American Express credit card review

What do American Express credit cards offer?

American Express (Amex) offers a range of cashback and reward credit cards — and three are Which? Best Buys.

The Amex Cashback Everyday Credit Card (representative 31% APR variable) is a top pick as it offers 5% cashback (up to £100) in your first three months and a rate of 0.5-1% thereafter, with no annual fee. Right now new customers can get 5% cashback for five months if they apply before April 9. 

Our experts were also impressed with the Amex Cashback Credit Card (representative 36.7% APR variable), which offers a higher rate of cashback for an annual fee of £25. You can get 5% cashback for the first three months (up to £125), and a rate of 0.75-1.25% thereafter. 

American Express reward credit cards can help users boost their American Express Membership Rewards points or points associated with other schemes such as Nectar. 

The American Express Rewards Credit Card (representative 31% APR variable) is a standout card. It has no annual fee and allows you to earn one American Express point per £1 spent, which can be converted into airmiles.

• Find out more: best credit card deals 

How does American Express compare with other providers?

American Express achieved a customer score of 79% in our credit card satisfaction survey, placing it second out of 31 providers and making it one of our Which? Recommended Providers for 2024.  

• Find out more: visit our best credit card providers guide for the full results and compare American Express's score with other companies

Is American Express a good credit card provider?

Our survey also reveals how American Express customers rated it across the following five categories:

Your American Express credit card questions answered

Grace, our credit card expert, answers the top questions people have about American Express credit cards.

How do you apply for an American Express card?

Simply head onto the American Express website and select which card you would like to go for.

American Express has an eligibility checker that will perform a 'soft search' of your Experian credit file. This won't impact your credit score and will allow you to see your likelihood of being approved before applying.

Where are American Express credit cards accepted?

American Express credit cards aren't as widely accepted by merchants in the UK as Mastercard or Visa. So if you're planning on taking out an Amex card for a big purchase, make sure the retailer will accept this form of payment before going ahead.

Can I do an American Express balance transfer?

American Express doesn't currently offer any 0% balance transfer deals. But if you've built up debt on an American Express credit, you can move the balance to another credit card provider with a 0% balance transfer deal. Just make sure to check if the provider can facilitate an American Express balance transfer, as in the past some brands have struggled to.

• Find out more: best balance transfer credit cards

How we review American Express

Sam Wilson, credit card market analyst, says: 'At Which? we put credit card products and providers under the microscope to help you save time when shopping around for a new deal.

'We run a survey each year to gather the experiences of customers to help us find the best providers, and we keep a close eye on the credit card market to determine which deals are the best in their category.'

Here's some more information about our research and the terms we use in our reviews.

Which? Best Buys

To become a Which? Best Buy, a credit card has to meet or exceed a range of category-specific benchmarks set by our analysts. For example, we look at the size of the balance transfer fee as well as the 0% period on balance transfer credit cards.

Customer score

Our customer scores for credit card companies are based on an online survey of 3,775 members of the public, conducted in October 2023. 

The score is calculated using a combination of overall satisfaction and the likelihood of recommending the provider to a friend.

Star ratings

We also ask credit card customers to rate brands on five categories including customer service, application process, clarity of statement, transparency of charges and ability to manage the account online or via a mobile app — so you can get an idea of the quality of service you might receive before you sign up. 

Star ratings for each category are calculated independently of each other and the provider customer score.

Providers must receive a minimum sample size of 40 respondents to be included in our customer satisfaction tables.

Which? Recommended Providers

 To be a Which? Recommended Provider for credit cards a credit card company must:

• have a customer score of at least 75% 
• have at least one top-10 card in one of the seven main categories available on the market
• have a product score that's average or above
• not have a representative APR of more than 33% on any of its mainstream cards at the time of the analysis.

We only award Which? Recommended Providers to the lenders that meet our benchmarks on customer service and product offering.

• Find out more: Which? symbols, logos and ratings explained

Please note that the information in this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice. Please refer to the particular T&Cs of a provider before committing to any financial products.