Closing AmEx Cashback card early

Weybridge78

I have the free American Express cashback card, which currently has accumulated over £50 of cashback. The anniversary of the card is not until October, and my understanding is that cashback is paid on the yearly anniversary of the card. I am going to close the card anyway, but wanted to know what would happen to the cashback on the card if I was to close before the anniversary. Will this be lost, or can it be paid to another card I hold with Amex?

SnowTiger

Weybridge78 said:

I have the free American Express cashback card, which currently has accumulated over £50 of cashback. The anniversary of the card is not until October, and my understanding is that cashback is paid on the yearly anniversary of the card. I am going to close the card anyway, but wanted to know what would happen to the cashback on the card if I was to close before the anniversary. Will this be lost, or can it be paid to another card I hold with Amex?

If you log in to your American Express account you can view your card's terms and conditions.  They're under the Account Management tab, see View Cardmember Agreement.

My Amex T&Cs contain this: 

What happens if you close your Card Account?

If you close your Card Account you will lose the Cashback that has been earned but not yet been applied to your Card Account as an annual credit.

I only receive cashback if I spend at least £3,000 during a cashback year.  Given the card offers 5% cashback for the first three months, it would be possible to accumulate £50 cashback by only spending £1,000.  Have you fulfilled the minimum spend requirements for cashback?  That's probably neither here nor there if you close the account early.

Why do you want to close the account?  To reduce your overall available credit?  Personally, I don't think the amount of unused credit I have available is very important to lenders.

missile

Why close it? Just don't use it. Wait until October. Spend the £50+ before closing.

NoodleDoodleMan

missile said:

Why close it? Just don't use it. Wait until October. Spend the £50+ before closing.

Absolutely - don't use the card and wait until the £50 is credited to your balance, then spend it and close it.

I'm thinking you should be able to draw these funds as cash at an ATM.

Weybridge78

Thanks, SnowTiger. Yes, I have fulfilled all the requirements as I've put over £20,000 on it by paying my Master's fees. Main reason for closing it is simply because I find the Membership Rewards card more useful, but as per your, missile and NoodleDoodleMan's advice, I will wait until the anniversary. I did not receive 5% cashback in the first 3 months as I already held a card with AE when opening the Cashback card.

D3xt3r5L4b

If you've spent £20k on it you should have more than £50 cashback due

Weybridge78

D3xt3r5L4b said:

If you've spent £20k on it you should have more than £50 cashback due

My original post did say "over £50"

D3xt3r5L4b

It’ll be a “little” more than over £50 lol

SnowTiger

D3xt3r5L4b said:

It’ll be a “little” more than over £50 lol

At least £175 if OP's Amex cashback rate is the same as mine.

0.5% cashback on the first £5,000 of spend = £25.
1% cashback on the following £15,000+ of spend = £150+.

Probably worthwhile keeping the card open for at least a few more months as the OP now intends to do.

Weybridge78

Please accept my apologies. I mixed up the credit cards that I used to pay my university fees. This Amex has been used for approximately £8,850 worth of spending.