{"id":136433,"date":"2023-09-01T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesopedia.com\/news\/prepaid-cards-targetted-by-american-express\/"},"modified":"2024-09-06T15:52:39","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T19:52:39","slug":"prepaid-gift-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesopedia.com\/en\/news\/prepaid-gift-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"American Express targets prepaid gift cards"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Prepaid Gift Card Restrictions” el_id=”prepaid_gift_card_restrictions”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

In the absence of the possibility to use American Express cards directly in stores (such as Costco<\/a>, which only accepts Mastercard), many American Express cardholders had fallen back on prepaid gift cards.<\/p>\n

These gift cards can be purchased directly in grocery stores or convenience stores… or even reloaded regularly, and are immediately usable.<\/p>\n

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After limiting monthly purchases<\/a> in the 5 points-per-dollar<\/strong> categories to $2,500 for the ®<\/sup> Card\" href=\"https:\/\/milesopedia.com\/en\/go\/amex-cobalt-card\/\" rel=\"noindex\">American Express Cobalt®<\/sup><\/sup> Card<\/a>, American Express has decided to go one step further and tackle prepaid gift cards directly.<\/p>\n

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Here’s the note that’s starting to appear in cardholder statements about the Membership Rewards program<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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Effective July 5, 2019<\/strong>, the following changes will apply to the Membership Rewards program terms and conditions: You will not earn points: We’ve clarified that certain transactions (known as ” cash equivalent transactions<\/strong> ” ) do not earn points. We also have the right to deduct points from your points account if we determine that they should not have been awarded<\/strong>. In addition, if we believe that you are intentionally<\/strong> taking steps to obtain points to which you are not entitled, we may consider this to bean abuse of the program<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As such, these new rules have been in force since July 5, 2019<\/strong>, and warn cardholders who would “abuse the program”<\/strong> with the aim of intentionally<\/strong> obtaining points to which they would not be entitled.<\/p>\n

American Express now reserves the right to deduct points from the account after the fact<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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A new definition has been added for cash equivalent transactions, as follows: the use of your card account to obtain or send cash or something that converts easily to cash<\/strong>. Examples include: purchases of foreign currency, gift cards (purchasing and reloading)<\/strong>, traveller’s cheques, money orders, bank drafts, casino gaming chips, wire transfers and all similar transactions. It also includes balance transfers, cash advances, person-to-person payments and the use of credit card cheques and other similar means or offers, offered by us or through a third party.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Prepaid gift cards of the Vanilla type are clearly targeted: American Express refers to these means of payment as “easily convertible to cash”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Gift cards linked to specific stores<\/a> (SAQ, Amazon, GAP…) are not covered<\/strong> by this measure: these cards can ONLY be used in specific stores, unlike prepaid gift cards, some of which can even be emptied at an ATM, making them “easily convertible to cash”.<\/p>\n

These rules apply to Membership Rewards<\/a> cards:<\/p>\n