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American Express is running a new promotion to selected card members which will offer 1 bonus membership rewards point for every dollar spent during this fall shopping season. This offer is targeted to my Blue from American Express Card. Enrollment is required to get the bonus points credited to your account.

This promotion offer was mailed to me via USPS. The content is like this:

Now is your chance to get closer to get more of the exceptional experiences offered by the Membership Rewards program. As a selected cardmember, you have the opportunity to earn double points on virtually every dollar you spend over $500 each month from October 1, 2008 through December 313, 2008 (up to maximum allowed).

So whether you’re starting your holiday shopping or entertaining friends, be sure to use your Card for everything this fall. Enjoy a weekend getaway or a night on the town. And when you’re out buying gifts for everyone on your list, don’t forget to pick up something for yourself. It can all add up to double points.

P.S. Enroll today by visiting us at americanexpress.com/bonuspoints883

or call us at 1-800-794-1308 and use the promotion code 126480025.

So here is how it works:

1. Enroll your American Express Card by November 15, 2008. Visit americanexpress.com/bonuspoints883 and enter your RSVP code. Or call 1-800-794-1308 and mention the promotion code 126480025.

2. Earn double points. You can earn one additional point for every dollar you spend over $500 each month from October through December. (monthly limit is 5000 points)

This offer is not so attractive to me since I have other better credit cards which can give me much better rewards. But for those only have one or two American Express credit cards, this is a good chance to get yourself awarded during this coming shopping season. $500 per month is not so difficult to reach.

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Discover Card is also running a promotion. The Discover Open Road Card is offering 2% cash back for shopping at grocery stores this November and December.

Following is a message shows up in my online account:

Earn 2% Cashback Bonus on purchases made at grocery stores from 11/1/08 (or the date on which you signed up, whichever is later) through 12/31/08, subject to a cap of $1,000 in purchases. These purchases must post to your account by 12/31/08. Grocery store purchases are those made at merchants we classify as stand-alone grocery stores or supermarkets. Grocery or food purchases made at convenience stores, gas stations, warehouse clubs, supercenters and discount stores are not eligible.

This sign up process is very simple. All you have to do is to click the sign up bar in your account. The Discover Open Road Card is a gas card which offers 5% cash back at pumps. It is rated as one of the best gas rewards credit cards.

I reported that American Express is running On the Card promotion from which you can get $30 credit back for shopping a pre-selected locations with your American Express cards. I also indicated that there is another promotion from American Express from which you can get $10 Walmart gift card for shopping at Walmart.com with minimum purchase of $50.

Today I realized that there is another On the Card promotion which is similar to what I have introduced before but with different money back for shopping at different pre-selected locations.

The link to the “On the Card” promotion is http://onthecardncl.amexnetwork.com/. This time, the promotion offer is also targeted to selected American Express card members who received the email from American Express. You should only choose 5 different locations from the link I provided above and make a purchase at each location before December 8, 2008. Then you will receive a $40 statement credit within 8 weeks.

The locations as listed on the website are:
bp, Burger King, Chevron, Chili’s, Dunkin Donuts, Olive Garden, Panera Bread, Regal Cinemas, Subway, TGIF, 7-11, Bed Bath Beyond, Costco, JCPenney, Kohls, PET’sMART, Sears, Staples, Home Depot, and WalMart.

Compared to the previous $30 offer, I think this offer is much better. Less required locations with more cash back.

Another great promotion I’d like to mention is eBay is offering 10% coupon with seemly selected members along with 30% cash back from Microsoft’s live search cash back. This would give you an opportunity to save up to 40% (max $300.00) for shopping “buy it now” items at eBay.com. The coupon code is CFALLSAVINGS10P. According to the experience from last time use of the 10% coupon will not invalid your live search cash back. They can be used together. The coupon page can be found at http://pages.ebay.com/coupon/CFALLSAVINGS10P/

My latest post about American Express turned out to be a very interesting post: American Express Rates Credit Risk by Where You Live and Shop. Although I have heard something about this before this report from MSNBC, this was the first time this kind of credit monitor was confirmed by a credit card issuer. I believe other credit card issuers also use similar method to monitor consumers’ credit performance.

