American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card: Is it a good credit card for beginners? | Mint

In the last few months, many banks have reduced the benefits of their credit card rewards program and introduced fees for transactions in specified categories like rent, education fees, utilities, etc. They also have a long list of exclusions for earning reward points, and the list is steadily increasing. However, American Express has stood its ground. Their reward points program has been steady without any regular devaluations.

Also, their exclusion list for earning reward points is one of the smallest, if not the smallest. In this article, we will discuss one of their credit cards that offers a decent reward rate and very few exclusions. We will discuss the features and benefits of the American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card (MRCC). So, let us get started.

Features and benefits of the American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card

The American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card offers a base reward rate of 1 Membership Rewards (MR) Point for every Rs. 50 spent. While most banks have a reward points structure for every Rs. 100 spent, American Express is one of the few financial institutions with a reward points structure for every Rs. 50 spent.

When the cardholder does four transactions of Rs. 1,500 or more in a calendar month, they earn 1,000 bonus MR points. When the cardholder spends a cumulative Rs. 20,000 or more in a calendar month, they earn an additional 1,000 bonus MR points. To be eligible for this additional benefit, the cardholder has to do a one-time enrolment.

The MR points never expire as they don’t have any validity period or expiry date.

2X reward points on the Rewards Multiplier platform: When you use the MRCC card on the Rewards Multiplier (RM) platform, you earn 2 MR points (2X) for every Rs. 50 spent. Through the RM platform, you can shop online on your favourite brands or buy gift vouchers of well-known brands and use them online/offline.

Exclusions: You will not earn any MR points for fuel, insurance, utility bills, cash transactions, and EMI conversion at POS. For some excluded categories like insurance and utility bill payments, you can buy Amazon Pay gift vouchers, add them to your Amazon Pay wallet and then make these payments with Amazon Pay balance on the Amazon website/App. You will get MR points for the purchase of Amazon Pay gift vouchers.

The 1% convenience fee is waived on fuel purchases at HPCL fuel stations for transactions less than Rs. 5,000. There is a 1% convenience fee on fuel purchases for all fuel transactions of Rs. 5,000 and above.

Membership Rewards (MR) Points redemption

There are various ways in which you can redeem your MRCC MR points.

Paying for online transactions or purchase of gift vouchers: You can pay for online transactions using reward points or redeem them for buying gift vouchers. You will get a redemption value of up to Rs. 0.25 per point for these transactions.

18K and 24K Gold Collection: To get a better value, you can redeem the MRCC MR points through the 18K and 24K Gold Collection. With the Gold Collection, you can redeem 18,000 or 24,000 MR points for gift vouchers of specific brands at a higher redemption value of up to Rs. 0.58 per MR point.

With the 18K Gold Collection, you can redeem 18,000 MR points for the following gift vouchers.

Similarly, with the 24K Gold Collection, you can redeem 24,000 MR points for the following gift vouchers. 

As seen in the above table, with the Gold Collection, you can get a redemption value of up to Rs. 0.58 per MR point, which is decent.

Airline and hotel transfer partners: American Express has a tie-up with a number of Frequent Flyer Programs (FFPs) of various airline companies and hotel groups. The cardholder has the option to transfer their MR points to these loyalty programs.

For example, the MR points can be transferred to KrisFlyer (FFP of Singapore Airlines) in the 2:1 ratio or Marriott Bonvoy (hotel loyalty program of Marriott International) in the 1:1 ratio. The other transfer partner in the hotel category is Hilton Honors (transfer ratio: 10:9). The other transfer partners in the airline category include Asia Miles, British Airways Executive Club, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Qatar Privilege Club, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club with a 2:1 transfer ratio.

Cover card charges: You can redeem your MR points for statement credit at the rate of Rs. 0.25 per point. You can log in to your American Express dashboard. Go to the Rewards section and select the “Cover Card Charges” option. From the list of transactions, select the one(s) you would like to settle with MR points and press “Redeem Now”.

Eligibility criteria and fees

To apply for the MRCC card, the individual should be over 18 years of age and have a personal annual income of Rs. 6 lakhs and above. The income eligibility criteria of Rs. 6 lakhs is the same for salaried and self-employed individuals.

The first-year fee for the MRCC card is Rs. 1,000 + GST. You will get a welcome gift of 4,000 MR Points on spending Rs. 15,000 within the first 90 days of card membership. From the second year, the fee is Rs. 4,500 + GST. If you spend Rs. 1,50,000 and above in the previous year, the annual renewal fee will be waived. If you spend between Rs. 90,000 and Rs. 1,49,999 in the previous year, 50% of the annual renewal fee will be waived. On the first-year card renewal, on payment of the annual fee, you will get 5,000 MR points.

Should you take this card?

American Express credit cards are available in only a few cities. While the credit cards have wide acceptance online, the offline acceptance is limited. The American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card is an entry-level credit card with a decent reward rate. It offers reward points that don’t expire and can be redeemed in multiple ways. Hence, if you are looking for an entry-level credit card with good benefits, you may consider the American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card.

Gopal Gidwani is a freelance personal finance content writer with 15+ years of experience. He can be reached at LinkedIn.