American Express® Credit Card

Amex has a variety of credit cards that have benefits starting from standard rewards to super-premium features on hotels and resorts, worldwide access to top-tier lounges, upscale concierge services and accelerated reward points. 

American Express offers only seven cards of which five are credit cards and two are charge cards. This includes American Express SmartEarn™ Credit Card, American Express PAYBACK® Credit Card, American Express Membership Rewards® Credit Card, American Express® Gold Card, American Express® Platinum Travel Credit Card, American Express® Platinum ReserveSM Credit Card and American Express® Platinum Card. 

American Express® Platinum Card is the superlative charge card offering from Amex as it commands an annual fee of Rs 60,000 + GST. Amex Platinum Card is a super-exclusive charge card which is only offered to a select few customers who qualify the minimum income requirements, as well as spend patterns and repayment history. 

Features & Benefits of American Express® Platinum Card

1. American Express® Platinum Card users can access the best-in-class airport lounges including Delta & Priority Pass, The Centurion®, Delta Sky Club® when flying Delta, Escape and domestic partner lounges in India. Amex Platinum card customers are also eligible for worldwide protection against fraud or theft, 24X7.
2. American Express offers a discount of 25% at Taj, SeleQtions and Vivanta Hotels and 50% off on suites at Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, alongside benefits of up to Rs 44,300 everytime on booking on the properties from 1000+ Fine Hotels and Resorts collection of Amex. 
3. Ensuring the safety of cardmembers, American Express has bundled facilities such as air accident insurance, overseas medical insurance and purchase protection with Amex Platinum Card. 
4. Talking about the premium lifestyle experiences, you get a 24X7 worldwide platinum concierge service to arrange last minute travel requirements, dining reservations, late night deliveries and bookings for sought-after events. 
5. American Express® Platinum Card members are also provided with exclusive deals on some of the best airlines in the world including Air France, Delta Airlines, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, Qatar Airways, KLM, etc.

Amex Membership Rewards® Credit Card is a premium credit card compared to Amex SmartEarn™ Credit Card. American Express charges Rs 1,000 + GST as a first year fee and R 4,500 + GST from second year onwards as a membership renewal fee. 

Features & Benefits of American Express Membership Rewards® Credit Card

1. Amex Membership Rewards® credit card holders are qualified to earn 1,000 Bonus Membership Rewards® points on transactions of at least Rs 1,500 for four times every month. 
2. Furthermore, the individuals possessing American Express Membership Rewards® Credit Card are also empowered with an additional 1,000 Membership Rewards points on surpassing a spend threshold of Rs 20,000 and above in a calendar month during an active card membership year. However, this benefit remains subjective to prior enrollment. 
3. On top of this, Amex awards 4,000 Bonus Membership Rewards® points to all American Express Membership Rewards® Credit Card customers as a welcome gift. Individuals also have an option to redeem the rewards points from the 18 and 24 Karat gold collection of Amex.

American Express SmartEarn™ Credit Card is the most basic credit card offered by Amex which comes with a first year fee of Rs 495 + GST and Rs 495 + GST from second year thereafter. 

Features & Benefits of American Express SmartEarn™ Credit Card

1. The Amex Express credit card allows an individual to earn Accelerated Membership Rewards® points on all the eligible spends on various e-commerce platforms including Amazon, BookMyShow, Flipkart, Uber, etc. 
2. American Express SmartEarn™ Credit Card also provides a welcome gift of Rs 500 as cashback if the Amex cardholders crosses a minimum spend threshold of Rs 10,000 in the first 90 days of credit card activation or Amex membership. 
3. American Express SmartEarn™ credit card customers are also accredited to earn separate vouchers equivalent to Rs 500 on crossing spend milestones of Rs 1.20 lakh, Rs 1.80 lakh and Rs 2.40 lakh in an Amex card membership year.

American Express® Gold Card is an introductory Charge Card offered by Amex for a first year fee of Rs 1,000 + GST, while the lender levies a fee of Rs 4,500 + GST from second year onwards for renewal of membership. 

Features & Benefits of American Express® Gold Card

1. Amex Express Gold Charge Card comes with the facility of no pre-set spending limit, thereby allowing more flexibility over regular credit cards. No pre-set limit doesn’t mean that there is no upper ceiling on spends, the limit is dynamic and is subjected to spend patterns, repayment history and earnings. 
2. The lender awards 4,000 Bonus Membership Rewards® points as a welcome gift to all American Express® Gold Card members and an option to earn 1,000 extra bonus points on completing six successful transactions of Rs 1,000 each in separate calendar months.
3. Amex users can earn 1 Membership Rewards® point for every Rs 50 spent on utility and fuel payments. The Membership Rewards® points are capped at 10,000 and 5,000 for utility (electricity, water and gas bills) payments and on fuel payments including petrol, diesel, CNG, respectively, in a calendar month. The rewards points can be redeemed from 18 and 24 Karat Gold Collection.

American Express® Platinum Travel Credit Card is one of the premium credit cards offered by Amex that is intended to maximise the benefits on travel. Amex charges Rs 3,500 + GST as a first year fee and a membership fee of Rs 5,000 + GST from second year onwards for American Express® Platinum Travel Credit Card. 

