Credit Card News
Rakuten Credit Card Announces Upcoming Improvements
Nearly one year after Rakuten launched a rewards credit card, the company has announced some small improvements to the product.
About the Updates to the Rakuten Card:
As reported by Doctor of Credit, the Rakuten American Express Card is scheduled to receive some updates. When the card debuted in July 2025, the 4% cash back on Rakuten purchases category was capped at a total of $7,000 per year. Now, that cap is being raised to $10,000 — a more than 40% increase.
This update will officially be effective as of July 15th. Moreover, Rakuten notes that cardholders who previously reached the $7,000 limit will be able to continue earning 4% up to the new cap after that date.
In addition to that tweak, the card is adding a $100 referral bonus for card members. That’s an increase from the previous $50 bonus. According to Rakuten’s terms, cardholders could earn $500 in referral bonuses per calendar year — although it’s unclear if this will also be adjusted with the per-person bonus.
More on the Rakuten Card:
With the Rakuten American Express Card, customers can earn bonus cashback on their Rakuten purchases. As mentioned, cardholders earn an additional 4% on the stated cashback rates (up to the new $10,000 per year in purchases cap). For example, if a retailer is offering 11% back through Rakuten, cardholders would earn a total of 15% back. Plus, cardmembers earn an addition an additional 5% back on Rakuten Dining, for a total of 10% back.
With the Rakuten Card, customers can also earn in everyday spending categories. Specifically, it earns 2% back on groceries and 2% back on dining. All other purchases earn 1% back.
The Rakuten American Express Card is issued by First Electronic Bank and powered by Imprint. It currently has no annual fee.
As of this writing, the card is offering a welcome bonus of $100 back after spending at least $1,000 within the first 90 days. However, we have seen offers of double that pop up for limited periods of time.
My Thoughts:
I don’t know how many people were maxing out the 4% category on this card previously, but it’s nice to see Rakuten adjusting this cap upwards. The increased referral bonus could also be beneficial for cardholders… although the limited-time nature of the card’s best welcome bonuses means that members will probably need to sell their friends on the idea of the card and then have them wait for the perfect time to strike.
As for me, while I do still think this is an interesting card, I don’t shop on Rakuten enough to truly make it worth it. But, if you do a ton of shopping on the platform, then this newly improved (or, technically, soon-to-be-improved) card could be great for you.
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