Amex Spending More on Rewards, And It’s Paying Off with Platinum Customers

American Express has reported a bigger-than-expected increase in costs as the credit-card giant spent heavily on rewards and other perks to retain current customers and attract new ones. The  move it is paying off after it added a record number of U.S. consumers to its Platinum card.

American Express recently revamped its popular Platinum card last year by adding statement credits for non related activities such as entertainment products and high-end fitness clubs. The annual fee was also increased to $695. That resulted in a 34% jump in expenses for the first three months of the year to $9.1 billion, which was higher than the expected $8.85 billion, Bloomberg reports.

The increased spending makes sense as American Express has launched some big welcome bonuses recently. We have seen offers as high as 150,000 Membership Rewards points for the consumer Platinum card. Referral bonuses are also at an all time high, with many cardholders earning as much as 30,000 points for every person they refer. And last but not least, we have also seen some tremendous retention offers for the Amex Platinum card. Some cardholders are offered a full annual fee refund with no spending requirement and many other get 50,000 Membership Rewards points.