American Express Won’t Be Offering Statement Credits For Small Business Saturday

Each year American Express runs something called Small Business Saturday, the idea behind it has always been to increase acceptance rates with smaller merchants and to build goodwill with cardholders and small businesses. In the past American Express have offered their cardholders statement credits for purchases they have made at participating small businesses (e.g spend $10, get $10 last year which could be done three times per card). American Express has updated it’s page for Small Business Saturday and in the F.A.Q they have included the following (emphasis mine):

As in years past, American Express will continue to drive awareness of Small Business Saturday and encourage consumers to shop small through local and national advertising.

This year we are not offering a statement credit offer for Card Members on Small Business Saturday, but are instead increasing the support and resources we provide to help small business owners market the day within their communities and truly make it their own. Learn about the materials we make available at ShopSmall.com/GetReady:

We are also significantly expanding our grassroots advocacy efforts, such as the Neighborhood Champion program, to facilitate more community events and activities to engage local communities to shop small on Small Business Saturday.

It looks like American Express’ intention is to instead use the money they were giving out in statement credits to community programs instead. For most American Express cardholders, this is a disappointment as it’s one of the benefits they look forward to.

I’m interested to see what the final promotion does look like from American Express, I do love supporting local communities so fingers crossed it’s still helpful in that regard.

Hat tip to @yeshu1984 on Twitter
    William Charles
  • On September 30, 2015, 10:38

View Comments (46)

  • I was looking at the offers today on my Amex Everday and saw a $10/10 "Shop Small" that expires 11/28. Nothing on dh's, my other Amex cards, or my Serve, but still I will take whatever I can get.

  • Yes, I do find it disgusting how some people behave but that is not the end of the examination -- just the beginning. I personally don't have any qualms about someone listing themselves as a Teen because that term is not defined by NW to circumscribe an individual within a certain age group, etc. Many people may reasonably wish to subscribe themselves as Teens so that they can put a brake on their spending -- and this is a very good way to do so -- setting yourself a limit on the credit card spending by using an affiliated card as a debit card. As long as they are not going outside of the rules of the program -- and they are not because a Teen is undefined -- then what they are doing is perfectly legal.

    Nor, do I find allowing an authorized user to benefit from the card perks. For example, Chase encourages AUs on some of their rewards cards by giving you bonus for signing one up -- and only ONE I believe. In addition, as you well know, having additional users on your account using those credit cards is a way to maximize points in those accounts as it is a way to pool accounts.

    What I do have a problem with, however, although perfectly within the rules of as explained -- is the signing up of all those AUs and the ways to circumvent those restrictions.

    What those individuals was perfectly legal -- I feel queasy just seeing those pictures for my own personal reasons that I need not go into here -- but what was done was legal by those people -- unethical -- to my mind, yes, but not criminal.

    For example, the NW Teen cards and AUs on AMEX provide a good teachable moment.

    NW places no restriction on who can be considered a Teen, whereas AMEX DOES have a restriction with respect to who can bu an AU -- you must provide a SSN for each AU.

    Now, DD advised that there was a way around this restriction and that is to request an AU over the phone rather than online. That is skirting in dangerous territory as far as I am concerned for there is a reason why AMEX requests this information, and although there is a loophole out there to get around it, is it permissible to do so? Perhaps yes, but is it ethical to do so -- that is a far harder question and one where I certainly would come down on the side of NO. As I have said, I see no reason why my SO should not be an AU on my AMEX credit card(s) and should share in those perks -- BUT I STOP THERE AT ONE -- others may add a couple more for perfectly good reasons, but there is a limit.

    So, too, is the manner in which these credits were obtained. It is one thing for me to go around to different stores in my neighborhood happily swiping my card for $11.23; $12.24; $14.37 and quite another by paying off an existing bill at $10.00/swipe at only one merchant.

    The difference is the degree in doing so and the efforts displayed by some to game the system. All apparently perfectly legal, but forgive me for laughing out loud at the justification used by that "Rabbi" for taking advantage of this promotion.

    One can make all sorts of excuses as to why AMEX is not running this program AT ALL this year, but for me the answer lies in the way this promotion was abused by some last year as the immediate cause for them not doing so.

