American Express Cash Magnet Card review: Straightforward, but lackluster cash-back rewards
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BLUEPRINT
Updated 4:20 p.m. ET July 16, 2023
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With the American Express Cash Magnet® Card * The information for the American Express Cash Magnet® Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. (terms apply), you earn an unlimited flat rate of 1.5% cash back, but why bother when there are plenty of other cards that earn a flat 2% cash back?
About the American Express Cash Magnet Card
Sometimes the best things in life are simple. If you want to earn cash back on your credit card purchase — but don’t want to stress about remembering which card to use for which type of purchase or what your current bonus categories are — then you’ll appreciate the simplicity of the American Express Cash Magnet® Card (terms apply). This card provides a flat rate of 1.5% cash back on all purchases, making it easy to know exactly how much cash back you stand to earn whenever you use it.
The American Express Cash Magnet Card doesn’t have a lot of flashy perks, but the perks it does offer can really come in handy if you find yourself in a tight spot while traveling. Between secondary car rental loss and damage insurance¹ and access to a global assist hotline², if something goes wrong while traveling, you can likely find the support you need.
Although using this card is a simple, no-frills way to earn rewards on your spending, it’s hard to see the appeal when there are nearly a dozen similar cards on the market offering 2% cash back on all spending. Any of these would likely be a better choice for pure earning potential.
American Express Cash Magnet Card basics
- Annual fee: $0.
- Welcome bonus: Earn a $200 back (via statement credit) after spending $2,000 within the first six months of card membership.
- Rewards: 1.5% unlimited cash back on all purchases.
- APR: 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months from the date of account opening, followed by a variable APR of 19.24% to 29.99%. Balance transfers must be requested within 60 days of account opening and a balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater, applies.
- Perks and benefits: Car rental loss and damage insurance, global assist hotline, ShopRunner membership.
- Pre-approval tool: Yes.
- Recommended credit score: Good to excellent
American Express Cash Magnet Card other details
American Express Cash Magnet Card rewards
With the American Express Cash Magnet Card, you earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases with no limit to how much you can earn. If you have additional cardmembers on your account, whenever they make an eligible purchase, you’ll also earn cash back. Your cash-back rewards are distributed in the form of Rewards Dollars that you can redeem as a statement credit, with no minimum redemption amount. Terms apply.
You can earn additional cash back when you first open an American Express Cash Magnet Card by meeting the requirements for the welcome bonus. You can earn $200 back (via statement credit) after spending $2,000 within the first six months of card membership.
American Express Cash Magnet rewards potential
Using government data and other publicly available information, we estimate that a household in the U.S. that would be in the market for this card has an annual income of $84,352 and $25,087 in expenses they are likely to be able to charge to a credit card. If someone were to spend $25,087 using the American Express Cash Magnet Card, they would earn about $376.31 per year in cash back rewards thanks to the 1.5% cash-back rate.
American Express Cash Magnet APR
After opening an American Express Cash Magnet Card, you’ll get 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months from the date of account opening, followed by a variable APR of 19.24% to 29.99%. Balance transfers must be requested within 60 days of account opening and a balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater, applies.
American Express Cash Magnet Card pros
- Earn rewards: You’ll get an unlimited 1.5% back on your purchases.
- Auto rental insurance coverage: Secondary car rental loss and damage insurance (up to $75,000 for theft or damage to most rental vehicles) when you use the American Express Cash Magnet Card to pay for the rental vehicle and decline the rental company’s coverage at the counter. This product provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered. Geographic restrictions apply.
- Low intro APR offer: You can save money on interest with the card’s introductory offer.
- Access to Amex perks: As an American Express card, you’ll get perks including Global Assist Hotline referrals, American Express Experiences and complimentary ShopRunner membership.
American Express Cash Magnet Card cons
- Lack of rewards flexibility: With this card, earnings can be redeemed for cash back in the form of statement credits. Some American Express cards earn Membership Rewards points, which can be used to book travel or transferred to airline and hotel partners.
