards onsite in Australia and Singapore. The agreement also eliminates the threat of Amazon blocking Visa credit card payments on its UK store, the company told the Financial Times

Visa said: "This agreement includes the acceptance of Visa at all Amazon stores and sites today, as well as a joint commitment to collaboration on new product and technology initiatives."

Why did Amazon want to ban Visa credit card payments?

Amazon was due to ban UK visa credit card payments on 19 January this year because of what it says are “high fees… for processing credit transitions.”

Amazon first proposed the ban in November, and offered consumers a £20 Amazon voucher to encourage them to ditch Visa for an alternate form of default payment .

The fuss over Visa’s fees is to do with Britain’s departure from the EU, which meant that cross-border “interchange” fees, which are charged by credit card providers on behalf of the banks that issue them, were no longer capped. The result was that these fees shot up from 0.3% to 1.5%.

Amazon has previously stressed that its spat with Visa is not to do with interchange fees but rather to with Visa’s long-term fees.

But analysts branded Amazon’s threats as pressure tactics to convince Visa to offer co-branded cards, which rivals such as Mastercard and American Express have done. Visa currently does not offer co-branded cards.

“Major players in the retail space tend to have bespoke rates with payment firms, rather than paying published rates. The pressure on Visa was likely a way to negotiate a longer-term agreement on rates, or even to push for a freeze to its current rates,” says David Ritter, financial services strategist at CI&T, an IT and software company.

David Beard, editor-in-chief and personal finance expert of financial comparison site, Lendingexpert.co.uk, said the truce between both giants is a “welcome relief for Amazon customers” as not accepting Visa would have meant customers would be compelled to pay with a debit card or a new Mastercard.

“Paying for items with a debit card means customers wouldn’t have benefited from Visa credit card perks like cheap borrowing if they had a 0% interest period, cashback, rewards and extra protection for purchases over £100,” Beard added.

A credit card can be a lifeline in these turbulent times. From helping you get refunds to providing you with interest-free debt, here’s how your flexible friend can help fix your finances.

Customers who are struggling to get their money back for travel, accommodation, events or anything else that has been cancelled may be able to get a refund from their credit-card provider. Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, your credit-card provider is jointly liable if you don’t receive goods or a service that you paid for with your credit card. The item has to have cost between £100 and £30,000, but you only need to have paid for part of it on your credit card to be protected for the whole amount. This can help if a company is refusing to give you a refund, or if they have gone bust. To make a claim contact your credit-card provider.

If your income has dropped and you are worrying about making your card repayments, don’t panic. The Financial Conduct Authority has brought in emergency rules that mean lenders are expected to offer customers a payment freeze of up to three months. This shouldn’t affect your credit rating.

If you need to minimise the interest accruing on your debt, there are still some balance-transfer credit cards available with an interest-free deal. TSB’s Platinum 30 Month Balance Transfer card has the longest interest-free period at two and a half years – but you’ll pay a 2.95% transfer fee.

If you don’t need that long, then Santander offers 18 months at 0% on balance transfers with no fee at all. Just remember to plan how to pay your debt off before the interest-free period ends.

Anyone building up airmiles may worry about airlines going bust if the crisis drags on. So if you earn loyalty points through credit cards with the intention of turning them into airmiles – such as Tesco Clubcard (which can be transferred into Avios) or American Express (Avios or Virgin Flying Club) – you’re better leaving any balance on the card for now: they can either be converted into airmiles later or used for other rewards.

Airmiles can’t be converted back, but Avios points can be used to buy alcohol instead. However, this is expensive: it costs around two points per penny, compared with one per penny for flights. Virgin Flying Club points can be shifted into hotel reward schemes such as the IHG Rewards Club or the Hilton Honors, although again the conversion rates are worse than for flights.

The days of bumper cashback offers or fantastic rewards with your credit card are long gone. But there are still several good reasons to pay with plastic. One is the protection you receive thanks to Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. Pay for something costing between £100 and £30,000 on a credit card and the card provider is as liable as the seller if something goes wrong.