    Nowhere could I recall that the program permitted me to call in ahead of time with their credit card numbers to a merchant and have them compile a list of credit cards so that they could swipe them for exactly $10.00, three times in quick succession.

    Again, the issue is the execution of same.

    Would I have a problem with a person physically going in person to buy a $10.00 gift card in one transaction and then having them go to the back of the line to repeat this as many times as they wish? No, for one, they would have to go down to the store to do so -- which if not explicitly spelled out by the promotion was there implicitly -- to drive business into the store for buys of every sort -- calculated, as well as impulse buys.

    However, the pictures posted above and reported on the blogs was anything but what AMEX expected -- and the result is plain to see. Those who wish to state that after 5 years of execution AMEX abandoned this program because -- it was not working -- are fooling themselves, and trying to do the same to you -- promotions are not abandoned with such sudden certainty and with such a wholesale change, without some thought, as well as some trigger and you have it here in black and white.

    The widespread abuse of the program -- with rabbinical blessing no less -- is the driver and the root cause of AMEX's decision and don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

    Dan also makes mention on his web site that pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered but he does nothing to rein in such behavior, on the contrary, by abetting ways to circumvent the AU restriction, he abets it.

    The result is there to see -- HOGS GOT SLAUGHTERED, and now no one can take advantage of this perk anymore for the foreseeable future.

    • I agree now that this program probably got canned because of "abusers". As far as Amex goes though, the whole AU deal system is nutty. I was able to get a number of AU's giving same name, same social on my account online and Amex sent them out no issues. The loophole top not provide SS is probably just the preferred safer route not to be THAT obvious.The fact that amex has let this go on for years and done nothing says to me this isn't causing them that much pain or they are still benefiting from it somehow(perhaps publicity?).

      • Parkerthon & Eric --

        Having worked in a fairly large organization, you would be surprised how much it takes to get incremental change -- especially when you are dealing with different power centers, etc.

        Case in point, you would think that the marketing folks for the various rewards programs would talk to the rewards folks who have to implement these schemes and yet, at least in the case of Marriott Rewards and especially IHG Rewards, the left hand truly does not know what the right is doing.

        So it likely is with respect to those who implement IT changes, AU, etc. and the marketing folks. One possible reason for AMEX -- and others -- not changing things is turf wars and inertia.

        Indeed, the above also nicely proves my point with the pulling of SBS promotion. Inasmuch as the promotion is something entirely within the purview of the Marketing department, it is also its' to pull -- and that is what it most certainly did -- once it got wind of the figures, etc, as well as the Social Media activity of this thing.

        Likely Marketing got hit over the head by other departments -- or just reviewing the results, themselves -- of the same $10.00 charges from single stores.

        Inasmuch as one store in the article claimed that they ran 6,000 swipes/cards (unclear which it truly was) through in the limited time that they were open -- and due to the Jewish Sabbath, it was from approximately 8:00 PM to at most, 2:00 AM -- what do you think the takeaway was from the Marketing folks who saw this in black and white.

        1,000 to as many as 3,000 transactions per hour for 6 hours straight at at least one store? Really, and no such activity the previous week? Something is amiss with the construction of our promotion!!!

        Easier to kill the entire thing, than to tinker with changes that may not be yours to make.

        Q.E.D.

        Eric -- You wrote (mis-wrote?) that you never heard of paying a bill with a credit card. Really?? Or did you mean a preexisting bill with a credit card. Small stores use to and appear to still run credit for their customers. Nothing wrong with that and permitting them to pay later with a credit card if the owner permit this.

        However, since the promotion was supposed to be a driver of NEW BUSINESS -- permitting them to pay of previous bills with multiple $10.00 swipes, I wager is not what the marketing folks had envisioned -- and now we have their answer.

        Terminated.

        • Yes, I meant paying a pre-existing bill with a credit card. So these people probably purposely put off paying those bills because they planned for SBS, right? Hopefully they did the same thing this year and had to pay interest charges and there was no $10 credits to bail them out. After reading your last post I'd have to say it's very possible you are correct. Amex probably saw many charges in the same few places and realized the program wasn't working as they intended. The idea is to expand the amount of merchants that take Amex. That must have failed utterly. Either that or they realized the promotion wasn't cost effective anymore. What's Q.E.D?

