American Express Goes After Self Referrals Again
Self referrals with American Express are not a good idea. Back in 2019 when it became possible to refer to any Amex card, even if you didn’t have the card yourself, the possibility opened up for self referrals. This didn’t seem a good idea right away. That proved true when American Express clawed back referral bonuses that were earned through self referrals, and later blocked people who had referred themselves from generating referral links.
However, since then, those who were originally blocked from referrals, were able to start referring again. This was possible through new American Express cards and even existing accounts when the credit card number was changed (when you receive a replacement card).
But now American Express is once again removing the ability to generate referrals for people that were originally banned due to self referrals. There are several data points in the last couple of days on reddit that points to the new ban. So if you were impacted by this back in 2019, you should check your accounts. If you can no longer refer, then your existing referral links are no longer valid either.
If you are able to refer, then currently American Express has improved referral bonuses with an additional 4X points at select home improvement stores.
HT: r/churning
