American Express SimplyCash Preferred Card Increased Cash Back

I am excited to find out that the American Express SimplyCash Preferred Card has made a significant change to its cash back earning ratio.

Below are the current highlights of the credit card:

• $99 annual fee
• No annual fee for a supplementary cardholder
• Earn $200 cash back for every approved referral (up to 15 referrals or $3,000 per calendar year)
• Earn 5% Welcome bonus cash back on all purchases for the first 6 months (up to $6,000 in purchases or $300 cash back)
• Earn 2% cash back on all other purchases and when the Welcome 5% ends

Annual Fee

When this card first came out, it only had a $79 annual fee. It has since been increased to $99 instead.

Welcome Bonus

Previously, the 5% Welcome bonus was for up to $400 cash back (or $8,000 in spending). This has been decreased to $300 cash back. This devaluation has been offset by increasing the earning ratios below.

Earning Ratio

Previously, the earning ratios looked like this:

• Earn 1.5% cash back after your first 6 months (on the first $100,000 annual purchases)
• Earn 1.25% cash back thereafter (on purchases above $100,000 in annual purchases)

Now you just get 2% cash back on all purchases after the Welcome bonus ends, which is actually a much better deal.

Conclusion

I would have preferred to see a lower annual fee, but I am at least glad that they increased the earning ratio to better justify the annual fee.

If you prefer, you can always go for the no annual fee version: American Express SimplyCash Card.