          • I use QED in a way to convey, the case is closed, or elementary my dear Watson = The facts speak for themselves and this is the answer.

            Notwithstanding others who wish to blame Darius from MMS or other bloggers for this one, the blame lays squarely with these goniffs and nowhere else.

            Having read their denials trying to assuage their guilt is laughable. Dan, himself, is of the opinion that the program just was not working, or it ran its course, and there was no need to repeat it.

            Don't you believe their pathetic excuses. It was working until it was abused up the wazoo by these folks.

            Although in no way scientific, and with a small sample size, the following from his own web site is illustrative:

            http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=55935.msg1273871#msg1273871

            Of the 33 people who can be said to have perhaps truthfully responded (I removed the 2 sets of 2 as outliers), 30 people who were gearing up for this year's SBS had MORE THAN 10 CARDS!!!

            Only 3 people who responded had somewhere between 1 - 10 cards!!!

            Now, yes, it is a small unscientific sample -- on the other hand, it shows that people were truly gearing up for a repeat, and then some building upon last year's killing.

            Glad that their piggishness was foiled, but AMEX threw the baby out with the bath water on this one, as I and others were ensnared by their piggishness and we, too, will not be able to partake of this promotion.

            As to people using the card to pay off a pre-existing debt, inasmuch as this is a small insular community, it is not surprising that some small shop owners extend credit to their customers -- this is something you just don't see anymore from chain stores, but was a common enough business practice in the last century and in small towns.

            Those people will still have to pay off their debts, but the small shop owner who may have been looking towards reimbursement from AMEX in November for some of those debts, will simply request that their customer satisfy the debt in some other form of payment, either by check or some other credit card payment, that's all.

            I doubt very much that those who were anticipating this manna from AMEX will be hit with additional interest charges from their debtors.

  • Horace,

    I’m not into reselling either. Sometimes I just read an article out of curiosity. I'm just curious about something you wrote. You wrote that you load NW Buxx cards. Do you list yourself or other adults as your "teens" like so many others seem to do? If so, how is that not unethical in your opinion?

    • @Eric -- Simple, because I have individuals who qualify as teens in my household.

      In addition, if one answers truthfully, as I understand it, one can list themselves as a Teen without any ramifications.

      Whether anyone who does that, or not, it is there business, but certainly if they work within the guidelines and are honest with the issuer there should be no problem. The problem results when what is permissible get totally out of hand and is gamed to the detriment of everyone else who is a card member.

      As I have stressed above, working within the system and its rules but not going hog wild is not going to ruin it for anyone. However, if you and your compatriots make a pig of yourselves, then you may ruin it not only for yourself, but for others, as well.

      Last year, I took my three AMEX cards and went to various small merchants and bought some food and other comestibles. With each transaction I admittedly tried to make it within a couple of dollars of the initial $10.00 threshold so that I bought some items with essentially a $10.00 discount. However, AMEX and the small business owner earned some additional income from my purchases. In addition, my purchases were individual transactions and were not aggregated which certainly violated the spirit, if not the rules of the program -- I don't have a copy of them to refer to, but if AMEX's intention was to aggregate the $10.00 thrice, then they would have permitted you a threshold credit of $30.00 -- that they did not, speaks volumes about their intention.

      In the above highlighted cases, AMEX earned nothing from the transaction -- and I don't buy into the hypocritical argument that their fees are so much higher than Visa/MC, etc. so this is a justification for doing what so many people did -- for although AMEX may have set aside some funding for the program, they certainly expected to see some increased business from it, as well, and not a possible wholesale loss. At least the way I did it, they did see some dollar gains from my individual purchases, and so did the small business owner -- and this was new business, not paying off a preexisting debt as was reported in those articles.

      Not only that, but I continued to patronize those small business owners over the course of this year -- and use my AMEX and other charge cards.

      Now, the entire program is at an end, because some people just could not restrain themselves and sought to game the system -- into extinction.