Credit-card firms are currently swamped with Section 75 claims, thanks to Thomas Cook. “The 178-year-old travel agent went into administration in September, prompting thousands of customers who had booked trips on credit cards to submit refund claims,” notes Sam Barker in The Daily Telegraph.

You can put a claim in with your credit-card provider if the thing you purchased never arrives or isn’t what it should have been. For example, you could claim for flights you bought if the airline goes bust, or a car that breaks down days after you bought it. You even get protection for the whole cost if you only paid the deposit on your credit card.

Boost your credit rating

Another reason to put some of your spending on a credit card is that it improves your credit rating. It is a myth that a person who has never borrowed has the best credit rating. Lenders want to see that you are a reliable borrower; if you’ve never borrowed, they don’t know you’ll pay them back.

Using a credit card and repaying the balance in full each month – or at least never missing a minimum payment – will bolster your credit rating.

There are also financial benefits to spending on a credit card. If you can’t afford to buy something outright then an interest-free credit card is still the cheapest way to borrow. For example, Sainsbury’s Bank is offering 27 months of 0% interest for new spending. Just make sure you clear the debt before the interest-free period expires, otherwise you’ll end up paying 20.9% interest.

Divide your debt by the length of the interest-free period and then set up a direct debit for that amount, so you don’t miss a payment and clear the debt in time. “You need to make at least the minimum payment each month or you may lose the 0% deal and be charged a fee,” says Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, in The Financial Times.

If you don’t need to borrow, then get paid to shop with a cashback credit card. The return on these cards isn’t as good as it once was, but it is still reasonable. The top-paying card is the Amex Platinum Cashback credit card. It has a £25 annual fee but a 5% cashback rate for the first three months; the rate then falls to 1.25%.

But make sure you clear your balance in full each month, otherwise the 22.9% APR interest will quickly cost you more than you are earning in cashback.

Lloyds "has dealt a blow to existing customers by hacking at the rewards for its popular Avios Rewards credit cards", says Emma Gunn on ThisIsMoney. Lloyds closed its Avios Rewards scheme to new members back in May and it is now cutting how many Avios points existing members can earn from 1.25 per £1 spent to just 0.4 per £1.

This doesn't mean you should ditch your Lloyds card. "You won't find a better Visa or Mastercard earning rate," says Gunn. But if you switch to American Express, you could earn one Avios per £1 spent with the free BA American Express card; with the Premium Plus BA card, you will get 1.5 points per £1 spent.

If you'd rather not be tied to the Avios system, MoneySavingExpert recommends the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card, which enables you to convert points into air miles. You earn one mile for every £1 spent, plus 20,000 bonus points if you spend £2,000 in the first three months.

Alternatively, you can spend the money earned with a cashback card wherever you like. The Amex Platinum card pays you 5% cashback for the first three months, then up to 1.25% depending on how much you spend.

If you're tired of carrying around half a dozen different credit and debit cards, you might want to consider a new card that aims to replace them all. The Curve card allows you to combine all your Visas and Mastercards (not American Express) via one app. Then you simply do all your shopping with the Curve card, assigning the spending to whichever of your cards you want. It is a debit card, so you can use it everywhere, but after you've made your purchase you can assign this to a credit card if you want. So if you have a cashback or rewards credit card, you can earn even in places that don't accept credit cards. You can also change which card you use for a payment up to two weeks after.

If you lose your Curve card, you can lock it via the app, and then unlock it later if you find it. The details of all your linked cards aren't stored on the Curve card or the app, so thieves wouldn't be able to access all your card information.There are some drawbacks though. First, you'll lose your Section-75 consumer protection. Usually, if you pay with a credit card and there is a problem, you can go to the card firm for redress. Using Curve invalidates this.

Also, if you have a rewards card (see below) that gives you different levels of cashback or points depending on where you are spending, you'll lose out with the Curve card. All transactions will be listed as going to Curve on your credit-card statements. For example, if you have a John Lewis card that gives one point for spending at Waitrose and John Lewis and half a point for spending elsewhere, you would only ever earn half points.

The Curve card also won't suit big spenders. It has a daily spending cap of £2,000, a monthly limit of £5,000 and a maximum £10,000 in a year (though these limits go up once you've "cultivated a spend history" with the company). Finally, don't use the Curve card abroad you'll be charge 1% on top of the exchange rate for purchases and there is a £2 charge to withdraw cash.

