Amex Introduces New, No Annual Fee American Express EveryDay Credit Card
If you watched the Academy Awards, you may have seen the ads featuring Tina Fey that promoted American Express‘ newest credit card, the Amex EveryDay Credit Card. The new EveryDay card is Amex’s first no-fee credit card that grants cardmembers access to the full Membership Rewards program and is particularly targeted towards a a new demographic for American Express: the busy mom.
That’s not to say the card won’t appeal to many others as well. The key distinguishing features of the card–other than having access to the standard Membership Rewards program–are that 1) it earns bonus Membership Rewards points at grocery stores and 2) rewards you for using your card frequently.
Specifically, the no-fee EveryDay Credit Card will earn 2x Membership Rewards points at U.S supermarkets (excluding warehouse stores like Costco) on up to $6,000 per year on purchases and 1x points on all other purchases. When you make 20 or more purchases in a billing period, you’ll earn a 20% bonus on all of those purchases (less any returns and credits).
In addition, Amex plans to offer another version of the card called the EveryDay Preferred Credit Card with a $95 annual fee. This upgraded version of the card will offer 3x Membership Rewards points at U.S. supermarkets (excluding warehouse stores) on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (after $6,000, it will earn 1x points), 2x points at U.S. standalone gas stations and 1x points on all other purchases. When you make 30 or more purchases in a billing period, you’ll earn a 50% bonus on those purchases, less any returns and credits.
Both of the cards will offer “Chip and Signature” technology, as well as a 0% intro rate on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months. In addition, the cards will be tightly integrated with the Amex Mobile app, so that the app will show cardmembers how close they are to earning their bonus Membership Rewards points for using their card frequently.
While applications will not be available until April 2, 2014, in the meantime, more information can be found at www.americanexpress.com/everyday.
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are these in addition to the two blue cash everyday cards or are they replacing them?
Eugene, I don’t believe that the new EveryDay cards are meant to replace the Blue Cash cards. I haven’t seen anything so far to suggest that the Blue Cash cards will be going away.
It is important to note how similar the products are. The Blue Cash Everyday card has no annual fee and earns 3% at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year), 2% back at US gas stations and select department stores and 1% on everything else. The Blue Cash Preferred has a $75 annual fee and earns 6% cash back at US supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year), 3% at US gas stations and select department stores and 1% on everything else.
On the surface, it would appear that the Blue Cash cards are a better deal, but it ultimately depends upon your spending habits and how much you value Membership Rewards points. If you value each Membership Rewards point at 2 cents, which some people do, then the new EveryDay cards may make sense.
The new EveryDay card also offers potential value simply by being a no annual fee Membership Rewards-earning card. If, for instance, you earned a number of points on another MR card with a hefty annual fee, you can open/convert to an EveryDay card to preserve that points balance without having to pay an annual fee.
Understood. However, your note “If you value each Membership Rewards point at 2 cents, which some people do” is a bit confusing based on the new rewards regime; by my math 2% at a supermarket is 2 cents per dollar; 1% everywhere else is 1 cent per dollar – cash back. Current blue cash, as you point out is 3 cents at supermarkets, 2 cents at gas and 1 cent everywhere else on the free version.
Not to nitpick, but if you can just clarify how a MR or membership reward is ever worth more than the percentage the cardholder receives on the face value of the purchase, it would be appreciated.
Thanks
Hi Eugene,
I may be misinterpreting your question, but let me try to illustrate how you can assign a value to points with a simple example: Let’s say card A gives you 2 points on groceries per dollar spent and card B gives you 3 cents cash back. Which card is better? Well, it depends on how you much you value those points. If you value each point as worth over 1.5 cents, then the points-earning card is better. If not, the cash back card is better.
Why would the points potentially be worth 1.5 cents each? Say you could transfer those points to a frequent flier program, where 20,000 miles could be redeemed for a $300 ticket. Using that conversion, you could say each mile would be worth 1.5 cents. So if you could convert your points to those miles at a 1:1 ratio, it would also be reasonable to say that your points are ultimately worth 1.5 cents each.