Best for balance transfers
Amex EveryDay® Credit Card
Rewards rate
1X–2XAnnual fee
$0Intro offer
10,000 PointsRegular APR
15.24%-26.24% VariableRecommended Credit Score
Good to Excellent (670 - 850)The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card review
Why you can trust Bankrate
At Bankrate, we have a mission to demystify the credit cards industry — regardless or where you are in your journey — and make it one you can navigate with confidence. Our team is full of a diverse range of experts from credit card pros to data analysts and, most importantly, people who shop for credit cards just like you. With this combination of expertise and perspectives, we keep close tabs on the credit card industry year-round to:
- Meet you wherever you are in your credit card journey to guide your information search and help you understand your options.
- Consistently provide up-to-date, reliable market information so you\'re well-equipped to make confident decisions.
- Reduce industry jargon so you get the clearest form of information possible, so you can make the right decision for you.
At Bankrate, we focus on the points consumers care about most: rewards, welcome offers and bonuses, APR, and overall customer experience. Any issuers discussed on our site are vetted based on the value they provide to consumers at each of these levels. At each step of the way, we fact-check ourselves to prioritize accuracy so we can continue to be here for your every next.
Editorial Integrity
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.
Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.
Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.
How We Make Money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.
We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
Insurance Disclosure
Coverage.com, LLC is a licensed insurance producer (NPN: 19966249). Coverage.com services are only available in states where it is licensed. Coverage.com may not offer insurance coverage in all states or scenarios. All insurance products are governed by the terms in the applicable insurance policy, and all related decisions (such as approval for coverage, premiums, commissions and fees) and policy obligations are the sole responsibility of the underwriting insurer. The information on this site does not modify any insurance policy terms in any way.
ON THIS PAGE
ON THIS PAGE
Snapshot
4.3
Bottom line
Designed for shoppers seeking rewards on their grocery store purchases, the Amex EveryDay card is a good choice for cardmembers who prefer earning American Express rewards points to cash back and can maximize their spending with this card’s unique rewards structure.
The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card Overview
For frequent supermarket shoppers, the Amex EveryDay credit card is the best card to earn American Express Membership Rewards points for no annual fee—especially with its 20 percent extra points feature. Plus, if you use your card 20 or more times on purchases in a billing period you’ll earn 20 percent more points on those purchases.
Overall, the Amex EveryDay performs best when it’s supporting stronger Membership Rewards-earning American Express cards in your wallet. It could be a solid introductory rewards card, but its low annual rewards spending cap makes switching to a premium credit card or a competing cash back card more than worth the extra elbow grease.
What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Pros
- This card does not charge an annual fee
- Cardmembers earn 20 percent extra points on that monthly statement’s spending if you make at least 20 separate purchases within one billing cycle
- Diverse list of travel redemption and transfer partner choices
Cons
- $6,000 annual rewards spending cap on your main 2X-point U.S. supermarket category (then 1X points)
- Membership Rewards point value drops if you redeem for anything outside travel
- This card charges a 2.7 percent foreign transaction fee
A deeper look into the current card offer
Quick highlights
- Rewards rate: 2X points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year, then 1X), 2X points on prepaid rental cars booked through American Express Travel and 1X points on all other purchases
- Welcome offer: 10,000 points after spending $1,000 on purchases within the first three months
- Annual fee: $0
- Purchase intro APR: 0 percent purchase APR for 15 months
- Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
- Regular APR: 15.24 percent to 26.24 percent (variable)
Current welcome offer
After spending only $1,000 within your first three months, you can earn 10,000 Amex Membership Rewards points.
Membership Rewards points are worth the most when they’re redeemed through the American Express Travel portal or partner travel programs, valued at 2 cents each on average, according to The Points Guy. That means this welcome bonus can be worth up to $200, but it can drop in value if you spend points on non-travel rewards.
Offers worth $200 seem to be the current average intro bonus for credit cards with no annual fee, but keep in mind this offer’s travel-oriented footnote.
Rewards
The Amex EveryDay earns Membership Rewards points, which are known as some of the most valuable rewards in the credit card world. If you’re gearing up for your next trip, this card is a decent resource to earn travel rewards just by stocking your pantry.