Anyway, good news is I received a promotion offer from American Express targeted to my Starwood Preferred Guest Card. According to the email I received, if I use my Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express from October 15 to November 15, 2008, I will get a $10 Walmart gift card for any purchase over $50.

This is really a great deal. Last time, American Express offered a similar offer to a majority of American Express card members for shopping at Amazon.com (here).

The email indicated:

Use your American Express^® Card at walmart.com between Oct. 15, 2008 and Nov. 15, 2008 and when you spend $50 or more on a single transaction you can receive a Walmart gift card worth $10 — redeemable at walmart.com or at Walmart stores.

Fine print:

Offer valid for spend only at walmart.com. Offer valid when you pay with your American Express® Card. Offer valid on a single transaction of $50 or more when you spend during Oct. 15, 2008 and Nov. 15, 2008. The Walmart gift card will be mailed 10-12 weeks after promotion period has ended. Offer limited to one Walmart gift card per Cardmember.

Maybe an iPod shuffle is a good choice to take advantage of the $10 bonus. Or some GPS units at Walmart.com is pretty cheap compared to other online shopping stores.

I believe this offer is targeted to many American Express cards like Blue Cash from American Exprss, and Blue from American Express etc.

American Express is always redeemed as the best credit card issuer at the United States. The 2008 J. D. Power Credit Card Satisfaction Study also revealed that American Express was ranked the best credit card company. My previous post “Funny Stories with Citicards” described some ridiculous mistakes made by Citi. As Sander mentioned in the comment,  American Express also will do something unfriendly to their customers. The famous Financial Review is a typical example.

Today I just noticed a very interesting article about American Express and wanted to share with you.

It’s no doubt that as the credit crunch reaches from Wall Street to Main Street, many credit card issuers are reducing their credit limits to certain customers. Some customers also found that their credit card accounts were closed without any reasonable explanation from credit card companies.

The question is how the credit card companies decide whether or not to reduce your credit limit or close your account. Your first reaction might be the credit score or credit report. I do believe your credit performance during the credit crunch is a very important factor, however, there are other criteria you might have never been thought of—American Express will close your account by taking into account of where they live, where they shop and who holds your mortgage.

The story was first published at MSNBC (link).

Jesse Gilleland of suburban Washington, D.C. had two American Express cards canceled and the limit on a third card cut. The company said the decision was based in part on where he  shops and who holds his mortgage.

As indicated in the mail, American Express clearly indicated that the reason why the limit of Jesse’s Platinum American Express Card was reduced were due to:

“Our credit experience with customers who have made purchases at establishments where you have recently used your card.”

“Our analysis of the credit risk associated with customers who have residential loans from the creditor(s) indicated in your credit report.”

The mail from American Express can be downloaded at here.

While I have heard that some credit card companies will use the above mentioned factors to determine the customers’ creditworthiness, this indeed is the first time I saw it happen.

It’s more interesting to see that this was confirmed by the American Express spokeswoman Kim Forde by saying: “We are looking at some other factors, too, in light of the economy. We are looking at consumers holding subprime mortgages (and) those living in areas where there has been a greater deterioration in home prices.” and “You have to remember that this is one contributing factor. That’s not the sole reason, but it’s certainly data that we’re looking at.”

The reason why I want to introduce this story is behavioral score is used by the credit card issuers. When you are talking about credit score, you should remember that there are many other “invisible” scores that credit issuers might take into account.

I hope this will not happen to me and readers at MyCardBlog.Com.

The full story can be found at MSNBC business section (direct link).

