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Rakuten Launches Rakuten American Express Card with Imprint
Rakuten is re-introducing a rewards credit card — this time, partnering with American Express, Imprint, and First Electronic Bank.
About the Rakuten American Express Card:
Today, Rakuten launched the Rakuten American Express Card. This latest card is powered by Imprint, issued by First Electronic Bank, and will operate on the Amex payment network. It will also allow cardholders to earn bonus cashback at the more than 3,500 retailers featured on the Rakuten platform.
With the Rakuten Card, members can earn an extra 4% Cash Back on Rakuten purchases — meaning that, if they shop an offer for 11% back and use their Rakuten Card to pay, they’d earn a total of 15%. This bonus applies to both in-store and online Rakuten purchases. However, the 4% is capped at a total of $7,000 in spending per year. Once that threshold is reached, cardholders will only earn an additional 1% of Rakuten purchases going forward.
Beyond that, the card also earns an extra 5% on Rakuten Dining purchases (for a total of 10% back). In terms of everyday spending, the Rakuten American Express Card earns 2x on groceries, 2x at restaurants, and 1x on all other purchases.
To mark the debut of the new card, Rakuten is offering a bonus to members who apply for and are approved for the card. Currently, new cardholders can earn $25 when they spend at least $500 on the card within their first 90 days.
The Rakuten American Express Card has no annual fee. Members can also choose between two card colors: grey or purple.
Previously, Rakuten offered a rewards credit card via Synchrony. That version was a Visa and featured an extra 3% on all Rakuten purchases (with no cap).
What They’re Saying:
Announcing the new product, Rakuten’s CEO and President Amit Patel said, “The Rakuten Card offers our members a new and rewarding way to shop and earn. The Card combines the power of Rakuten’s Cash Back and rewards program with Imprint’s advanced technology and the unique benefits of the American Express network to bring even more value to our members.”
Meanwhile, Imprint CEO Daragh Murphy said of the offering, “In today’s market, we know that the most sought-after financial products are those that are truly digital-and customer-first. We’re proud to partner with Rakuten to deliver a best-in-class, intuitive cardholder experience with exceptional rewards opportunities.”
My Thoughts:
My biggest question with the Rakuten American Express Card is whether customers could actually be earning Membership Rewards points with the card. Since Rakuten does give customers the ability to opt into earning MR instead of regular cashback, in theory, those who have this feature toggled on would earn 4x points on Rakuten purchases (up to the cap) in addition to the other purchase categories. That could prove to be a pretty impactful deal depending on how much you’re using Rakuten. Meanwhile, the 5x Rakuten Dining could also be useful for those with other Amex cards, and the 2x on groceries would be beneficial to Green Card and Platinum Card members.
Considering that Rakuten only recently updated its user interface to finally show offers in terms of points for those earning MR, I strongly feel as though this “trick” must be possible — but I don’t have hard confirmation of it just yet. And, while I’m curious, I don’t think I do enough online shopping to truly make this card worth it for me. Plus, there’s the matter of having to wait for your quarterly point transfers that I imagine most will find unappealing. Still, this updated Rakuten card could certainly be powerful in the right wallet.
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