- No bonus spending categories: This limits your opportunity to earn more lucrative rewards in areas where you spend the most. For example, some credit cards offer elevated rates for categories such as grocery stores, restaurants or gas stations.
- Other flat-rate cash-back cards earn more: There are multiple cards available that earn a flat rate of 2% on all your spending, making this card a lesser choice.
- There’s a foreign transaction fee: Whenever you make an international purchase, you will pay a fee of 2.7% of the purchase amount.
How the American Express Cash Magnet Card compares to other rewards cards
American Express Cash Magnet Card vs. Chase Freedom Flex℠ * The information for the Chase Freedom Flex℠ has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Unlike the American Express Cash Magnet Card, the no-annual-fee Chase Freedom Flex doesn’t offer a flat-rate back on all categories. Instead, the Freedom Flex earns 5% cash back (when you activate) on up to $1,500 in categories that rotate quarterly, then 1%. You can also earn 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3% cash back at drugstores, 3% cash-back on dining and 1% on all other purchases. This is a more complex rewards structure, but some may find it to be more lucrative.
American Express Cash Magnet Card vs. Citi® Double Cash Card * The information for the Citi® Double Cash Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The Citi® Double Cash Card * The information for the Citi® Double Cash Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. is also a flat-rate cash back card like the American Express Cash Magnet Card, but it earns up to an unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases — 1% when purchases are made and another 1% when they’re paid off. This card also has a 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months. After that, the standard variable APR will be 19.24% to 29.24%. An intro balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3%, whichever is greater, applies to transfers completed in the first 4 months. After that, the fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5).
American Express Cash Magnet Card vs. American Express® Gold Card
One area where the American Express Cash Magnet Card falls short is in regard to travel benefits. In exchange for an annual fee of $250, the American Express® Gold Card (terms apply) offers much more lucrative travel rewards and perks, earning 4 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on dining worldwide, 4 points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 in purchases per year (then 1 point per dollar), 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com and 1 point per dollar on all other spending.
The card also has no foreign transaction fees and comes with a $10 monthly dining statement credit up to a total of $120 annually when you use your card at participating vendors and an up to $120 Uber Cash credit each year as well (enrollment required).
Should you get the American Express Cash Magnet Card?
Since the American Express Cash Magnet Card doesn’t charge an annual fee, this card is an OK option for anyone looking to earn cash-back rewards. The card’s simple earning structure is also appealing as you can use the card for any purchase and earn the same rewards rate.
However, you can get the same simplicity with a card that earns 2% cash back, making the American Express Cash Magnet Card fall flat by comparison. Or, you may find that a credit card that comes with more perks, such as flexible rewards, travel transfer partners and no foreign transaction fees offers more value for your needs.
American Express Cash Magnet Card summary
¹Eligibility and Benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
²Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Card Members are responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers.
When you earn cash-back rewards with the American Express Cash Magnet Card, you don’t have to worry about hitting a minimum redemption amount. You can redeem the reward dollars you’ve earned for statement credits at any point.
There is no annual fee for the American Express Cash Magnet Card, but there is a balance transfer fee of the greater of $5 or 3% of the balance transfer amount. There is also a cash advance fee of the greater of $10 or 5% of the amount of the cash advance.
If you make a purchase in another country, you will pay a 2.7% foreign transaction fee. You also have to keep an eye out for penalty fees, including late payment and returned payment fees of up to $40 each.
The Pay It Plan It feature makes it possible for you to choose how you pay off your balance. You can choose to make smaller payments throughout the month for purchases under $100 using the American Express app (Pay It®) or can choose to split up purchases of $100 or more into smaller monthly payments with a fixed monthly fee (Plan It®).
While you can use this feature if it makes it easier for you to budget your payments, note that you don’t have to—if you prefer to simply pay your card balance off in full on a monthly or even weekly basis, you can do that rather than opting for the Pay It Plan It route.
Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.
