American Express is spending its time away from new customer acquisition to make it more exciting for current customers to use their American Express Cards. A few weeks ago, they added another milestone reward on the Platinum Reserve Credit Card. Now, they are beefing up the fuel category on their flagship card in India, the Platinum Charge Card.

This could prove to be a very competitive move, given most credit cards in India do not offer any points earning on fuel as they have to pass through the entire amount to the fuel company/pump and hence no margins for them in the first place.

American Express to offer 5X rewards on Fuel Spends on Platinum Card.

In March 2015, American Express had moved the earning on Fuel on the Platinum Card to  1 Membership Rewards point for every INR 100 spent. In 2019, they experimented with 10 points/INR 100 spent on fuel. Fuel includes petrol, diesel, CNG from Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).

Effective June 1, 2021, you will earn four additional Bonus Membership Rewards Point for every INR 100 spent on Fuel with a maximum of 5,000 Bonus Membership Rewards points per calendar month on the Platinum Card. This only refers to the Platinum Metal charge card and not the Credit Card variants issued by Amex in India. There is no specific brand affiliation, which means you could buy fuel from Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum or the limited pumps of Shell and Reliance, etc. in India as well.

The 5,000 additional points bonus means there is room to spend up to INR 1,25,000 on fuel and get the bonus in full per month, which should be more than enough for a few full-tanks per month in a household.

With this move, American Express is also perhaps trying to gain more acceptance in the fuel pumps across India. For reference, here are the convenience fees charged on paying for fuel with your American Express:

• HPCL: 0, for transactions up to INR 5000; 1%+ GST for transactions above INR 5,000
• IOCL/BPCL: 1% + GST, for transactions up to INR 5000
• Others: 2% + GST

Bottomline

You can spend on your Platinum Card from Amex and receive 5 MR points/INR 100 spent up to 5,000 bonus points per calendar month. This feature is valid across all fuel pumps in India and honoured as long as you directly pay with an Amex Platinum Charge Card and makes it one of the best cards to pay for fuel in India.

What do you think of the new move to get more points on your card for your fuel purchases?

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