Debt and Credit
Amex Rewards Checking Account (Update 2026.1: $250 donation)
2026.1 Update: New offer is $250.
2025.3 Update: New offer is $250. Offer expires April 15, 2025.
2023.9 Update: New offer is $250. Offer expires on Oct 31, 2023.
Application link
Benefits
- $250 welcome offer. See below for requirements to receive this bonus. Offer expires on 2026.1.31.
- Earn 1x Membership Rewards (MR) points with every $2 debit card purchase.
- MR points are worth about 1.6 cents/point, so a 0.5x earning rate equates to about a 0.8% return.
- Earn 0.50% APY on your balance. That’s a good APY even compared to savings accounts.
- $0 monthly fee. There is no minimum balance requirement.
This account does not support wire payments, overdraft protection, or online bill payment at this time. And it doesn’t support Zelle yet.[Update] They have all these features now.- AmEx is very new to the debit card market so we don’t know its acceptance rate yet.
- You can only open this account if you have had an AmEx credit card for more than 3 months.
- If you only have this account, you cannot transfer your MR points to its partner mileage programs, you can redeem them for cash for a very small fee. If you have a credit card that earns MR, you will be able to transfer the points you earn through this account.
Bonus requirements
- You are not eligible for the Welcome Bonus if you have an existing Rewards Checking Account.
- Direct Deposit (DD) Requirement: Earn a total of $5,000 or more in Qualifying Direct Deposit within 90 days.
Summary
Finally AmEx has its own checking account. Earning MR points on debit card purchases is a nice feature, although the rate is only 0.5x.
Application link
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