Chase launches new credit card with spending perks – but is it worth getting?

What does the Chase credit card offer?

Here are the headline features:

• No foreign exchange or cash withdrawal fees overseas. So it's free to use overseas when you spend on it. This is similar to the Chase debit card, though with this credit card you'll pay 24.9% rep APR interest if you use it to withdraw cash.

• 0% interest on purchases for up to 15 months. This allows you to spread the cost of big, planned purchases, though not all accepted will get the full 15 months at 0%. Chase didn't tell us examples of other 0% periods you could be offered, but did say that you'd see your personalised offer after undertaking an eligibility check on its site, so you can decide if it is right for you before you apply.

• Section 75 protection. In common with other credit cards, if you buy something costing between £100.01 and £30,000 on the card (even if you just pay a deposit on the card) then you've valuable extra protection if something goes wrong, as the credit card provider is jointly liable for the purchase (along with the retailer).

• No annual fee.

Who can get the Chase credit card?

The Chase credit card has been offered to selected existing customers since around November 2024. This month though, Chase has made it available to all existing customers, as well as to newbies to the bank.

To apply for the credit card, you'll need a Chase current account (see our full info on the Chase current account). The current account is free to open. Chase will do a soft credit check to assess whether it'll give you the current account, so while you'll see this on your credit report, lenders usually won't see this info (and where they do, they can't use it). Generally, though, most who apply for the current account will get it.

Once you have the current account open, you'll be able to do an eligibility check within the Chase app to see if you can get the credit card. Chase says doing this eligibility check WON'T affect your creditworthiness as it's a soft check.

However, if you do then apply, this will leave a hard search on your credit report that will be visible to other lenders. You'll also need to have a decent credit history as Chase says it won't gives the card to anyone who in the last six years has had a CCJ (a County Court Judgement saying you owe someone money), an IVA (an Individual Voluntary Arrangement with your creditors to pay all or part of your debts) or bankruptcy.

How does the Chase credit card compare to its rivals?

The Chase card has two main features – its ability to be used fee free overseas, and its 'up to 15 months' of interest-free spending. Here's how each compares...

Fee-free overseas

Here we've compared the Chase credit card to its main rival – the Barclaycard Reward credit card. We've also included a comparison to Chase's debit card, as it is also fee-free overseas and you'll get this anyway as you need to have a Chase current account to be able to apply for the credit card.

In brief, Chase's credit card isn't the best of either world:

• If you're looking for a credit card, for its Section 75 protection, for example, the Barclaycard Reward card is the better bet, as it offers cashback on spending, plus has interest-free cash withdrawals (provided you repay IN FULL each month).

• If you just want fee-free overseas spending, you get that with the Chase current account, so applying for the credit card doesn't add anything on top, save for Section 75 protection.

Here's our more detailed comparison:

0% spending

Again, Chase's offer falls well short – and that's even if you get the headline 15 months at 0%, which not all accepted will. This is because the top 0% spending cards offer a much longer up to 25 months interest-free. Here are the current top picks:

So, should anyone get the Chase credit card?

At the moment, the Chase credit card is not offering anything that other cards aren't. If you need to spread the cost of a purchase, other cards offer almost a year extra at 0%. If you need to spend overseas, you can use the Chase debit card that comes with the current account or choose the Barclaycard Reward, which offers cashback.

Yet, if you can't get other cards, or want a card that does both things (for example, you need to spread the cost of a large purchase that you need to make in another currency), this may just be the right card for you.