The best credit cards to earn rewards when Christmas shopping

With mince pies appearing on supermarket shelves and department stores launching their online Christmas shops, many shoppers will be thinking about starting their Christmas shopping. Savvy shoppers will also be looking for ways to earn rewards or cashback when buying Christmas presents, decorations and food.

To help shoppers earn the best rewards, we’ve highlighted the best 0% purchase credit cards, which will allow shoppers to spread the cost of Christmas, while also offering rewards when used.

Santander offers the longest interest-free term on a 0% purchase credit card with its All in One Credit Card Mastercard charging no interest for 26 months. This card also offers 0.5% cashback on all purchases made, but does charge a monthly fee of £3. Due to the monthly fee, users of the credit card would have to spend a minimum of £600 per month in order for the 0.5% cashback to breakeven. Once the interest-free period ends, this card charges 21.7% APR.

Those who regularly shop in M&S could consider M&S Bank’s Shopping Plus Mastercard. This card enables shoppers to earn one point for every £1 spent in an M&S store, including outlets and Simple Food stores, as well as online. In addition to this, one point is earned for every £5 that is spent outside of M&S. 100 points results in a £1 reward voucher and points are converted into vouchers four times a year, with outstanding points carried onto the next collection period. In addition to the rewards, this card also offers an interest-free period on purchases for 20 months. After the interest-free period has ended, it charges 19.9% APR.

One of the best 0% purchase cards that also offers rewards for regular shoppers is Tesco Bank’s Clubcard Credit Card Purchases Mastercard. This card enables Tesco shoppers to earn one point for every £4 spent in a Tesco store (from a £4 minimum), as well as one point for every £8 spent outside Tesco (from an £8 minimum). This card can also be used as a Clubcard to collect standard points at one point per £1 spent on shopping and one point for every £2 spend on fuel. Points are then converted to Tesco vouchers. As well as offering rewards, this card also has an interest-free period on purchases for 18 months, after which it charges 19.9% APR. Tesco Bank also offers the same rewards on its Clubcard Plus Credit Card Mastercard, but this card charges a monthly fee of £7.99. It has a longer interest-free period on purchases of 24 months, which then charges 37.7% APR after the interest-free period has ended.

Sainsbury’s shoppers should look at Sainsbury’s Bank’s Dual Offer Credit Card Mastercard, which enables shoppers to earn 750 bonus Nectar points each time £35 or more is spent on Sainsbury’s shopping for up to 10 times in the first two months to a total of 7,500 points. After this initial rewards period, shoppers can earn three Nectar points per £1 spend in Sainsbury’s and Argos, along with one Nectar point for every £5 spent elsewhere. This card, which is only available those who have been Nectar members for at least six months, offers an interest-free period on purchases for 20 months, after which it charges 20.9% APR.