Amex Small Business Saturday credit

[calmloki]

Last year every Amex card passed out statement credits that resulted in a bunch of free steaks and booze at our house. This year I have our Amex cards piled up and waiting, and then learn.....

Is there an American Express Statement Credit for Card Members for Small Business Saturday This Year?
As in years past, American Express will continue to drive awareness of Small Business Saturday and encourage consumers to shop small through local and national advertising.
This year we are not offering a statement credit offer for Card Members on Small Business Saturday, but are instead increasing the support and resources we provide to help small business owners market the day within their communities and truly make it their own. Learn about the materials we make available at ShopSmall.com/GetReady:

• Customizable marketing materials
• Free online ads
• Shop Small merchandise kits (while supplies last) Educational event guides

We are also significantly expanding our grassroots advocacy efforts, such as the Neighborhood Champion program, to facilitate more community events and activities to engage local communities to shop small on Small Business Saturday.




yay.

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[GTFan]

Way too many bloggers getting people to use their Amex only for SBS. Lots of folks got authorized user cards just for this purpose.

 

[bclover]

Way too many bloggers getting people to use their Amex only for SBS. Lots of folks got authorized user cards just for this purpose.

but why would that be a bad thing. You have to make a purchase to get the statement credit and it definitely got me out of the malls and discovery local specialty stores and restaurants in my neighborhood.

I will be disappointed if they discontinue it.

I would think a small business would prefer more customers than marketing material any day

 

[GTFan]

Because Amex found, I'm sure, that most of these folks were only doing SBS with these extra cards so the marketing money was wasted on them.

What you say makes sense but Amex has all the data and it obviously wasn't the case that folks returned to these same businesses, at least not on a large enough basis to make it worth all the money they spent on credits.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I wonder how much that SBS program cost Amex--did any other CC company do it? Do merchants still have to pay a little more for Amex sales? Maybe they had to kick in for part of the credit and didn't want to have those transactions.

 

[athena53]

We always took advantage of the SBS credits but found two business that were on Amex' list of business that accepted the card, but actually did not. Both said that Amex wasn't very small-business friendly. I'd heard that from others, and generally use my Visa for smaller businesses so they're not stuck with Amex' rates.


I can't imagine getting an American Express card just for SBS- most carry an annual fee so you'd have to go to a lot of stores to come out ahead.