american express smartearn credit card

American Express Smart Earn Credit Card

Are you liking this Credit Card?

American Express SmartEarn™ credit card is the most basic card offered by American Express packaged with benefits including fuel surcharge waiver, accelerated rewards points and milestone advantages. Given the entry-level features, American Express SmartEarn credit card comes with an annual fee of Rs 495 + GST. In order to promote the spending, American Express offers a flat cashback of Rs 500 as a welcome gift.

  • Key Features
  • Rewards & Benefits
  • Eligibility Criteria
  • Fees & Charges
  • Documents Required
  • Application Process
  • Other Similar Credit Cards

American Express SmartEarn™ Credit Card: Key Features

Joining FeesRs. 495 + Applicable GST.
Annual FeeRs. 495 + Applicable GST.
Best Suited ForRewards & Online Shopping.
Welcome BenefitsRs. 500 only if they spend at least Rs 10,000 in the first 90 days of the card membership.
RewardsReward Points.
Forex Fee3.5%
Income Required

Rs. 4.5 Lakh p.a. for Salaried Applicants.

Rs. 6 Lakh p.a. for Self-employed Applicants.

Welcome Benefit: 

  • American Express SmartEarn credit card users can qualify for the welcome bonus of Rs 500 only if they spend at least Rs 10,000 in the first 90 days of the card membership. 
  • Any drafts made from the American Express SmartEarn™  Credit card account, cash advances, fees, balance transfers and express cash transactions are not numbered to calculate the threshold of Rs 10,000. 

Renewal Fee Waiver:

  • Amex also provides an option of renewal fee waiver on American Express SmartEarn™ credit card if the card member spends at least Rs 40,000 in the previous year of membership. 
  • The renewal fee waiver option for American Express SmartEarn™ credit card is also subject to transactions excluding cash advances, express cash, balance transfers, drafts from American Express SmartEarn™  credit card and fees charged to the card. 

Gift Vouchers:

  • American Express also provides gift vouchers to eligible cardholders on achieving different milestones during the card membership year. 
  • American Express SmartEarn™ credit card users can earn a separate cash vouchers of Rs 500 on crossing a spend threshold of Rs 1.20 lakh, Rs 1.80 lakh and Rs 2.40 lakh in a card membership year.

American Express SmartEarn™ Credit Card: Rewards & Benefits

Amex rewards points on SmartEarn credit card:

  • American Express SmartEarn™ credit card customers can earn accelerated rewards points with spending on Amazon, BookMyShow, Flipkart, Uber, Zomato, Ajio, Nykaa, PVR, BlinkIt and Myntra. All these merchant partners can help garner 10X membership rewards points
  • However, the accelerated rewards points are capped at 500 points per month per card for Amazon, BookMyShow, Flipkart, Uber, Ajio, Nykaa, PVR, BlinkIt and Myntra. 
  • Rewards points on Spends at Zomato are also capped at 500 points per month per card. 
  • Amazon and Paytm wallet transactions or 5X membership rewards points and the accelerated rewards for these categories are capped at 250 points per month per card. 
  • Accelerated rewards points for 10X and 5X merchant categories translates into 9 & 4 membership rewards points, respectively, over and above the regular rewards points.
  • On an eligible spend of Rs 500 on a 10X merchant partner, an Amex SmartEarn credit card user will get 10 regular rewards points and 90 accelerated rewards points. 
  • With the help of 10X and 5X spend categories, an American Express SmartEarn™ credit card user can earn 1,250 membership rewards points by spending only Rs 7,500 in a month. 
  • An Amex SmartEarn credit card member can earn 500 rewards points each on spending Rs 2,500 in a month at Zomato and collectively at BookMyShow, Flipkart, Uber, etc. 250 rewards points can be earned through Amazon and Paytm wallet transactions of Rs 2,500. 
  • No membership rewards points are accrued on spends on categories including EMI conversion at PoS, utility bill, insurance premium, cash transactions and fuel. 

EMIs With SmartEarn Credit Card:

With American Express SmartEarn™ credit card, users can easily choose to pay the bill fully or partially as the card allows you to convert the purchases into monthly installments for all purchases above a certain threshold at point of sale with rate of interest starting from 14% p.a. American Express EMIs also come with zero foreclosure charges. 

