American Express Old Blue Cash Has A $50,000 Spending Limit Added On 5% Categories

For those not familiar with the product, American Express offers a card often referred to as the “Old Blue Cash” card, this card earns 5% cash back on  U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores after you’ve spent more than $6,500 in a card member year (before this $6,500 in spend you’ll earn 1% in those categories and 0.5% on every day spend). Recently a lot of people have had their cards shut down due to putting excessive spend on these categories, I’ve so far evaded this round of shut downs mostly due to the fact I haven’t been in the United States so I’ve been unable to rack up spend at supermarkets.

It looks like American Express is trying imposing a hard limit on new applicants to this card. Sometime in December they’ve added the following to the offer page:

 …you will receive 5% on Everyday Purchases up to $50,000

This means you’re limited to effectively earning $2,500 in cash back at that attractive 5% cash back level. For those who manufacture spend heavily, this is a massive change. If your existing Old Blue Cash hasn’t been cancelled, I’d recommend spending under $50,000 in those 5% categories per reward year as I imagine that is the trigger point for shut downs.

For more information on the Old Amex Blue card, I’d recommend this thread on FlyerTalk. Below are some other alternatives if you’re spending a lot in the 5% cash back categories that this card offers:

• Credit cards that earn 5%+ cash back
• Best credit cards for grocery store purchases
• Best credit cards for gas station purchases
• Best credit cards for drugstore purchases

Hat tip to @saianel from twitter (well worth following and interacting with if you do MS)

[RELATED: Reflections on the Ongoing Saga of Amex Old Blue Cash]