Three of the best cards for earning rewards

Credit-card rewards are getting stingier due to restrictions on fees, but there are still a few good deals.

American Express remains the top choice for anyone who wants to earn as they spend. The Platinum Everyday card pays 5% for the first three months on up to £2,000 of spending. Then the rate falls to 0.5% on the first £5,000 spent per year, and 1% above that. Pay £25 a year and you can get the Amex Platinum cashback card. This pays 5% on up to £2,500 in the first three months, then up to 1.25% after that (so upgrading is worth it for big spenders).

If you are loyal to Asda, John Lewis or Amazon, then it is worth looking at their own reward cards. An Asda Money card gives 1% cashback on shopping with them (payable in Asda vouchers) and 0.5% elsewhere. John Lewis' Partnership Card rewards you with one point for every £1 spent at John Lewis or Waitrose, and one point for every £2 spent elsewhere. Each point is worth a penny in John Lewis gift vouchers, so it's the same cashback rate as the Asda card. The Amazon Platinum pays a voucher cashback rate of 0.75% on Amazon purchases and 0.5% elsewhere.

The British Airways Amex card gives you 5,000 bonus Avios points (which can be spent on things like hotels and flights) if you spend £1,000 in the first three months, plus one point per £1 spent. Spend more than £20,000 in a year and you'll get a companion ticket. Pay the £195 annual fee and you can get the BA Premium Plus Amex card. This gives 25,000 bonus Avios points if you spend £3,000 in the first three months and 1.5 points per £1 spent. Spend £10,000 a year and you get a free companion ticket.

Pocket change... how to exchange your bitcoin for soap

Bad news for those who took out buy-to-let mortgages between 2014 and 2016, says the Financial Times. Research by S&P Global Ratings found that 60% of buy-to-let loans taken out during these years will "effectively become loss-making", as higher-rate tax relief on mortgage interest is phased out. Those taking out loans during this particular three-year window are especially "vulnerable" because loans were underwritten in a low-interest rate environment with a minimal stress test on the assumed interest rate; and these landlords are unlikely to have benefited from much rental inflation during those years, so won't have much surplus cash.

The introduction of stricter mortgage-lending rules has led to a rise in specialist lenders offering niche mortgages, says The Sunday Times. Holmesdale Building Society, for instance, offers a mortgage designed for unusual homes, including old windmills, while Metro Bank offers a "generous multiple of 5.5 times salary" for "fully qualified" lawyers, accountants, doctors and actuaries. Scottish Widows offers a preferential rate of 1.54% fixed for two years for vets and dentists with a 40% deposit. Finally, Market Harborough Building Society has a special "divorce" mortgage that "factors in" money you'll receive from the sale of your marital home.

Bitcoin may be hugely popular among speculators, but using it as a currency is a little more problematic, says The Daily Telegraph. "Transaction fees are high, processing times can be lengthy and price fluctuations pose problems for both sellers and buyers." So who accepts bitcoin? The online shops of second-hand chain CeX and cosmetics company Lush, hotel and flight-booking service Expedia and that's about it. Beyond that, Microsoft customers can redeem Bitcoin to add funds in pounds to their online account, which can then be used to buy games, apps and films in the Windows and Xbox stores.

If you need to borrow money, then this is a great time to get a credit card, with interest-free deals for balance transfers and purchases stretching for as long as two-and-a-half years in some cases. But, if you are one of the many who dutifully pay their bill in full each month, you may have noticed the rewards for being good with your money are dwindling.

New European Union rules that came in this year cap the charges that credit-card firms can levy on shops each time you pay with plastic. These charges fund the generous cashback, points and airmiles you earn while you shop, so many credit-card firms have been quietly cutting back on the rewards you can earn from spending with your card.

The latest company to trim its rewards programme is Santander, which has announced that the amount of cashback its 123 credit-card holders can earn will be reduced from February 2017. The card currently allows users to earn cashback rates of between 1% and 3% on certain spending, but the new rules will cap the maximum cashback at a stingy £9 a month. Given there is a £3 per month charge for having the card, it hardly seems worth bothering with when the new rules come in.

