American Express 
SmartEarn Credit Card Review

Amex SmartEarn

Amex SmartEarn Credit Card is another entry level card from American Express targeted mainly for low to mid income range people. Just like MRCC (Membership rewards Credit card), this is also an entry level Credit card with decent returns if used properly. However, to maximize the benefits of this card, you need to keep it as a second card along with the Amex MRCC or the Amex Gold Charge card. Let us see the details of this card.

Fees

Joining Fee

Rs 495 + GST (18%)

Annual Fee

Rs 495 + GST (18%)

Fee waiver: The annual fee is waived off on spending more than Rs 40K in the previous year.

Apply using this link and earn 2000 bonus reward points when you spend Rs 5,000 within 90 days of card membership.

Eligibility for Amex SmartEarn Credit Card

  • Age: 18 years and above
  • Annual Income: 
    • Salaried: Greater than 4.5L
    • Self-employed: Greater than 6L
  • Good Credit Score (CIBIL score above 750 should be good to qualify for this card)
  • Should be a resident of Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Indore, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Surat & Vadodra. However, once the card is issued, you can change the address to different cities too.

American Express is generally very strict about its eligibility criteria. If you don’t have a credit history, your application would be rejected straightaway.

Benefits of Amex SmartEarn Credit Card

Welcome Bonus

Rs 500 cashback if you spend at least Rs 10K in the first 90 days from the card issue date.

Reward points

1 reward point (equivalent to Rs 0.25) for every Rs 50 spent.

10x Membership Rewards

Get 10x membership reward points when you transact on Flipkart and Uber (500 points per month per merchant).

5X Membership Rewards

Get 5x membership reward points when you transact on Amazon, Myntra/Jabong, Grofers, Swiggy, BigBazaar, More, PVR, Reliance Fresh, Dmart, BookMyShow (250 points per month combined).

Milestone Benefits

Earn Amazon vouchers worth ₹500 upon reaching the spend milestones of ₹1.20 lacs, ₹1.80 lacs, and ₹2.40 lacs respectively in a Card membership year.

Zero Lost Card Liability

If your Amex Credit card is stolen and misused, and you report it within 3 days of the misuse, then your liability will be NIL. Even if the fraud transaction is reported after 3 days of the transaction, your maximum liability will be Rs 1,000.

Emergency Card Replacement

Doesn’t matter where you are in the world, if you lose your Amex Card, you will get a replacement usually within 2 working days, that too free of cost.

Spend Based Offers and user specific offers

American Express comes up with user specific spend based offers regularly. In last 3 years, I’ve earned American Express Travel Vouchers worth Rs 20K (2*Rs 10K) with their spend based offers. Also, I’ve got many other user specific offers such as Bonus points/cashback on Amazon transactions, Marriott stays etc.

Drawbacks

  • No access to Amex Gold collections for reward points redemption if you only have this card. However if you have Amex MRCC or Amex Gold Charge card, you can combine your points and redeem for the rewards in Amex Gold collections.
  • Upper cap on accelerated rewards. The upper cap on accelerated rewards (500 points per 10x partner, 250 points combined across all 5x partners) is very low.
  • American Express is still not accepted at all the merchants in India. So, you might have to carry one extra backup card in your wallet. However, they are increasing their acceptance rapidly.

Should you get it?

Seeing the low fees (and easily doable fee waiver condition), you can keep this card for the accelerated rewards if you are a frequent customer of Flipkart or Uber and don’t own any other cards. You get 20 points/Rs 100 (5%) on Flipkart which goes up to 7.5% if redeemed for cash (more if you prefer other rewards from Amex Gold Collection) if you also hold the Amex Membership Rewards Credit card. So, having this card alongside the MRCC makes it better than the Flipkart Axis Credit card for spends on Flipkart, up to the upper limit.
I applied for this card on Wednesday (July 15), and since I already had the MRCC (hence no KYC required) I received my new card on Saturday (July 18th). Kudos to Amex for such a fast process.

To apply for the Amex SmartEarn Credit Card, visit here and earn bonus 2000 reward points.

Let me know your thoughts or queries on the American Express SmartEarn Credit Card in the comments below. Want me to review any other cards? Let me know in the comments below or using the Contact Me section of this website.

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