Amex Won't Offer Statement Credits for Small Business Saturday

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

In years past, American Express has offered customers an incentive to shop its highly promoted day, Small Business Saturday. The Saturday following Thanksgiving, Amex offered those buying items at participating small businesses across the country a statement credit, which, if using multiple cards, could enable shoppers to make entire purchases for little or no money at all. It was a great incentive to get people to shop small during the holiday season.

However, that's all going to change this year. Although Amex is still promoting Small Business Saturday, which will be on Saturday, November 28 this year, it will not be offering shoppers the statement credit like it has in the past. In the FAQ section on its Small Business Saturday page, it reads:

As in years past, American Express will continue to drive awareness of Small Business Saturday and encourage consumers to shop small through local and national advertising. This year we are not offering a statement credit offer for Card Members on Small Business Saturday, but are instead increasing the support and resources we provide to help small business owners market the day within their communities and truly make it their own.

Why the change? We reached out to Amex and received the following response, which echoes the statement provided above:

For the first five years, the offer was a way to encourage our customers to make a habit of shopping at small businesses as they begin the holiday season. Coming onto the sixth year, we’re pleased to say they have— last year, thousands of communities and 88 million consumers shopped small on Small Business Saturday. This year, we are not offering a statement credit for Card Members on Small Business Saturday, but increasing the support and resources we provide to help small business owners truly make the day their own. For example, we’re providing more tools for small business owners to create relevant events and their own promotions/offers for shoppers in their community. We are also significantly expanding our grassroots advocacy efforts, such as the Neighborhood Champion program, who organize events and activities to engage local communities. We’ll also continue to support Small Business Saturday and encourage people to shop small through local and national advertising.

In the past, the statement credit incentives have varied from a single $25 statement credit per card on a purchase of $25 or more to three statement credits on purchases of $10 or more for up to $30 in statement credits per card.

If you still choose to shop small this holiday season and avoid the big chain stores for at least a day, you can benefit participating businesses by using a number of Amex cards, including the Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express, The Platinum Card® from American Express, and the Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express.

H/T: Frequent Miler
[card card-name='The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express' card-id='220310489' type='javascript' bullet-id='1']