Credit cards are beneficial for cashless transactions, especially at the intense moment. To make this payment system popular, most companies offer special discounts on paying via credit card. But it will be no use if the charges are high for the credit card. To solve this problem, many banks are trying to issue smart value credit cards. American express smart earn credit card is one of them. Here we will see American Express smartearn credit card and its review in a well, precise manner. We will try to cover each aspect very well.
Key Highlights
In this article
Rewards
The American Express smartearn credit card gives you some attractive rewards in discounts, membership points and cashback. It seems that this American smartearn credit card completely fulfils the main reason behind using credit cards because you will get a huge offer if you purchase via an online platform. Let’s talk about the offer and its availability.
| Offer availability | Offer type | How much offer | Reward time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anywhere | Cashback | 500 cashback on transactions over Rs 10000 | Within 90 days |
| Online shopping platform like Amazon, Food order on Swiggy, Book movies from Bookmyshow | Membership points | 5X membership points on every purchase of Rs 50. | instant |
| Online shopping from Flipkart, Cab booking on Uber | Membership points | 10X membership points per purchase of Rs 50 | instant |
| Refuelling engine, availing insurance, transactions by cash | Membership points | 1 membership points per purchase of Rs 50. | instant |
| Transactions using card | Membership points | 1000 membership points on using 4 times card | Within 1 month |
| Card renewal | Membership points | 5000 membership rewards on payment of an annual fee. | Within 90 days. |
Membership Points
i. What Are Membership points?
This is not a direct cash reward. Every time you use the card for a transaction, bonus points are added to your account. These bonus points are worth up to 2 cents each, and they can be redeemed during any transaction, booking, or even in a cash transaction.
ii. Are Membership points really worthy?
- If you store 24000 points, it is equivalent to 24 karat Gold. You can also opt for other options available. You can get Taj vouchers worth rupees 14000, ‘Tanishq’ vouchers worth rupees 10000 and statement credit up to 9000.
- Similarly, if you store 18000 points, it is equivalent to an 18 karat Gold collection. Other options are also available and are adjusted to the previous MR / offer ratio.
What Makes This Credit Card Better Than The Other Credit Card?
Some other same level credit cards like HSBC smart value credit card, Citibank card, Visa and others. The basic system like service, security is almost the same for all of them, but none of them offers the best value provided by American smartearn credit card. If you really like it you can also check out Platinum range of American Express reserve credit card and American Express charge credit card. Let’s differentiate them.
| American smarter credit card | HSBC smart value credit card | Citibank credit card | Visa |
|---|---|---|---|
| The annual fee is Rs 495. It can be waived off totally on transactions of Rs 40000. | The annual fee is Rs 499. It can be waived off totally on transactions of Rs 50000. | The annual fee is Rs 1000. It can be waived off totally on transactions over Rs 30000. | The annual fee is free if you spend Rs 15000 within 90 days. The renewal fee is also free for transactions over 75000. |
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| You can earn 3X membership points on whatever the amount of transaction is. |
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| Get 1 MR points on every transaction of Rs 50. | You can earn 1MR points on every transaction of Rs 100. | You can get 1 MR points on every transaction of Rs 125. | Get 2 MR points on every transaction of Rs 150. |
Who Should Opt For The Credit Card?
Now, this is a very controversial question. A credit card is categorised as a premium and mid-budget user. Actually, the card is for those who is not determined by the user. The card itself determines it. There are some eligibility criteria that we will see a bit later. And there are many smart value credit cards in the market. Who should go for which credit card- is their personal choice.
For people whose monthly expenditure is not too high but regular purchasers, this smartearn credit card is for them. These people are looking for the best value for a money credit card where they can save some extra money from the expenditure itself. American smartearn Express credit card is introduced for these people. You can also go for Mobikwik Blue American Express credit card if you want something, particularly for online transactions.
People who understand the expenditure/facilities ratio well are the main users of this card.
They use the card technically so that they can gain the maximum facility from it. They can use membership points, reward points, cashback- these types of rewards optimally. They know the offers and discounts well and the fields where they can be availed. Today do the homework very well before making any purchase. For whom the value of a single rupee is high, the card suits only them.
It is not the fact that who will use the card. The user should know their position and usage pattern, and then they can opt for this card.
Features And Benefits
The credit cards with the same American Express smartearn credit card provide almost the same service. There is nothing much special in that perspective to elaborate on. Still, some key benefits cannot be denied.
- After generation service: Like others, it also has 24X7 hours card related assistance. If you lost your card, there is a facility for emergency card replacement and zero lost card liability. But there is a misconception. You have to report within 3 days from the day when you lost. Otherwise, your charge will be rupees 1000!