Fuel Convenience Fee Waiver:

  • All fuel transactions with American Express SmartEarn™ credit card at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) of value less than Rs 5,000 are exempt from convenience fee. 
  • A convenience fee of 1% is charged per transaction on Amex SmartEarn credit card on fuel purchases for value of Rs 5,000 and more.

Other Benefits:

  • American Express American Express SmartEarn™ credit card has the feature of contactless payments with a maximum permissible limit of Rs 5,000, in-line with the Reserve Bank of India directives, dispute resolution, 24X7 card-related assistance and emergency card replacement. 
  • All American Express SmartEarn™ credit card customers are covered with the zero-cosot card liability clause provided by the American Express group. 
  • Amex SmartEarn credit card ensures that the cardmember’s liability is zero if the customer reports any fraudulent activity on the card within 3 working days of the transaction. 
  • The maximum liability for an American Express SmartEarn™ credit card user is limited to Rs 1,000 in case the fraud is reported to American Express after 3 working days.

Also Check: American Express Credit Card Benefits

American Express SmartEarn™ Credit Card: Eligibility Criteria

  • Age: The age of the applicant should be 18 years or above and should be resident of India. 
  • Credit Score: The individual should exhibit a prime credit score, preferably over 750 with no history of defaults on repayments. 
  • Minimum Income Requirement: The personal annual income of the individual should be more than Rs 4.5 lakh p.a. Self-employed individuals are mandated to showcase a trading history for the firm of over 12 months a personal annual income of Rs 6 lakh and above. 
  • Banking Relationship: The applicant should have a savings or current bank account with any Indian or foreign bank operating in India. 
  • Residential Status: Amex cards are only offered to people residing in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Pune, Chandigarh, Bhubaneshwar, Indore, Lucknow, Mysuru, Nagpur, Bhopal, Cuttack, Nasik, Coimbatore, Surat, Vijayawada, Vizag, Vadodara, Ludhiana and Ernakulam. 
  • Having a resident in these cities doesn’t necessarily mean that you can get an Amex credit or charge card. The final eligibility is defined by taking other factors into consideration.

Also Check: American Express Credit card Benefits

American Express SmartEarn™ Credit Card: Fees & Charges

  • Supplementary Cards:  The primary cardholder of Amex SmartEarn credit card can avail one supplementary card without incurring additional costs. American Express levies a fee of Rs 250 per supplementary card beyond the permissible quota. 
  • Late Payment Fee: American Express charges a fee of 30% on the outstanding balance, a minimum of Rs 500 and a maximum of Rs 1,000 on deferred bill payment of Amex SmartEarn credit card. 
  • Cash Advance Fee: Amex levies a transaction fee of 3.5%, a minimum of Rs 250 on all cash withdrawals through American Express SmartEarn™ credit card. A fee of $129 is charged on international cash withdrawals through Amex SmartEarn credit card. 
  • Overlimit Fee: A flat fee of Rs 500 is charged if a card member executes a transaction beyond permissible limit as American Express approves a certain number of transactions that are over and above the sanctioned credit limit. 
  • Forex Transaction Fee: American Express levies a currency conversion fee of 3.5% for all foreign currency transactions processed through Amex cards. 

Bounce Charges: American Express charges Rs 100 per statement for retrieving credit card statements that are older than three billing cycles and a fee of Rs 250 per transaction if cheque/ECS/NACH is returned.

American Express SmartEarn™ Credit Card: Documents Required

American Express demands certain documents that can be submitted for KYC purposes of Amex credit cards and Amex charge cards. This includes… 

  • A passport size photograph. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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.

Also Read: American Express Credit Card Bill Payment

American Express SmartEarn™ Credit Card: Application Process

You can apply for the desired American Express card from MyMoneyMantra. An individual can select between an Amex SmartEarn™ credit card, Amex charge card and Amex corporate card. A user can also check the credit score before applying for a credit card.

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 SmartEarn credit card 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.

Other Similar Credit Cards From Different Banks

A user can also cross-examine other credit cards offering relatively similar features before taking the final decision. All the following credit cards are offered for the same annual/joining fee as it is for the American Express SmartEarn credit card.