      • The part about NW Buxx that I have a tough time with is how can listing yourself (or your spouse) as your "teen" be answering honestly? Someone told me this is because there is no actual definition of "teen". Do you feel the same way? As for SBS I think Amex is somewhat to blame in how these people abused the system. Why does Amex allow people to list themselves as authorized users? Even more ridiculous why does Amex allow authorized users to get access to Amex Offers and SBS (in the past)? Don't you agree they should only allow the primary cardholder to enjoy these benefits? Don't think I am letting the abusers off the hook. I think it's disgusting how some people behave. I read the article you linked to and it was pretty sickening. You said that people paid off their old debts with their Amex cards. How was that allowed? I've never heard of being able to pay a bill with a credit card.

      • I get your point completely about the difference between maximizing taking advantage of offers the way they're intended to incentivize people vs. taking deliberate extreme actions in a way as to maximize profit to the point that it takes from everyone else. It's like walking up to a bowl of free candy and dumping the whole thing in your pockets. People would feel awfully ashamed if someone saw them do that, so why do they feel credit cards and promotions are any different? Easy, because banks are cold blooded bureaucratic money printing machines and most anyone who has ever dealt with them understands how callous they generally are towards their customers when they know that have them in a compromised position, especially those with less wealth. That said, on the topic of ruining a deal for my fellow man, I'd tear my hair out if I tried to think about others every time I grabbed a deal first. I have no interest in pushing and shoving people to get to the front of the line, but the virtue of first come, first serve doesn't weigh me down with guilt.

        Frankly, I disassociate my actions towards big business, credit card companies and banks completely from who I am as a person. I am sharing, generous, and giving, including to businesses that clearly have a soul. Banks and large corporations will never see any aspect of this generosity or sympathy because I know their intentions are as fundamentally numb and maligned as mine could ever be representing the consumer side. SBS was a marketing scheme meant to pressure small business into accepting amex for fear of being left out. The new program born in its place frankly seems less maligned than the old even if it doesn't benefit cardholders directly.

        And for the record, I didn't partake in SBS last year because those businesses usually have a soul and I didn't want to taint the recognition of that with some schemey amex promotion. Good riddance SBS.

        • Parkerthon --

          I am quite a bit less cynical than you -- but with the years, I have become much more so!!

          Even so, whatever the reason for AMEX's seeming generosity, the withdrawal of this offer comes on the heals of the pigs at the trough.

          I'm sorry, but when I read that Oren had "an arsenal" of AMEX cards already set up to take advantage of the expected repeat of this offer this year supposedly along the line's of last year's offering (at least that was the expectation), it does not take a rocket scientist to know that one was skating on thin ice.

          http://www.orensmoneysaver.com/2015/09/great-posts-from-around-web_30.html

          I'll give him some credit though -- at least he has written about the demise of this promotion -- albeit in a very oblique way on his blog. Neither he or Dan of Dan's Deals even has the cajones to advise their respective readers of this change and it has been more than a week since the announcement. And the harvest festival of Succoth has not prevented either of them from writing of other deals since this became common knowledge.

          I am sure that either of them excuse their late reporting of this matter by indicating that they were trying to verify the accounts of SBS' demise or some such thing before laying the boom on their readership, some of whom certainly caused this change. Fortunately, I previously have pointed out that not all of Dan's readers are such goniffs, as some of the more level headed and morally upright of his posters on his blog, took a courageous stance as compared to most who seem to populate his blog.

  • I thought you had to provide a SSN for Amex AU cards. If so, how does one provide 50 fictitious socials? or maybe I'm thinking of other issuers who require a social for an AU card.

    • You don't.

      He gamed that out, as well.

      If you called in -- instead of filling it out online, you were able to get around that restriction.

      Q: Do I need to give a social to add an additional user?
      A: To add it online, yes.
      To add it over the phone you can say that you don’t have the information handy and most reps will allow you to open it.

      http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/55429

      • Excuse me, but Amex could easily limit the number of card users to "1" . Instead of signing up your cards for the SBS event, they could just offer it via their website to the primary card member.

        They could offer a $10 credit for spending $20 or more, they could disallow gift card sales, they could do a lot of things.

        Personally, I think it's a cost-cutting thing.

        Too bad, I liked the promo. I think last's year's promotion ($10 x 3 for each card) was a bit too generous. Maybe they are cutting it out to make up for the loss they took last year.

        Personally, I think they should have just not done the Small Business Saturday promo at all. I find it annoying that there are no credits after using this feature for three years in a row.

        OTOH, at least I won't have to be running around the stores the day after Black Friday. I won't be buying anything on Nov. 28th.