- Rewards: Besides this, you have rewards like membership points. You can accelerate 10X membership points on purchase from Flipkart, Uber and 5X membership points on purchase from Amazon, Swiggy, BookMyShow.
- Easy EMI conversion: At a certain point in time, you may have not sufficient cash at hand, and at the point of price, no EMI options are available. You can convert any purchase into EMI schemes by using this card. And you can repay with an interest rate of 12% per annum.
- Make free the renewal fee: This is not actually a benefit. Rather, it is just a policy of attracting the customers to use their card! If you use the card for transactions over rupees 40000 in a year, the renewal fees are waived off for the next year. It may be beneficial for some users thinking the renewal fee is an ‘extra’ expense.
- Use this card anywhere you like: As this credit card is accepted everywhere in the country, you don’t have to face any issue regarding paying bills via this card. As I told you earlier, you can easily convert the bill into monthly instalments using the card.
Charges
We all know that all credit card charges both the user and the merchant. At this point, American Express smartearn credit card may lag from others. That’s why you will get offers and discounts on selected restaurants, shopping platforms. Because American Express charges the merchants a bit high, making it non-attractive to them. The merchants have to deal with a huge amount of money. The difference of only 1% or even 0.5 % makes a huge difference to them. So they don’t want to use that card generally. let’s have a quick look over the charges:
Eligibility And Document Required
As I mentioned earlier, you have to meet some eligibility criteria before applying for this card.
- You have to be a citizen of India and report American banking corporation for a change of residence.
- You have to make sure that you are employed, and your income is above 4.5 lakh per annum. Or, in case if you are self-employed, your personal income should be 6 lakhs or above.
- You should have an Indian or multinational bank savings account in India.
- You should have a permanent residential address in India at the time of applying for the card.
- You have to be 18 years or above old.
- You have to show some supporting documents claiming a few good credit histories and do not have any pending loan or payment defaults.
- If you are self-employed, another document is required showing that your company has been trading for more than 12 months.
How Do You Apply For The Credit Card?
First of all, read all the eligibility criteria and keep your documents ready with you. This is a completely online process, with no chance of skipping any document.
- Go to americanexpress.com. Scroll down a little, and you will find an option named “Apply now”. Click on it.
- There are three steps for applying for the card. At the very first step, there will be some forms requiring your name, email address, mobile number, date of birth, annual net income, PAN number and many fields regarding your personal info. Most of the fields are mandatory.
- Fill the forms very carefully. And all,o read all the disclaimer terms and conditions before applying.
I am not describing all the points for applying for the card. It is a straightforward process. Fill the form and go to the next step by clicking on “save and next”. Remember,r forms will be rejected in case of any false information.
FAQs
1. Is the card accepted everywhere in the country?
Ans: Partially yes and partially no. You can use the card on some selected restaurants, telecom services, booking cabs only from Uber. However, the acceptability of the card is wide on online platforms.
2. Can I get a cashback reward from the card?
You first apply and get the card; you will get a rupees 500 cashback on
transactions over rupees 10000. However, from later, you will get membership points
over any transaction.
3. Are the charges free for this card?
It depends on your usage. If you are a regular customer, you can complete the transaction goal of rupees 40000 in a year. Then the renewal fee is absolutely free. Otherwise, you have to pay Rs 495 for the renewal fees.
4. How much is the charge for a duplicate card if I lost the original one?
If you report within 3 days, you will get an emergency duplicate card for free. If not, then you have to pay a maximum of rupees 1000.
Similar Cards
As I mentioned very early, this card has other competitors. Check their details and comparison between those cards and American express smartearn credit card below:
| Card Name | Renewal Fee | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| American express | Rs 495. |
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| HSBC | Rs 499 |
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| Citibank | Rs 1000 |
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| VISA | Free |
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Note that the renewal fee can be waived off if you fulfil the transaction goals mentioned by the respective companies. We have discussed these things at point number 3.
Final Talk
Here, the time comes for the conclusion. After the long discussion of facilities and disadvantages, one question comes to our mind: “whether should I apply for the card or not?” See, nothing can be facilities or disadvantages to you if you are not that type of user. For example, you are happy with the traditional cash payment system. The usage of a credit card seems to be an extra burden for you. You are not a regular customer and have not faced any issues over the transaction till now. Then why should you use a credit card?
But if you are the other group members, then the question comes. Suppose you have to deal with a large number of customers, you like purchasing from online etc. Then there is a question of choosing the best credit card. Considering all the situations, this credit card really holds smart value for a mid-budget regular customer.
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