American Express SmartEarn Credit Card

American Express SmartEarn Credit Card Welcome Benefits:

• Rs. 500 cashback as a Welcome Benefit on eligible spends of Rs. 10,000 in the first 90 days of the card issuance date.
• Eligible spends include all spends except express cash transactions, cash advances, drafts, fees and balance transfers.

Milestone Benefits:

Annual membership fee waived off on eligible spends of Rs. 40,000 or above in the previous year of the card membership.

American Express SmartEarn Credit Card Rewards:

• For every Rs. 50 spent using this credit card, you will earn 1 Membership Reward Point with the exception of spends on Fuel, Insurance, Utilities, Cash Transactions and EMI conversion at POS.
• 10X Membership Rewards Points on Amazon and Flipkart (maximum 500 Points per month at the accelerated rate on Amazon and Flipkart combined).
• 10X Membership Rewards Points on Uber rides (max cap of 500 Points each month).
• 5X Membership Rewards Points on Paytm wallet uploads, Swiggy, BookMyShow, Big Bazaar, PVR, Myntra and many other merchants (max 250 Points/month at this rate).
• You can earn a maximum of  1,250 Membership Rewards Points in a month at accelerated rate if you spend Rs. 2,500 on Amazon and Flipkart combined (500 Membership Rewards Points), Rs. 2,500 on Uber rides (500 Membership Rewards Points) and Rs. 2500 on 5X partner merchants like Paytm, Swiggy, etc (250 Membership Rewards Points).

Reward Redemption:

• You can redeem the Membership Rewards Points can be redeemed for purchasing e-vouchers from Amex’s online shopping portal, INSTA purchases at offline stores, on online shopping websites, and also make credit card bill payments under the Cash + Points scheme.
• You can transfer the Membership Reward Points to other air miles and hotel loyalty programs like Asia Miles, British Airways Executive Club, Emirates, Club Vistara, Skywards, Etihad Guest, Finnair Plus, InterMiles, Qatar Privilege Club, Singapore KrisFlyer, Virgin Points, Marriott Bonovoy and Hilton Honors.

Movie and Dining Benefits:

5X Membership Reward Points on Swiggy and BookMyShow (max cap of 250 Points applicable for all 5X partners combined).

Fuel Surcharge Waiver:

A 1% fuel surcharge waiver will be applicable only on transactions done at HPCL fuel stations exceeding Rs. 5,000. Fuel surcharge applicable on all transactions at all non-HPCL stations.

American Express SmartEarn Credit Card Eligibility:

You must satisfy the following criteria to be eligible for this credit card-

• You must be a citizen of any of these cities – Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodra, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Nagpur, Mysuru, Trivandrum and Nasik.
• If you are a salaried employee, you must have an annual income of Rs. 4.5 lakh. If you are self-employed, you must have filed an income tax return of at least Rs. 6 lakh in the previous year and your company must have been trading for at least a year now.
• You must have a savings or current account in India.
• You should have a good credit history.
• Your age should be 18 years or above.

How to apply:

You can apply for this credit card through offline and online modes.

For the offline mode – you have to visit the nearest bank branch and fill the physical credit card application form and provide the necessary documents.

For online application, visit the official American Express Page. Find the SmartEarn Credit Card under the credit cards section. Attach the required documents and hit the submit button.

Conclusion

As it offers you a fairly good reward rate and 10X and 5X rate on some of the popular brands, the American Express SmartEarn credit card can be considered one of the best entry-level cards in the market right now, particularly so, because it is being offered by a brand like American Express, which is known globally for its premium credit cards. The only downside is that the monthly cap for maximum Rewards Points is quite low. Still, as this credit card has one of the least minimum income requirements (among American Express credit cards); so if you’re just about to begin your credit journey and admire the brand value of American Express, this might a good pick for you. Anyhow, what do you think about this card? Do share your thoughts in the comments below.