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The Amex app lets you manage one or more American Express card accounts anywhere and anytime, gives you easy access to rewards and other cardholder perks, provides several useful options for making purchases and paying your bill, and even helps you track and manage your credit scores.
Key Features of the American Express Card Mobile App
The Amex app, available for use on Android and iOS smartphones, presents the most important account information right upfront on its Home screen: your current balance, payment due date, available credit, recent transactions and a link that lets you pay your bill quickly. A navigation menu at the bottom of the app allows for easy access to the app's other features—Statements, Membership, Offers and Account—and makes it easy to return to the Home screen anytime.
Login and Security
When you set up the Amex app, you must create an account or log in using the username and password you've previously set up for managing your American Express account online. On the Account screen, you can set up two-factor authentication, which has you enter a code that's sent via text or email each time you log in to the app. You can also enable face or fingerprint recognition for logging in, if your phone supports it.
When you sign in, you're shown thumbnail images of any American Express cards you have associated with the app, along with their current account balances. If you only have one card, it loads automatically on the Home screen. If you have multiple cards, you can tap the image of the one you want to manage to see more information about it. Very straightforward.
Account Alerts
On the Amex app's Account screen, you'll find options for enabling a variety of alerts.
A set of alerts called Account Protection are always active, and send you alerts on your phone when suspected fraudulent activity is detected or when American Express is unable to approve a transaction on your card.
You have the option to activate additional alerts that notify you when any of the following takes place:
- A purchase is made using your card(s).
- A payment has been received.
- Your account balance approaches a limit you set yourself (it can be any amount).
- Spending during the current billing period reaches a limit you set yourself.
You also can set up the following notifications:
- A reminder that your monthly payment is due, sent a number of days you specify (from three to 10) before the due date.
- An alert when your account statement is available.
- A snapshot of your account status, sent weekly on the day of your choosing.
The Account screen also contains an option for freezing your card as a security measure. This prevents your card from being used for purchases without disrupting any automatic payments you may have scheduled. It's a great option if you misplace your card but still expect—or at least hope—it still could turn up.
Payment Options
The Amex app allows you to make monthly payments directly through the app, after you link it to your checking account. It lets you schedule recurring monthly payments and also offers several other useful purchasing options:
In addition to options for paying your American Express bill, the app also gives you a couple of handy payment options for use when making card purchases (terms apply):
- Amex Send & Split allows you to make a card payment and have your friends split it with you via your Venmo or PayPal account. No Venmo credit card fees apply as long as the purchase and your friends are located in the U.S. As your friends pay you back, you can apply their payments against your American Express account balance.
- The Apple Pay option within the iPhone app makes it easy to add American Express card(s) to the Apple Wallet utility, for streamlined contactless payments.
You'll get access to payment options for use when paying your bill if you have a card that's eligible for these benefits as well (terms apply):
- Pay It lets you reduce your balance by making small payments over the course of the month. When you view your recent payments on the Home or Statements screen, entries totaling less than $100 display a "Pay It" button beneath the transaction amount. Tapping one lets you make a payment in that amount, which comes off your statement balance immediately.
- Plan It lets you stretch large payments out over time in a series of equal monthly installments. To use it, you select a transaction entry of $100 or greater from the Statements screen and tap the "Plan It" button. You'll be shown two or three plan options, each with a different number of payments (six, 12 or 18 months, for example). Each plan option lists a per-payment fee and the total of all fees you'll be charged to use the plan. If you choose one of the options, an installment will be added to your statements for each of the chosen number of months.
Reward Redemptions
The Membership screen in the Amex app displays your balance of Membership Rewards points or Rewards Dollars (depending on the type of American Express card you have) and provides a link to options for redeeming them.
Membership Rewards Points can be used to book travel or accommodations, purchase merchandise or gift cards, or to make charitable donations. Rewards Dollars can be used in $25 increments to purchase gift cards or merchandise and can also be applied (in any amount) against your statement balance.
The Membership screen also lets you search for early-access tickets to concerts, games and other events available as perks to American Express cardholders.
The Amex app's Offers screen lets you opt in to limited-time special purchase deals, such as rebates on purchases made at specific merchants or restaurants. To use it, you scroll through the available offers and tap those you want to add to your card. When you use your card to make a qualifying payment, the Offer deal is applied automatically at checkout.
Credit Score Access
The Amex Mobile app provides access to both a FICO® Score☉ 8 credit score based on your Experian credit report and a VantageScore® 3.0 credit score based on your TransUnion credit report. It also provides access to a credit education module including:
- A Score Goals tool that offers guidance on improving your credit scores via recommendations based on the contents of your credit reports.
- A credit score simulator that estimates credit score changes related to various credit decisions, such as opening a new credit account or canceling your oldest credit card.
Spend Tracking
The Amex app's Transactions screen has a basic tool for tracking your spending that uses a doughnut graph display to denote spending during the current billing period, broken out by user (reflecting spending by the primary cardholder and any authorized users). Recent purchases are displayed in list form, in reverse chronological order.
Ratings
- Google Play Store: 4.3 stars out of 5 (September 2021)
- Apple App Store: 4.9 stars out of 5 (September 2021)
Easy to Use for Card Management and More
The Amex app is a powerful, easy-to-use tool packed with options for managing your American Express card accounts on the go. The app's simple interface makes it a straightforward task to do things like check your card balance or pay your bill. You'll also have access to a suite of additional features such as spend tracking and that allow for a more in-depth user experience.
Note: The iOS version of the Amex app was used for this review. Features and capabilities of the app's Android version may differ slightly from what is described here.