        Thanks. Amex.

        • What you write about limiting seems to make sense but I'm not an IT guy in their corporate organization, so I won't be jumping to any conclusions as to how easy or not easy they could have made a fix.

          In addition, they also could have just as easily said to hell with those who game the system of $10 once for a statement credit and could have concluded that it was simply too onerous for them to offer any other variant of same -- I don't know but I certainly could see them getting steamed as to how this was abused last year -- and make no mistake about it, notwithstanding the hypocritical comments of a rabbi and others who condoned this piggish behavior that ruined it for everyone, it certainly was not AMEX's intention to give free $10 credits to those who may have had an outstanding bill at a small business which was highlighted in one of the articles posted above -- this was for purchasing new items, not paying off old debts.

          Nothing amazes me anymore except perhaps the gall of some people to condone unethical behavior.

          • @ERIC -- I had not as I don't resell and don't even do traditional MS -- just load SERVE and NW Buxx cards, that's all -- by inclination, temperament and also where I live -- from what I understand from reading these blogs, it is quite difficult. Chacun a son gout, however.

            You aren't going to change some minds -- that is what I have learned on these boards. I will note that Carlos seems to draw some lines, but not others.

            In any event, you know the old saying " A fool and his money...."

            Well, some of those who read these comments quite possibly will be ensnared by these schemes and can be blacklisted from the store, from the credit card issuer, etc.

            If they don't have enough sense not to see that easy $$ isn't always all that easy or that ethical in obtaining, then unfortunately us "scolds" are not going to make them see sense.

            I like reading the FT "shutdown" threads about people who only churned "a little" or MS "a little" -- their words not mine -- and got blacklisted/banned by the card issuers, etc.

            Then they complain as if they are the most innocent victims of this thing... Ridiculous.

            Only more ridiculous are those who justify unethical behavior by observing that the banks -- insert your noun -- are doing it as well.

            Didn't your mother ever tell you two wrongs don't make a right -- or it right?

            I sleep peacefully at night knowing that I extract value from my transactions and that I have learned a great deal from this and other blogs on getting good deals... However, my moral compass seems to be set differently than many who post here -- or that others who feel like I do are simply intimidated to post a somewhat contrary view here. I understand that.

            Like I said, pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered and if anyone seriously thinks that the above behavior that I and others have highlighted had no connection with AMEX completely abrogating the statement credits posting to your AMEX accounts, they are either living on MARS or in denial, or both.

            In any event, all I know is that the pigs fed at the trough last year and this year there was no repeat of the offer.

  • READ THE FOLLOWING POSTS:

    52, 53, 59, 73, 76, 82 (100 people in line), 89, 95, 108, 114, 120 (huge lines of people gaming the system), 130, 140, 148, 151, 161,163, 172, 173, 175, 181, 201, 205, 209 - 212 and Dan's reply in 214, 220, 223, 224,

    And, if you thought that it certain merchants were not in on this, re-read Posts 59 and 251, 254, 261, 262, 271

    http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/56596

    Thank goodness there were posts by some people such as 226 and 235 to show that some readers of his blog -- but not the blogger himself -- believed that some restraint was a necessity.

    PIGS GET FAT, HOGS GET SLAUGHTERED.

  • ppl gamed the crap out of AMEX checkout promo earlier in the summer. untold amounts of new AUs were registered etc. this promo ended about a month ago, and now that the nunbers are in - you think anyone is surprised AMEX noticed that kinda uptick in gamey behavior and decided hmm this doesn't really seem like a good idea or the kinda shenanigans we wanna encourage or attract going forward.

    and thus the next upcoming promo, SBS, has already been addressed by this clause change and become a casuality of the numerous threads, blogposts, reddit posts and twitter tomfoolery that went on a big enough and noticeable scale for these changes to come thru. ppl always think AMEX aint paying attn, THEY ARE! as a data-centric company that is full of analysts, this is part of their job to see how well "promos" work out. there are limits to AMEXs generosity.

