Update 3/20/19: Reader Bernard reports getting this offer now via snailmail.
The Offer
No direct link to offer, sent out via e-mail
- American Express is offering up to 30,000 Membership Rewards points for foreign wire payments. Bonus is broken down as follows:
- 15,000 points after you make your first foreign currency wire payment of at least $500 within 30 days of enrollment
- An additional 15,000 points after you make three more foreign currency wire payments of at least $500 each within 90 days of enrollment
- Fees are waived for the first six months. After that a $10 per wire fee is charged
The Fine Print
- Same currency transactions (such as USD to USD) are not eligible for this offer.
- If all eligibility criteria have been met, points will be credited to your Membership Rewards account within 12-15 business days after the 90 day period ends. The value of the points received may be taxable income to you.
- Please consult your tax advisor if there are any questions about the tax treatment of points
Our Verdict
They have offered more or less the same bonus previously. This new offer is slightly better as you can get 15,000 points after your first payment rather than needing to make four payments to get the full 30,000 in one hit. Some things to keep in mind:
- They require a lot of information regarding your business to be eligible. If you don’t have a legitimate business that regularly sends foreign payments it’s unlikely you will be approved
- Despite no fees being charged, make sure you compare the exchange rate being offered with other exchanges
Most readers won’t be approved for an account even if they received the targeted e-mail. If you are targeted and get approved it’s almost certainly worth doing for the bonus, but long term you’ll want to compare the currency rates being offered to ensure you’re getting a good deal. $10 fee seems excessive as well.
Hat tip to reader @SoundFunnel &Â
Seems like a good program, but I rather stay away from AMEX, fees are just too high
This is confusing. Where do you send the wire from? The obvious guess would be your American Express card, but I doubt that’s right. I guess you open a bank account at AmEx and then send the wire from there? Or maybe you tell them an existing third party bank account’s routing & account number, and AmEX does an ACH pull from there and then sends a wire.
Keep in mind that if you score another 30K points of any kind (except Hilton which are cointed at 0.67cpp) in non-sign up bonuses with Amex this year (i.e. referral bonuses, free will adjustments, annual fee credits, courtesy points… etc) you will get 1099 Misc for combined amount which would significantly affect the value of these points for most.
Good Luck.
Do payments to the Cali cartel count?
Use HSBC, cheaper fees on wires to them.
Sounds like a FR waiting to happen
Wait, so who are you all wiring foreign currency to? This is the first time I’ve received an offer like this.
I have a business in Nigeria. Wire to me then you can wire me back ;). On a serious note, it’s easy for me since I’m an expat in US and have family and friend back home.
Sounds like I need to move international 🙂 Or try out that Nigerian business of yours haha
If i do international trading on a brokerage account, can i have the money wired there and be approved?
I wrote a bunch of posts about my experience getting this bonus last year. If you want the points, it’s worth your time to fudge your way through the application. I have a hobby business (no EIN) that brings in around $3000 per year, and I got approved, although it was a LOT of work compared to most CC or bank account apps.
Hey Jordan, feel free to link those posts in a comment here <3
I have links to all three installments of the epic saga at the bottom of the “American Express” section on this page: https://windbagmiles.com/credit-card-info/
Hi Jordan,
I looked on your blog for posts about this but am coming up short?
Would really love to hear about your experience as my AF is due tmw & I would pay the $175 if i knew I could do this. Similar situation to you just a ‘hobby biz’ with no documentation or EIN.
What was involved with the paper work?
Thanks in advance!!
Jan
Jan, the infinity scrolling is really tripping up my Ctrl+F, so, without also having a nice Archive/All Posts page available, here’s an alternative way to search the site:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=amex+wire+site%3Awindbagmiles.com
Lol I wonder if this had anything to do with the FX rigging settlement…. “We swear we aren’t screwing you, have some points!”
yea right. wiring anything in this game, especially international, leads to shutdown.
This guy. This guy right here gets it.
Tread lightly with an offer like this from amex.