Credit CardAnnual/Joining FeeMain BenefitsAnnual/Renewal Fee Waiver
HDFC MoneyBack Credit CardRs 500 + GSTUsers can avail up to 20% discount on restaurant bill payments via Swiggy Dineout. You can earn 2 reward points on every Rs 150 spent and 2X reward points for online spends. Get 1% fuel surcharge waiver up to Rs 250 per statement for transactions between Rs 400 and Rs 5,000.The annual fee waiver is available if the card member crosses a spend threshold of Rs 50,000 in a calendar year.
SBI SimplyCLICK Credit CardRs 499 + GSTCard members can earn 10X reward points on merchant partners including Apollo 24x7, BookMyShow, Cleartrip, Dominos, Eazydiner, Myntra, Netmeds and Yatra. SBI issues Rs 2,000 e-vouchers on hitting yearly online spends of Rs 1 Lakh and Rs 2 Lakh, respectively.Card members can qualify for an annual fee waiver in the subsequent year on surpassing a spend threshold of Rs 1 lakh in the previous year.
Axis Ace Credit CardRs 499 + GSTUsers can enjoy 4 complimentary domestic lounge visits in a year. A cashback of 5% is available on utility bill payments including electricity, internet, gas & mobile recharges done through Google Pay. Spends on Swiggy, Zomato & Ola provide a 4% cashback, while a 2% cashback is available on all other spend categories.Joining fee waiver on spends of over Rs 10,000 in first 45 days of card issuance. Annual fee is waived off from second year on yearly spends of more than Rs 2 lakh.
ICICI Bank Coral Credit CardRs 500 + GSTYou can enjoy a 25% discount on movie tickets purchased through BookMyShow & Inox, twice in a month. One complimentary railway lounge visit is offered per quarter and a customer can get eligible to earn up to 10,000 additional rewards points.Annual fee from second year can be waived off if you spend more than Rs 1.50 lakh in the previous year
Standard Chartered Bank Smart Credit CardRs 499 + GSTCardmembers can earn a flat 2% cashback on online spends and 1% cashback on other spends. You can avail an extended interest-free period for the first 90 days from the date of card issuance by paying the minimum due amount only.Users can qualify for renewal fee waiver from second year onwards on spending Rs 1.20 lakh in the preceding year

American Express® SmartEarn Credit Card FAQs

The credit limit for American Express credit cards is different for different customer profiles. As Amex SmartEarn credit card demands a minimum annual income of Rs 4.5 lakh, an applicant can expect a credit limit of at least Rs 90,000 if monthly EMIs and repayments are not exceeding the net monthly income.

Amex SmartEarn credit card has a feature of renewal fee waiver. American Express waives off the renewal fee of Rs 495 if the spends on SmartEarn credit card surpass Rs 40,000 in the preceding year of card membership.

Amex credit card limit is strictly authorised and monitored with respect to the net earnings, liabilities, status of employment, age and ongoing credit score. An Amex user can try improving all these fields to qualify for a credit limit increase.

American Express SmartEarn credit card allows cash withdrawal from the ATM. Amex has fixed the cash withdrawal limit to 20% of the sanctioned credit limit or $333 every 14 days, whichever is lower. Assuming a credit card limit with a limit of Rs 5 lakh with Rs 70,000 outstanding, a user can withdraw cash up to a value of Rs 86,000.

The annual percentage rate (APR) on Amex SmartEarn credit cards is fixed at 3.50% per month. Noticeably, the APR is the same for all Amex credit cards.

No, Amex SmartEarn credit card doesn’t offer complimentary airport lounge access as it is a basic credit card that comes packaged with less premium benefits.

Amex credit cardholders should immediately report the status of the card to American Express as soon as they know it. This could help you get the credit card blocked to avoid any misuse and fraudulent transaction.

A credit score in good shape is the basic requirement for credit card issuance. Individuals who don’t have a credit history or who can’t showcase a credit score can still apply for an American Express credit card, provided they fulfil the basic eligibility criteria including the minimum income requirement, age limit and residential status.

American Express credit card users can call the customer care support at 1800-419-2122. Amex credit card holders can dial 1800 208 1226 (Toll Free), 0124-670 2101 with regards to any query or dispute related to American Express SmartEarn credit card.