American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card – Benefits, Fees & Eligibility

Introduction

The American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card, issued by American Express, is positioned as a highly rewarding entry-level credit card in India. It offers unique monthly milestone benefits, allowing cardholders to earn significant bonus Membership Rewards points by meeting specific spending criteria. The card is particularly well-suited for individuals looking to maximize their rewards through the Amex Gold Collection redemptions or by transferring points to travel partners like Marriott, as its Membership Rewards Points do not expire.

Welcome Benefits

• Receive 4,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points upon successful payment of the joining fee and spending ₹15,000 within the first 90 days of card activation.
• Information regarding welcome benefits will be communicated via SMS or Email to the cardholder’s registered contact details.
• A limited-period offer provides an additional 2,000 Referral Bonus Membership Rewards points (valued at ₹1,000) after a spend of ₹5,000 within 90 days when applying through a referral link.

Fees

• Joining Fee: ₹1,000 plus applicable taxes.
• Renewal Fee / Annual Fee: ₹4,500 plus applicable taxes, from the second year onwards.
• Spend-Based Waiver:
  • The Annual Membership Renewal fee of ₹4,500 will be 100% waived off if total spends on the card in the immediately preceding membership year are ₹1,50,000 and above.
  • A 50% annual membership renewal fee waiver will be applied if total spends on the card in the immediately preceding membership year are between ₹90,000 and ₹1,49,999.
  • The renewal fee can also be waived off by contacting Amex support, with 100% waiver for annual spends exceeding ₹1.5 Lakhs and 50% waiver for spends exceeding ₹90,000.
• Rewards Redemption Fee: Nil.
• Foreign Currency Markup: 3.5% plus Service Tax.
• Interest Rates: 3.5% Per Month (Annually 42%).
• Fuel Surcharge Waiver:
  • 0% Fuel Convenience Fee at HPCL for transactions less than ₹5,000.
  • A 1% Convenience fee on fuel purchases per transaction is applicable for all transactions of ₹5,000 and above.
• Cash Advance Charges: 3.5% of the amount withdrawn, subject to a minimum of ₹250.

Rewards

• Reward Earn Rate:
  • Earn 1 Membership Rewards Point for every ₹50 spent.
  • Membership Rewards Points are not earned on spending for Fuel, Insurance, Utilities, Cash Transactions, and EMI conversion at Point of Sale.
  • Points are not earned on any EMI option selected from a merchant’s website (e.g., online shopping with Amazon or Flipkart) or at a merchant’s terminal (e.g., a Chip and PIN transaction at Croma retail store).
  • Points are earned on all EMI transactions through American Express® SafeKey and on all EMI conversions done post-purchase.
  • Earn 2X Membership Rewards Points on all spends made through the AmEx Rewards Multiplier portal.
  • Membership Rewards Points do not expire.
• Monthly Spend Milestones:
  • Earn 1,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points for simply using your card 4 times on transactions of ₹1,500 or above in a calendar month.
  • Earn an additional 1,000 Membership Rewards Points by spending ₹20,000 or more in a calendar month. This is an enrollment-based benefit.
  • Cardholders can earn a total of 2,000 bonus Membership Rewards points monthly by achieving these milestones.
  • Bonus Membership Rewards points accumulated under the spend-based monthly milestone benefit cannot be redeemed against statement cash.
• Card Renewal Bonus:
  • Earn 5,000 Membership Rewards Points upon First Year Card Renewal, on payment of the annual membership fee. Points will be credited within 90 days of card renewal.
• Dining:
  • Enjoy exciting discounts of up to 20% every time you dine at select restaurants.
• EMI:
  • Utilize American Express EMI to split payments and convert large purchases into easy monthly installments.
• Insurance:
  • Access to Amex health insurance benefits in partnership with ICICI Lombard.
• Other Benefits:
  • 24X7 Card Related Assistance.
  • Dispute Resolution services.
  • Zero lost card liability protection.
  • Emergency Card Replacement.
  • Contactless Payment functionality.
  • Supplementary Card Offers.
  • Access to Amex Festive Offers.
  • 24/7 premium customer support.
  • Access to Amex network offers, including merchant offers, spend-based offers, and points transfer offers.
  • Membership Rewards points earned on this card can be pooled with points from other American Express cards (with the rare exception of Platinum Travel).

Rewards Redemption Guide

• Redeem Membership Rewards points for a variety of fabulous reward options from the 18 and 24 Karat Gold Collection.
• Membership Rewards points can be transferred to various loyalty partners, including Marriott, KrisFlyer, and more.
• The highest value for points can typically be achieved by transferring them to Marriott Bonvoy and redeeming them for hotel stays, potentially yielding a value of ₹0.50 to ₹1 per point.
• Points can also be redeemed for Taj vouchers under the 24 Karat Gold Collection, which can enhance the point value up to ₹0.58 per point.
• 24 Karat Gold Collection (24,000 Membership Rewards points):
  • Taj voucher worth ₹14,000
  • Shoppers Stop voucher worth ₹10,000
  • Tata Cliq voucher worth ₹9,000
  • Tanishq voucher worth ₹9,000
  • Amazon voucher worth ₹8,000
  • Flipkart voucher worth ₹8,000
  • Reliance Digital voucher worth ₹8,000
• 18 Karat Gold Collection (18,000 Membership Rewards points):
  • Taj voucher worth ₹9,000
  • Shoppers Stop voucher worth ₹7,000
  • Tata Cliq voucher worth ₹7,000