The good news is that not all credit-card providers are turning into Scrooge. Due to a quirk in the law, the EU ruling doesn't apply to American Express, so the company is still running some generous offers although it might trim these back if it ends up way out in front of the competition. Loyalty credit cards, such as those offered by Asda and John Lewis, also still offer tempting deals.

The key now is to make sure you use your card wisely in order to make the most of the rewards on offer. Many cards now offer different reward rates depending on where you use them, so make sure you use the right cards in the right shop. And don't forget the golden rule of rewards cards be sure to pay the balance off in full each month. These credit cards tend to have whopping interest rates, so if you miss a payment, the interest charges will wipe out the rewards in a matter of days.

The best cards for bonuses

In terms of cashback amounts, the best offering available is American Express's Platinum Cashback card. You will pay £25 a year to have it, but in return you get 5% cashback for the first three months on up to £2,500 of spending. You then get 1% cashback on your first £10,000 spent in a year, and 1.25% on spending above that.

If you spend £1,500 a month on the card, you'd earn £770 back over the first three years, according to TotallyMoney.com. New customers applying before 31 January 2017 will also earn 3% cashback on Amazon spending for the first three months. It's a good idea to set up a direct debit to make sure you pay off your balance in full each month otherwise you'll be hit with a 22.9% APR.

The big benefit with a cashback card is that you are earning cold, hard cash. Unlike airmiles or other rewards systems, your earnings can't be devalued by the card firm meddling with the points system. However, it is possible to get incredible value from rewards schemes if you know how to spend your points wisely.

Anyone looking to earn free flights should look at the British Airways's American Express card. You earn one Avios point for every pound spent, and 10,000 points will get you a flight within Europe. Spend more than £20,000 a year on your card and you'll get a free flight for a companion. The card's interest rate is 22.9% APR.

If you always shop at the same supermarket, it could be worth getting that shop's reward card, as all the big stores reward you with points to spend in store. But these are only worth bothering with if you will always shop at that brand in order to build up your rewards, and will be happy to spend your rewards there too.

In the news this week

When insurance premium tax (IPT) was first introduced in 1993, it was at a "nugatory rate" of 2.5%, says Patrick Hosking in The Times. Last week, Philip Hammond raised it from 10% to 12%, taking the tax from a once "innocuous flea bite" to a "meaty mouthful", that will soon cost the average household £226 a year. The Treasury loves IPT: it's cheap to collect because insurers "do all the work", it's "near-impossible to evade" and it collects an extra £840m for the coffers, which is more than the BBC licence fee and will soon overtake wine duty and inheritance tax.

For now, IPT does not seem to "trigger the nation's inner Victor Meldrew", but if this continues, "the poor will start to bail out". An estimated one million cars are already driven uninsured and 25% of houses don't have contents insurance. "That will have catastrophic costs for individuals and will present a wider bill for society to pick up."

Savers watching their "nest eggs slowly shrink" due to super-low interest rates won't have taken much comfort from the chancellor's newly announced National Savings & Investment (NS&I) bond, to be launched next spring, says Lindsay Cook in the Financial Times. The £3,000 three-year savings bond is expected to pay a "market-leading" rate of 2.2%, but it is still a "pale imitation" of last year's one- and four-year Pensioner Bonds, which paid out 2.8% and 4% respectively.

After tax, the rate is just 1.76%, says Sylvia Morris on MoneyObserver.com, and although that might be better than the best three-year bonds on offer, you could actually lose out to inflation if government predictions on inflation prove correct. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts inflation of 2.3% in 2017, 2.5% in 2018 and 2.1% in 2019.

Hammond also quietly imposed a national insurance (NI) tax hike of £200 a year on people earning more than £43,000, says Annabelle Williams in The Times; a change slipped into the "small print" of policy documents released after his statement. The change is effective from April 2017, and means that workers paying 12% NI on annual earnings up to £43,000, and 2% on anything above, will now pay the 12% rate on earnings of up to £45,000, at which point the 2% will once again kick in. So much for the government's "trumpeted" income-tax savings.