Features & Benefits of American Express® Platinum Travel Credit Card

1. Amex users are entitled to receive a welcome gift of 10,000 membership rewards points that can be redeemed either for a Flipkart voucher or a user can opt for Pay with Points option through Amex Travel Online for Rs 3,000. 
2. American Express® Platinum Travel Credit Card users are eligible to receive a Rs 4,500 Flipkart voucher or travel benefits on Amex Travel Online and a Rs 7,500 Flipkart voucher or travel benefits on Amex Travel Online on hitting a spend milestone of Rs 1.90 lakh and Rs 4 Lakh, respectively in a card membership year with American Express. 
3. Sweetening the deal further, Amex has permitted 8 complimentary lounge visits in a calendar year, subject to two complimentary visits in a quarter across airport lounges in India. Amex Platinum Travel credit card users can also avail Taj Experiences e-gift card worth Rs 10,000.

American Express® Platinum ReserveSM Credit Card is the next one in the premium card line-up of Amex. Amex Platinum ReserveSM Credit Card is a superior card than American Express® Platinum Travel Credit Card, offering a bouquet of premium benefits from lifestyle to travel bundled in a single plastic. 

Features & Benefits of American Express® Platinum ReserveSM Credit Card

1. Amex charges Rs 5,000 + GST as the first year fee, while the second year fee escalates to Rs 10,000 + GST on American Express® Platinum ReserveSM Credit Card. 
2. Amex Platinum ReserveSM Credit Card users can avail movie or online shopping vouchers equivalent to Rs 6,000 in a card membership year, alongside complimentary membership of Taj Epicure and EazyDiner Prime. 
3. American Express offers complimentary access to domestic airport lounges and an additional complimentary membership to priority pass. The $99 annual membership fee for priority pass has been waived off under the offer by Amex. 
4. American Express® Platinum ReserveSM Credit Card customers are also eligible for renewal fee benefit of Rs 10,000 as they can receive Taj stay vouchers of Rs 10,000 on crossing a spend threshold of Rs 5 lakh in a card membership year and payment of annual fee of Rs 10,000.

Among the premium privileges, an Amex Platinum ReserveSM Credit Card member can enjoy complimentary access to more than 32 golf courses across India without a green fee, twice every month.

American Express PAYBACK® Credit Card is another credit card from American Express group that is offered for a first year fee of Rs 750 + GST and Rs 1,500 + applicable GST from second year onwards. 

Features & Benefits of American Express PAYBACK® Credit Card

1. Amex PAYBACK® Credit Card customers are eligible for a Flipkart voucher worth Rs 750 on three successful transactions in the first 60 days of card issuance. 
2. American Express customers are also granted gift vouchers worth Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 on crossing a spending of Rs 1.25 lakh and Rs 2.50 lakh, respectively, in a Amex card membership year. 
3. Amex card members are allowed to earn multiple PAYBACK points on using the American Express PAYBACK® Credit Card at over 50 PAYBACK partners for every Rs 100 spent.

Also Check: 10 Best International Credit Card

American Express has a decisive eligibility criteria for issuing credit and charge cards in India. Individuals looking forward to obtaining an Amex credit or charge card should fulfill the undermentioned standards. 

1. All Indian residents, as well as foreign nationals are eligible for an Amex credit/charge card in India, provided they successfully manage to furnish the requisite documents. 
2. The applicants should be more than 18 years of age, irrespective of their citizenship. 
3. As far as minimum income requirement criteria is concerned, an employed professional should have a personal annual income of at least Rs 4.5 Lakh. The minimum income requirement for self-employed professionals is set at Rs 6 Lakh, 
4. All the applicants interested in American Express credit or charge cards should have an active savings or current account relationship with an Indian scheduled commercial bank or a multinational bank. 
5. There should be no history of payment defaults in the past and the credit score should meet the Amex criteria. 
6. For self-employed individuals backed by a corporation, there should be a trading history of more than 12 months. 
7. Applicants should have current or permanent address in cities including National Capital Territory of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Indore, Coimbatore, Surat, Vadodara, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Nagpur, Nasik, Trivandrum and Mysore.

American Express has pronounced a list of documents that are admissible for KYC purposes of Amex credit cards and Amex charge cards.

1. A passport size photograph. 
2. A user is mandatorily required to submit a copy of PAN. Those who don’t possess a PAN can provide a copy of Form 60. 
3. A copy of any one officially valid document is also required to meet the address proof and identity proof criteria from passport, Voter ID card, Job card issued by NREGA, Aadhaar card, a letter from the national population register (NPR) and a copy of driving license. 
4. Foreign nationals looking to obtain an Amex credit/charge card in India are required to furnish the documents issued by the respective Foreign Embassy of Mission in India and the documents provided by the departments of foreign government’s jurisdiction.

You can apply for an Amex credit card directly through the American Express website and via MyMoneyMantra. 

American Express Credit Card Application Through Amex Online

Step 1: Go to American Express website, select the desired credit card that suits best according to your income levels, nature of expenses and the benefits offered.

Step 2: Provide your personal details including name, date of birth, email address, mobile number and complete residential address. 

Step 3: Quote your PAN, alongside the employment status. 

Step 4: Read the Terms & Conditions and tick the check box for agreeing the same.

Step 5: Click on ‘Agree & Continue’. 

American Express Credit Card Application Through MyMoneyMantra

Step 1: Go to MyMoneyMantra’s American Express credit card page,

Step 2: Click on ‘Apply Now’. You’ll be redirected to the American Express credit cards page. 

Step 3: Now you can fill in your personal credentials including your name, date of birth, phone number, email address and residential address. 

Step 3: After this, you will be required to share the PAN and employment status. 

Step 4: Tick the check box after reading the Terms & Conditions 

Step 5: Click on ‘Agree & Continue’. 

For American Express cards, an individual can select between an Amex credit card and Amex charge card. Also, you can check the latest credit score beforehand to make sure that your credit profile is in good shape.