American Express Platinum Name Card.
Courtesy: American Express
On Thursday, American Express announced its flagship credit card renewal amid growing industry competition over high spenders across the country.
The company said the consumer and business version of the updated Platinum Card has a current fee of about 29% higher than $695 and an annual fee of $895.
However, according to American Express, consumers can now tap $3,500 in annual benefits. This is more than twice the previous level in the form of credits that offset purchases made primarily with the card.
The perks include credits with enhanced benefits from Uber, Lululemon, Oura, Resy restaurant reservation platform, and hotel and streaming, the card issuer said. Business card users will also see annual benefits of $3,500 per year, including new hotel credits and offsets for purchases with Dell Technologies and Adobe.
These add to the existing benefits of the cards, and none of them are rewinded, said Howard Grossfield, president of American Consumer Services at American Express.
The American Express announcement highlights a kind of arms race when it comes to dealing with wealthy US consumers. Over the past few months, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup have released updates or new premium cards.
In particular, American Express and JPMorgan each announced their rivals within one day of their updated premium cards being announced. American Express touted its biggest investment in Card Refresh in June just before JPMorgan released its latest Sapphire Reserve Card, but JPMorgan announced improvements to its card’s hotel perks on Wednesday.
Card issuers have banked the bank to the fact that wealthy Americans are driving an ever-increasing share of the country’s overall spending. According to Moody’s analysis, consumers with top 10% income account for about half of their second quarter total spending, accounting as the highest level in over 30 years.
Unlocking perks
However, rising card membership costs have led some users to downgrade to a lower tier version or explore more affordable products from Capital One or Citigroup, senior bank rate analyst Ted Rossman told CNBC in June.
Some customers on online forums, including Reddit, lamented what they call the “coupon book” approach, where users must use their cards enthusiastically to maximize perks.
While the Platinum Card perks require online registration, such as a $400 meal credit via Resy or $300 Lululemon credit, American Express said the new app feature for Platinum users will make it easier to set up and use benefits.
“We spent a huge amount of time, making it as easy as card members can understand, access and most importantly unlock all these great benefits,” Grossfield told CNBC in an interview.
Existing customers with consumer platinum cards said they have a higher annual salary on the new date of renewal since January 2nd.
