Unexpected Cashback Showing Up in  American Express Accounts

If you have an American Express credit card that earns cashback, check your accounts for hundreds in unexpected cash that might have been added in recent days.  I noticed this in my American Express Cash Magnet® Card account. I haven’t used the card in months and had less than a $40 Reward Dollars Balance. Then, in the last couple of days that balance jumped close to about $565.

This was around the same time that American Express introduced the new promotion for referral, where you can earn an extra 3% or 3X points on all spend for three months. I received several referral bonuses on this card which total to around $525. That is about the same amount that I received in unexpected Reward Dollars. Maybe the switch to the new referral system has created some kind of glitch that it applying referral bonuses as statements credits and as cashback.

This is happening for American Express cards that earn cashback only as far as I have seen. Membership Rewards earning credit cards and co-branded cards are not showing any extra points.

I tried applying some of the cashback to my balance, expecting a possible error. But it was applied as normal after a couple of days.

Similar data points were also reported on reddit. Some are suggesting that American Express is retroactively applying the extra 3% from referrals to recent charges. But in my case, I haven’t spend enough on my card since I first got it, to earn $525 in rewards.

Guru’s Wrap-up

For non-bonused spending, I usually use my Amex Blue Business Plus card that earns 2X everywhere. But with the extra 3% in earning after referring someone, my American Express Cash Magnet card seems like a good option to possibly earn a total of 4.5% cash back. Business cards are not eligible for the extra 3% or 3X referral promotion. There’s definitely other cards that can do much better for select categories.

But, as I was checking my account for the extra 3% cash back, I saw hundreds in unexpected cash that most definitely were given to me in error. Check your accounts, especially those where you might have received recent referrals. Let me know if you see any additional rewards or cashback. These seem to be issued in error and I expect American Express to fix this soon.