I have talked a lot about the cash back, sign up bonuses, rewards points, balance transfer offers, and low interest rates at mycardblog.com. Believe it or not, the above mentioned factors will affect how a customer choose a credit card from so many credit card products nowadays. Smart credit card issuers have now used new tricks to attract more customers in a competitive market. Many credit card issuers are creating some eye-catching credit card products to compete with other credit card products. American Express is on the track.

American Express is testing the Butterfly from American Express that folds in half and pops out of a small silver case attached to a key ring (shown in the picture). Right now the Butterfly card is only available to Gold card members and it’s free. Although the credit card number of the Butterfly card is different from your normal Gold card, the Butterfly card is linked to your Gold card account. Butterfly card charges will appear in a separate itemized section of your statement following your traditional Card charges. In this way, you can track your Butterfly card spending just like your traditional Card when you Manage Your Card Account online.

You can use your Butterfly card anywhere that accepts American Express cards. Just don’t forget to unfold the card at the checkout. The Butterfly card will expire after two years after when American Express will send a new card to you.

Using Butterfly card will also accumulate rewards points for you as long as you are currently enrolled in the Membership Rewards program. However, you can’t apply for additional cards for your authorized users at this time. The Butterfly card is only issued to some targeted card members of the Gold Card from American Express Open. (previously known as the business gold rewards card)

If you have a Gold Card from American Express Open, you probably are the first to try the new product from American Express.

American Express just released a new promotion—“On the Card” which enables American Express card members to get $30 statement credit after committing a series of purchase requirements. This is really nice to all American Express card members since all of the purchase requirements are really easy to fulfill. As an American Express card member, I’m really satisfied with their high-quality customer service. As a matter of fact, in 2008 J. D. Power Credit Card Satisfaction Study, American Express was ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction. If you don’t have an American Express, you should try to get one.

What’s “On the Card”?

On the Card is a program from American Express that provides Cardmembers with an opportunity to get a $30 statement credit. The $30 reward will be in the form of a statement credit on the American Express Card that you will use to register for the program. To receive the $30 credit, you have to go to www.amexnetwork.com/bac30 to register your American Express card.

During the registration process, you have to choose 8 merchants from a list of pre-determined 20 merchants. The 20 merchants are categorized into 4 categories. You have to pick up 2 merchants from each category.

“On the Card” lasts for 8 weeks, beginning on September 23, 2008, and ending on November 16, 2008. Please keep in mind that once you’ve selected your 8 merchants and registered for the program, you can’t change the merchants. Otherwise you can’t receive the $30 bonus.

Both in-store and online purchases will count toward your eight purchases. And there is no minimum amount requirement you should spend at each merchant. You can spend as much or as little as you like on each purchase.

Please note that there are only 12,000 registration slots available. Cardmembers can register for the program on a first-come, first-served basis. This promotion is start today, so you can go ahead and register you American Express card to reserve your slot. Once your registration completes, you will receive a confirmation e-mail.

If you can’t register your American Express at above mentioned website (according to program FAQ):

1. You did not receive an invitation to participate in the “On the Card” program.
2. You did receive an invitation but are trying to enroll a new Card or recent replacement Card which we may not have recorded for the promotion.
3. The program if full. There are only 12,000 registration slots available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Once you have successfully shopped at all 8 merchants, you will receive a statement credit from “On the Card” generally within 5 business days.

It really a great chance to get some small money for using American Express credit card. In this way, American Express just wanted to tell Cardmembers about the many places they can use their American Express Cards.

Update: the invitation email is attached. This email is targeted to my Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express.

The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express is one of my favorite credit cards. With this credit card, you can accumulate starpoints for free hotel stays. You can also use starpoints to redeem a gift card from Amazon.com or Banana Republic, GAP and Starbucks etc. If you like, you can also transfer starpoints to many airline miles including AA, UA and Delta Airlines. If you apply now, you can get 10,000 bonus starpoints.

