B&H Payboo Card

Rewards by category

Our take

The B&H Payboo Card is the only card in the catalog whose earn rate is your sales tax rate. Instead of points or cash back, it applies Instant Savings equal to the full sales tax on your order, credited at checkout as a "Payboo Card Savings" payment line — you effectively pay the pre-tax price. Depending on where you ship, that is roughly 6% to 10%; we rank it at a conservative 7%. On a $3,000 camera body shipped to an 8%-tax state, that is $240 back on the spot — the strongest store-card value proposition in the electronics set.

The mechanics matter. The benefit keys off the sales tax your ship-to state actually charges — the New York rate applies at the NYC SuperStore — so it is worth nothing on orders shipped to Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, or Puerto Rico, where no tax is collected. A Portland photographer gets zero from this card. Gift cards and tax-exempt purchases are excluded too, since there is no tax to refund.

The sharpest catch is an either/or built into every transaction. The Payboo also offers deferred-interest financing — 6 or 12 months, currently 24 on select gear — but choosing financing forfeits the tax benefit entirely. You decide at checkout and cannot change your mind afterward. And deferred interest is not 0% interest: if any balance remains when the promotional period ends, interest is charged retroactively from the purchase date at the card's 35.99% APR. Unless you are certain you can pay on schedule, take the instant savings and pay in full.

Reach is the tradeoff. This is a closed-loop card from Comenity Capital Bank (Bread Financial) that works only at B&H — online, in the app, by phone, and at the one NYC SuperStore. There is no annual fee, though a $2.99 monthly paper-statement fee applies unless you opt for paperless billing. Because it works nowhere else, the Payboo can never be your only card: treat it as a specialist that covers B&H at your tax rate, and let a general-purpose card handle everything else.

Store bonuses

• B&H Photo Video7%

Common questions

Does B&H Payboo Card have an annual fee?

No — B&H Payboo Card has no annual fee.

What rewards does B&H Payboo Card earn on everything else?

0% on all other purchases, in Cash Back.

Does the B&H Payboo Card earn points or cash back?

Neither. Its benefit is an instant credit equal to the full sales tax on your order, applied at checkout as a "Payboo Card Savings" payment line — you effectively pay the pre-tax price. There is no rewards balance to accrue, track, or redeem, and the value depends entirely on the sales tax rate of your ship-to state, roughly 6% to 10% where tax applies.

Should I take the tax savings or the deferred-interest financing?

You cannot have both — every purchase is one or the other, decided at checkout and unchangeable afterward. The financing (6 or 12 months, currently 24 on select gear) is deferred interest, not 0%: if any balance remains when the promo ends, interest is charged retroactively from the purchase date at 35.99% APR. For most people, the instant tax savings paid in full is the safer and better deal; take the financing only if you are certain you will clear the balance before the clock runs out.

Is the Payboo worth it if my state has no sales tax?

No. The card's only reward is refunding the sales tax on your order, and orders shipped to Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, or Puerto Rico carry no sales tax to refund — the benefit is exactly zero. In those states a no-annual-fee 2% card, or the U.S. Bank Cash+ at 5% with the right category selected, beats the Payboo on every B&H purchase.