Earning rewards
Earning rewards with the Amex EveryDay credit card is easy since there are only two bonus categories to keep track of: 2 points per dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets and on prepaid rental cars booked through the American Express Travel portal. Unfortunately, this rate reverts to 1 point per dollar once you spend more than $6,000 per year (that’s $500 a month) at U.S. supermarkets. Also, any other purchase will gather 1 point per dollar.
Luckily, the 20 percent extra points feature can earn you an additional 20 percent points back each month if you make 20 or more separate purchases with your card in a billing period.
But even if you maximize the 2X-point U.S. supermarket category’s $6,000 spending limit in conjunction with the extra points feature, you’ll only earn a total of 14,400 points (worth about $288 toward travel).
Redeeming rewards
On paper, Membership Rewards points have a lot of redemption options to choose from. But in actuality, your points are worth much less if you don’t use them to book travel through the Amex Travel portal or find a transfer partner program with a 1:1 conversion rate.
You can choose to redeem for statement credits, gift cards and merchandise or spend them to cover card charges or online shopping purchases with select retailers (like Amazon.com and rental cars through Amex Travel). Instead, we recommend saving up your points for travel opportunities down the road. If you feel like you’d rather have cash back in hand than sit on your travel rewards, you might want to consider a cash back card.
How much are points worth?
Your points are worth the most when you find the right travel booking or transfer partner to reach The Points Guy’s 2 cent potential valuation.
Outside travel, American Express’ rewards calculator shows that your point value can drop steeply on select redemptions, but 0.6 to 0.7 cent values are common for choices like statement credits or online merchant purchases.
However, a new special offer allows select cardholders will be able to redeem reward points at a boosted 1 cent-per-point rate to cover card charges — a 40 percent increase from the standard 0.6 cent redemption value for statement credits. Travel might still be a more valuable use of your rewards, but it’s an offer worth considering if you’ve shelved your travel plans for now.
Other cardholder perks
As an entry-level card, you won’t find the Amex EveryDay card brimming with valuable travel perks. Nevertheless, the standard American Express features it comes with might be helpful for your normal shopping needs.
Pay It Plan It
The Pay It Plan It alternate payment features could be handy in a pinch if you want to keep recent purchases separate from your balance.
Pay It lets you take care of purchases under $100 immediately, which makes it easier to track your rewards spending on small items. Plan It is a bit more substantial, allowing you to shift qualifying $100+ purchases to fixed-payment plans over an extended period. Just make sure the monthly installment plan fee isn’t more expensive than the interest would have been.
Complimentary ShopRunner membership
Once you sign up for ShopRunner (enrollment required), you’ll receive free two-day shipping and returns on items with more than 100 participating retailers.
Travel and shopping protections
The Amex EveryDay card only comes with two travel or shopping protections:
- Car rental loss and damage insurance: When you pay with your card and decline the auto rental agency’s coverage, your rental vehicle can be covered for damage or theft in eligible territories.
- Purchase protection: You can be reimbursed for the cost of repair or replacement in case your covered item is damaged or stolen within 90 days of the purchase date.
Rates and fees
Low interest rates and no annual fee makes the Amex EveryDay an easy card to maintain while you get the feel of a rewards program. The 15-month 0 percent intro APR on purchases (15.24 percent to 26.24 percent variable afterward) could also be helpful if this is your first rewards card and you have large purchases or travel coming up.
The downside is that it comes with a 2.7 percent foreign transaction fee, so you’ll want to use it sparingly during your time abroad. It’s also worth noting that this card isn’t accepting balance transfers at the moment.
How the Amex EveryDay compares to other no annual fee cards
The Amex EveryDay credit card’s rewards rate is just decent for a no annual fee card, and the $6,000 annual spending cap for your 2X-point category stunts this card’s rewards potential. A flat-rate cash back card may be a better value in the long run.
The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is a sibling cash back card that could be a more valuable alternative if you want flexible rewards. It has the same $6,000 annual rewards spending cap for its 3 percent cash back U.S. supermarket category (then 1 percent back), it also earns 3 percent back at U.S. gas stations and U.S. online retail purchases (on up to $6,000 per year in purchases for each category, then 1 percent).
