Amex Launches New Checking Account
American Express today launched Amex Rewards Checking, the company’s first all-digital consumer checking account. The new offering is currently available for eligible U.S. Consumer Card Members only.
Amex Rewards Checking offers a range of benefits. One that stands out is the ability to earn Membership Rewards points for eligible Debit Card purchases. But the account also offers a much better annual percentage yield (APY) rate of than most traditional banks at of 0.50%. It all comes with no monthly maintenance fees or minimums and world-class customer service.
“Our Members want more banking products and services from us,” said Eva Reda, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Banking, American Express. “And they want more from their checking account, without giving up the benefits that are important to them. That’s why we built Amex Rewards Checking to deliver more value for Members with the powerful and trusted backing of American Express. It’s digital checking without compromises.”
This new checking account adds to the company’s existing consumer deposits products, such as the American Express Savings account (HYSA) and Certificate of Deposits (CDs).
The account is already available for applications. You must be the primary Card Member and must have your American Express credit card for a minimum of three months before applying.
Earn Membership Rewards on Debit Purchases
Amex Rewards Checking comes with a Debit Card, which earns members 1 Membership Rewards point for every $2 spent on eligible purchases.
If you don’t have a credit card that earns Membership Rewards, then you can redeem points for deposits into your Amex Rewards Checking account. If you do, in most cases your Amex Rewards Checking account will automatically be linked to your existing Membership Rewards Program Account. All points earned will accumulate together in a single Rewards Account, which can be redeemed for deposits or for any other eligible redemption options, including gift cards or travel.
Redeeming points into your checking account doesn’t yield a great value. You only get 0.8 cents per point. You can definitely do better than that if you redeem for travel, or through Schwab if you have the Schwab Platinum card.
Conclusion
The most interesting feature of this new account is the ability to earn Membership Rewards points on debit purchases. That’s not usually a great idea, as you only earn 0.5X. But it does make sense when a credit is not accepted, or there’s a higher fee for credit card payments.
The account also offers a new way to cash your Membership Rewards points, even though the value is not great at 0.8 cents per point.
Excited? Let us know in the comments!
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I am getting it to strengthen my realtionship with them. I have a Savings, Platinum, Blue, and Gold. Only thing I am missing is the CD.
I’m curious how well-accepted and useful the debit function will be, as it’s apparently a new offering that will function over a different network than what we’re used to with Visa/MC. There’s a disclaimer that systems may not recognize it as debit, in which case it should be run as credit. That wouldn’t work for places that are debit-only (and/or don’t accept AX CCs, like Costco).
I actually care most about whether this account keeps MR alive without other credit cards. It would be amazing to have a no-annual-fee way of keeping MR alive without eating up one of Amex’s 5-card slot (since all no-annual-fee MR cards are credit cards that eat up a slot, and MR charge cards which don’t eat up a slot all have annual fees).
It’s like they aren’t even trying to make an offer. 4/10 of a cent redemption, are you kidding? Local banks offer better debit rewards. As for paying taxes, Discover and PayPal get you 1% back. If you jump a few hoops checking accounts pay 2% or offer higher debit rewards. Who are they aiming for?
ATM fees at non-network ATMs. Foreign transaction fees. This seems like only a small step past the Serve Card. I can’t see any meaningful utility for anyone who needs anything beyond the absolute basics. The same goes for the Kabbage offering.
Now if I could use this to pay my mortgages I might be interested. I literally don’t remember the last time I bought something with a debit card.
This makes me feel like I should get it just in case I ever need it. And if the terms get worse, at least I’ll probably be grandfathered in at the best plan. Sort of reminds me of the old bluebird accounts and how certain ones had no monthly fee and others did.
Good way to pay taxes with minimal fee