Deal has ended, view more American Express deals by clicking here.
Update 7/16/23: There’s a new targeted offer for 50,000 points with the same requirements. The older offer for 30,000 is still around at this link and is possibly publicly available.
Update 5/24/23: Deal is back through December 31st. There’s now a public landing page. Hopefully this offer now works for everyone, let us know. (ht Thomas)
The Offer
American Express business cardholders – check your emails for the following offer (subject: Welcome offer enclosed. <your name>, American Express Global Pay is now available)
- Earn 30,000 Membership Rewards points after you make at least $5,000 equivalent of foreign exchange payments within 90 days of being approved for American Express Global Pay.
- You’ll also get 1 point per $30 sent on an ongoing basis.
The Fine Print
- You can earn 30,000 Membership Rewards points after you make at least $5,000 equivalent of foreign exchange payments within 90 days of being approved for American Express Global Pay. To be eligible for this offer, your application for American Express Global Pay must be received by December 31, 2022. This offer is only valid for foreign exchange payments for goods or services. It is not valid for same currency transactions (e.g., U.S. Dollar to U.S. Dollar). For example, if you order a payment in the amount of EURO 4,200 within 90 days of being approved for American Express Global Pay, and if we charge you USD $5,000 for those EUROS, then you will be eligible to receive the one-time bonus award of 30,000 points. This exchange rate is for illustration purposes only.
- American Express will award one (1) Membership Rewards point for every USD $30 equivalent of foreign exchange payments that your business sends using American Express Global Pay. The maximum award per payment is 4,000 Membership Rewards points. This offer is only valid for foreign exchange payments. It is not valid for same currency transactions (e.g. U.S. Dollar to U.S. Dollar), and it is not valid for any other products. For example, if you order a payment in the amount of EURO 10,000, and if we charge you USD $11,000 for those EUROS, then we will award 367 Membership Rewards points (11,000 divided by 30 = 367 points). This exchange rate is for illustration purposes only.
- In order to benefit from this offer, your business must first designate an existing American Express Card that is enrolled in the Membership Rewards program to which we will award the Membership Rewards points. The Card must be linked to the same User ID as your American Express Global Pay account. Once we award points to the Card Member’s Membership Rewards program, the Card Member decides how to redeem those points, not you. It is your responsibility as well as the designated Card Member’s responsibility, to find out if you are, or the designated Card Member is, liable for any federal, state or local taxes as a result of receiving or using points. You are also responsible for tax information reporting, if any, that is required in connection with the receipt or use of points by the designated Card Member.
- In order to benefit from this offer, your American Express Global Pay account and the designated American Express Card must be in good standing at all times, including the time of points fulfillment. No Membership Rewards points will be awarded for payments made through American Express Global Pay before we complete the processing of your request to designate an American Express Card to receive the points. In the event a designated American Express Card is canceled for any reason before we award the 30,000 bonus points, we may allow you to designate a different American Express Card to receive the bonus points. This offer cannot be combined with any other Membership Rewards related offer. If we find that you have abused this offer, we may cancel this offer and any points awarded pursuant to this offer.
Our Verdict
I got an email with this offer, not sure how widely it’s been sent out. The ongoing earn rate is probably dwarfed by the fees. The initial welcome bonus looks interesting, though. It looks like fees are waived for the first 90 days, so this might be an easy-ish way of netting 30,000+ Membership Rewards points if you have a foreign vendor to pay. Let us know how this works out, in practice, if you try.
View Comments (46)
In the fine print, the offer is not valid for the same currency transaction. What if I need to pay my vendor in USD? Should I select non-USD currency when initiating the transfer?
Got a targeted invite for the 50k , just to apply and get “not approved at this time”. My credit is excellent, a little money in business account so u sure why i was denied. Any thoughts??
For anybody waiting for their bonus, I called today because I hadn't gotten my points and was told they come through 90 days after the final payment. It doesn't say this anywhere in the T&C. Somehow I get the feeling I may have to fight them over this.
Approved. And I have access to my Global Pay account.
I talked to the rep on the phone. This is so new, I do not think the reps knew much. I asked if I can send money via IBAN and she had no idea what IBAN was.
Some things I noticed after logging into my account...
YES - You can send money via IBAN, SWIFT (maybe others).
When you send money, you have to put the 'business' full name + address + currency + country.
"Payments can only be sent during market opening hours: anytime between 3:00 pm (ET) Sunday and 4:45 pm (ET) Friday."
I can not see the fee's because the market is now closed, I will try again when it opens.
I received a targeted email for 50,000 points, but when logged in under "offers and benefits" it shows 30,000 points. I will message AmEx about this.
Have you received the bonus, Acid Bath? I got the same targeted offer and am considering whether it is worth it to send money to the international bank account.
@bp no I did not. I just checked. I received 0 points. I should have at least received a few points. However, I did send the $5k to myself, which they said you are not supposed to do. So I did not want to reach out to them and wanted to see if the points auto posted, which they did not. I may need to reach out to them. They did say on the phone this is a very new program, so I could just say I was testing it or something and see what happens.
I also signed up for 50k and in my account shows 30k. I guess I'll find out later, live chat wasn't helpful:
> I would like to inform you that Welcome bonus offer keeps on changing on all the cards and it can be more than your offer, or it can be less though. The offer which is applicable for your card depends on what offer was there when you applied your card.
I had Amex FX Payments for years. Amex would not transition my account. I had to apply for a new account. So, I did. Amex wanted me to grant it access to my IRS tax transcripts as a requirement. They didn't care that I had a pre-existing FX relationship. They simply wanted it. Go fish. I'll do my international payments via another platform.
targeted by email and login at biz account for 50k / $5000.
App by 8/31
In FAQ:
Can I use American Express Global Pay to make personal, family or household payments?
No. American Express Global Pay is for business payments only and may not be used for personal, family or household payments of any kind.
Not sure how it's enforced
Cam here to post the same targeted email.
@will @chucksithe
Thanks to you both, I'll add this
Do you know the fees (I.e. The spread)?
And is EUR payment sent by SEPA or intl wire? Sepa is free whole intl transfer can easily cost $50+.
There are many fintechs, which will automatically give you UK or EU bank account when opening. So it might work.
Not really sure how this works as well.
I have a foreign bank account and a AmEx Biz checking account, so I would like to take advantage of this.
It says "Global Pay is for *business* payments only and may not be used for personal, family or household payments of any kind."
However - it also says "Global Pay...allows you to send funds to the domestic or *international bank accounts* of your recipients."
All international bank accounts that I know of have an IBAN (International Bank Account Number).
I am assuming Global Pay would send money via the IBAN?
The question is, how would they know if it is a business or a personal account?
does it have to be a business international bank account?
That's the question. I don't think anyone knows?
@guest_1623506 Any update on your end? I'm in same boat as you. Wonder if can get this 30k somehow.
No. I did not do this. I would like to do it. I was waiting for some data points, but seems not many people are interested. Might need to do it alone to check it out.
I got an email for Global Pay with fees waived for 90 days but no offer of points.
I got the invitation 50,000 points for $5000 global payment. I do have business platinum card. Does it do hard pull for application? Can I send my sister in another country $5000? What is the fee?