Starwood Preferred Guest program introduced the SPG Flights yesterday, a new redemption opportunity, which allows you to redeem your starpoints for a free airline ticket without any restrictions. This is the first hotel rewards program to offer airline ticket redemption option. This truly will benefit all starwood preferred guest members. Another obvious advantage of the SPG Flights over other airline rewards programs is you can redeem Starpoints for airline tickets whenever you choose, even during peak periods such as holidays.Thus you can avoid the standard restrictions that limit most frequent-flyer awards program.

With SPG Flights, you can choose hundreds of airlines over the world with no blackout dates. If there’s a seat available for purchase with cash, you can use your Starpoints. If you don’t have enough starpoints in your account, you can buy starpoints and use them for airline ticket redemption immediately.

Use your starpoints at SPG Flight is very easy:

1. Search for flights at www.spg.com/flights

2. Select your flight from many available options

3. Redeem Starpoints for an airline ticket

4. Fly

According to the SPG Flights Starpoints Chart, I think redeem airline ticket is much better option than other kinds of redemption choices.

SPG Flights Starpoints Chart (Thanks Sander for reminding me of this!)
up to $150 10,000
$150-$215 15,000
$215-$280 20,000
$280-$345 25,000
$345-$410 30,000
$410-$475 35,000
$475-$540 40,000
$540-$605 45,000
$605-$670 50,000
$670-$735 55,000
$735-$800 60,000
$800-$865 65,000
$865-$930 70,000
$930-$995 75,000
$995-$1060 80,000
Higher prices (examples)
$2,880-$3,140 235,000
$4,960-$5,220 395,000
$9,900-$10,160 775,000

Starwood Preferred Guest has been known for having the industry’s best redemption program.I hope they can keep current excellent work and offer more rewards opportunities.

J.D. Power and Associates just released the 2008 Credit Card Satisfaction Study yesterday. According to this study, American Express ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction with credit card issuers for a second consecutive year! Yes, American Express should pride itself on its outstanding customer service.I would also vote for American Express.

The Credit Card Satisfaction Study measures customer satisfaction with credit card by examining five key factors according to J.D. Power and Associates: interaction; billing and payment process; fees and rates; reward programs; and benefits and services. I would say this study really encompasses every factor of a good credit cards. The study is based on a 1000 point scale and relies on more than 7,600 customers’ responses. American Express scored 783 points and ranked highest. Discover Card followed American Express with a score of 751.

Ironically, although the industry average score is 721, only American Express and Discover can score higher than that. HSBC scored the lowest score—667. Capital One also performed not well with only 10 points higher than that of HSBC.

As indicated by the study, American Express performed well in every category. American Express got the highest score out of any of the other credit card companies in all of the five categories. Discover Card performed well in only 3 of the 5 categories: interaction, billing and payment processes, and reward program sections. In the press release of this 2008 Credit Card Satisfaction Study, Rocky Clancy, executive director of financial services at J.D. Power and Associates, pointed out that “American Express and Discover Card are very different in their fees, reward programs and incentives, and their strong performances indicate their ability to suit the various needs that dissimilar types of cardholders have.”

The study also revealed that people who pay off their balances every month tend to choose their credit cards based on rewards programs (77%). People who carry balances on their credit cards pay more attention on interest rates and fees when choosing their credit cards (65%).

This study also found that 72% of cardholders use some kind of reward program. And the most interesting part is free hotel stays are the most satisfying type of reward! I think the Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express and the Hilton HHonors Platinum Credit Card from American Express will be very popular in the near future.

Another find of this study is 25% of all cardholders don’t know if their card offers them additional benefits and 33% haven’t used any during the past year. (If you are reading this post, you should look at your credit card benefits now.) I hope this will change in the future as mycardblog.com becomes more and more popular among general American readers.

The pdf version of the press release of 2008 Credit Card Satisfaction can be viewed here.

My question is which credit card company can surpass American Express the next year.