American Express sent me a
notice today introducing Points Advance. It’s a “feature” that allows me to use Membership Rewards Points before I accrue them.
If I read this rather
complicated document correctly, I can get a point advance for up to a
year.
If the year expires or I
cancel my card before I’ve accrued the points to cover the advance, my credit
card will be charged at the Purchase Points rate for the outstanding points.
So, first I was rewarded
for using credit.
Now, I can get credit on my
credit to compel me to use more credit!
Note: If any financial institution wants to use the
term Meta Credit, call me and we can make a deal!
But then there are all sorts of restrictions on using your points for airline travel, which is the reason why you signed up to pay the fee in the first place. Nice!
What Your Incentive Spend Says About Your Product/Service
Surfing through my RSS feeds this morning I ran across this article on Manage To Change. It would seem that American Express is extending credit in the form of points to their reward members based on their anticipated spend and potential point earnings…