If you’re truly dedicated to travel and grocery rewards, you’ll discover far better benefits and reward opportunities with a premium card that charges an annual fee.
Amex EveryDay® Credit Card
Annual fee
$0Intro offer
10,000 PointsRewards rate
1X–2XRecommended credit
Good to Excellent(670 - 850)
Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express
Annual fee
$0Intro offer
$200Rewards rate
1%–3%Recommended credit
Good to Excellent(670 - 850)
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
Apply now
on Bank of America's secure site
Annual fee
$0Intro offer
$200Rewards rate
1%–3%Recommended credit
Good to Excellent(670 - 850)Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card last updated on 06.01.2022
Amex EveryDay® Credit Card vs. Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express
If you prefer the idea of earning cash back on your purchases in a variety of categories, the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is a solid choice for your daily spending.
Compared to the Amex EveryDay card, the Blue Cash Everday card is bit stronger due to redemption value. Amex’s rewards redemption calculator shows that points are usually worth up to just 0.7 cents unless you redeem for gift cards or travel through American Express for a 1:1 value. Even with the Amex EveryDay card’s 20 percent extra points (which requires you to use your card 20 or more times on purchases during a billing period), you’ll only receive up to 2.4 cents of reward value back per dollar with this card when redeeming through Amex.
If you can boost your Membership Rewards points’ value up to 2 cents apiece with the right transfer partner, you’ll need to commit all your points into transfer partners for up to 4.8 cents per dollar back on U.S. supermarket purchases (up to $6,000 per year, then 1X points) or American Express Travel portal bookings, meaning that the versatile cash back earned by the Blue Cash Everyday card is likely stronger in this sense.
Amex EveryDay® Credit Card vs. Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card is a versatile cash back card that offers users with flexible spending habits their choice of a 3 percent cash back on category purchases of choice, including gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drugstore or home improvement each month alongside 2 percent cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (up to $2,500 of combined 3 and 2 percent category purchases each quarter, then 1 percent), plus 1 percent on all other purchases.
While the flexibility of this card is competitive with others in this category, the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card has a unique feature that can separate it from the pack if used properly. With Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards program, users can boost their rewards from 25 to 75 percent by maintaining a specific three-month average balance (at least $20,000) across existing Bank of America deposit and Merrill® investment accounts.
When deciding between the two, it’s important to keep in mind the hurdles you must clear to gain a boosted rewards rate. If you prefer flexible cash back rewards in a variety of categories, including the top tier of your choice or already have a Bank of America deposit account, the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card is a fine choice. For individuals or families that focus their spending at the supermarket and want to redeem their rewards for travel, the Amex EveryDay is the better choice.
Best cards to pair with the Amex EveryDay
If you’re serious about collecting Membership Rewards points, you’ll have to bite the bullet and spring for a card with an annual fee. You should consider an upgrade to the Amex® EveryDay Preferred Credit Card first for its stepped-up reward features.
After that, the American Express® Green Card would be a great partner card to flesh out your bonus categories for day-to-day expenses. The Green card earns unlimited 3X points on restaurants, transit and travel. Plus, it doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees and offers other great travel benefits, like an annual credit for CLEAR.
Bankrate’s Take: Is the Amex EveryDay worth it?
The Amex EveryDay credit card is easy to use and accessible if you want a low-cost first rewards card, but the spending cap makes it a sluggish engine for Membership Rewards points. Even by maximizing the 2X U.S. supermarket category, your rewards will hardly make a dent in one airplane ticket by the end of the year — even with the 20 percent extra points feature each billing cycle.
The Amex EveryDay would be a better investment if this wasn’t your only American Express card, but plenty of other cash back cards could deliver more valuable long-term rewards on groceries as solo cards. Ultimately, taking on an annual fee for a premium card is almost a necessity if you want access to better Membership Rewards opportunities and features for travel.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, please click here.
All information about American Express Cash Magnet® Card, The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express, Amex® EveryDay Preferred Credit Card, and the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Bankrate and has not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.
Share