    • I'm sure Amex is paying attention, but saying that the number of people sharing, piling on, and exploiting these deals is enough to move the needle on their ROI analysis is pure speculation. They have to know by now this comes with the territory anytime an incentive is dangled in front of card holders and frankly they haven't been tightening Amex Offers so I think us deal chasers aren't making enough of an impact to outweigh the benefits yet. I speculate that more likely the issue was the promotion didn't change their market penetration enough by convincing small business to start accepting Amex. It would seem this new promo is changing tact by being less about a customer tour de force and more of a marketing investment targeting the communities to build a positive image of the Amex brand. If nothing else, marketing departments will change tactics to see what works and what doesn't simply for the sake of understanding their market better so it could be just that.

      • "I’m sure Amex is paying attention, but saying that the number of people sharing, piling on, and exploiting these deals is enough to move the needle on their ROI analysis is pure speculation. They have to know by now this comes with the territory anytime an incentive is dangled in front of card holders and frankly they haven’t been tightening Amex Offers so I think us deal chasers aren’t making enough of an impact to outweigh the benefits yet."

        So, Adam's comment is a speculation, but what you say is the bottom line? Really?

      • DISAGREE.

        Adam is correct -- just didn't see his post before I posted above.

        3 statement credits of $10.00 on one card did not kill this.

        Nor did another 3 statement credits of $10.00 on another AU card -- presumably your spouse's kill this.

        However, 50 AU on just one of your AMEX cards --- and you have another 10 AMEX cards in your name alone -- not to mention your spouse has cards in her name -- and you all had another 50 AU on EACH OF THOSE CARDS.

        NOW, THAT IS WHAT KILLED SBS.

        Interesting to note that DAN'S DEALS is curiously silent about the change in SBS terms.

        I wonder why???

        • Interesting, I had no idea people bragged about going to this extreme but frankly I'd take everything the internet talks about with a grain of salt. It'd be fantastically easy from a simple reporting perspective to shut those folks down. Seriously, I've heard without personally knowing of course that Amex puts high AU accounts under manual review which is a wonderful way to burn that relationship. If that's all poppycock and Amex doesn't red flag someone with 50 AU's, there's a problem that'd be easily fixable compared with shutting down SBS. Alas, I am probably giving Amex too much credit with their ability of having one hand know what the other is doing.

          • Wow Horace, I literally laughed out loud at the pictures in that link. That's so wrong on a number of different levels. Unbelievable and great share.Thank you.

          • No doubt there are braggarts, BUT, when you read enough posts about a certain thing, then it reaches critical mass and it is sufficient for yours truly to give it more credence than a grain of truth.

            For instance, the number of reports listed below, wherein some person said they had 10 cards -- which were each swiped 3 times -- but that another person in their long line had 40 cards!

            Further, what about the reports from observers that certain merchants had set up credit card swiping stations or taking pre-orders to swipe charges. That beggars belief but has the ring of truth and in no way does that poster brag about their own purchases!

            Nope, people pigged out big time.

        • You do realize that Amex limited the amount of cards they allowed to signup right? Therefore, they knew beforehand how much money they would lose. I completely agree with you that AUs shouldn't be allowed to get these offers but it seems that Amex wasn't seeing enough benefits to justify continuing it.

    • everyone from the little guy to Amex is going to do what they think is best for them. For Amex it's not about being "generous" it's about what's best for their LONG TERM bottom line. Amex ultimately decided that the return on their investment of giving out credits on small business saturday wasn't good enough and cancelled.

  • @noturbizniss,
    exactly, also this promo will hurt small businesses, they are at the top of this list. The millions spent by Amex cardholders helped these businesses. Some marketing materials from Amex and a "let's go get 'em partner" rah rah pep talk won't bring in many new customers. Sorry. Amex already blew it with Costco. Who's running things over there?

    • @Kent C, while i had many amex cards last year, all the stores i went in were brimming with people who had between 1 and 5 cards and made a special trip out to shop small. 99% of those people will not go out. I know many stores normally not open on saturday that specifically opened for SBS and will not even bother opening now. Amex is usually great with this stuff, but they really swung and missed here.

  • Seriously folks? You think merchants complained about split transactions when they had people streaming in the door spending money they otherwise would not have? You have to be kidding!

  • Im sure merchants sent in thousands of complaints Last year about people doing split payments several times. Doing $10 3x was a hassle for consumer and the business. I would have been happier getting 1-$25 credit per card. Really sucks as I was gearing up good this year ????

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