1,000 quick FREE Amex Membership Rewards points for iPad / iPhone users

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American Express has teamed up with Venmo, a new secure online payments service which – with shades of Paypal – allows you to pay for transactions online without having to input your card details.

If you didn’t get the email from Amex, this is how it works:

UK_PCS_VENMO_Email_GreenGold_27092013_mast

You need to download one of the following apps from the App Store: YPlan, Hotel Tonight, livingsocial, Drivr, Bizzby

Open the app, log in (create an account if you don’t have one) and go to Settings

On the page where you store your credit card details, there will be a box marked ‘Send to Venmo’ which should be ticked if it is not automatically ticked

Add details of your Amex Platinum, Amex Gold or Amex Green and save

That’s it! You can then delete the app from your iPhone or iPad.

I tried it with YPlan and it worked fine – simply click the ‘equals sign’ logo in the bottom left to go to Settings and then go into the credit card pages.

What is not clear is if you can register supplementary cards as well. I have, just in case I get a double bonus.

You have until 14th November to register your card, so there is still time to do this if you were planning to apply for an Amex Gold (review) or Amex Plat (review) but have yet to do so. Think of it as an extra 1,000 points sign-up bonus!

Note that points can take 8 weeks to hit your Membership Rewards account.

This offer is not available for Android devices …. don’t ask my why.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus.

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review

Category

American Express Membership Rewards

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

PalCsaky says:

4 Oct4 October 07:38

Would that work with Nectar Amex?
- Rob says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 08:12
  
  No
MattBennion says:

4 Oct4 October 08:08

Time to use a friends or familys Apple device then…
Alan says:

4 Oct4 October 08:15

Well I’ve registered my Android device anyway, will see if it works!
- Frenske says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 11:30
  
  Which App you used for this? The living social only accepts cards no Venmo listed.
  - Alan says:
    
    4 Oct4 October 11:41
    
    I did the Hotel Tonight one, but I was under the impression that Venmo ran the background software thus registering the card did the trick, although no £1 transaction on my account so perhaps not!
  - Rob says:
    
    4 Oct4 October 12:29
    
    Once you’ve saved an Amex in the apps settings, Venmo will show in the future.
reed says:

4 Oct4 October 09:07

doew it work with ba amex . or bavios
thx
- Jonny says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 09:09
  
  T&C’s just state Amex Plat, Gold or Green. Which makes sense given that they’re giving free MRs.
  - andy21 says:
    
    4 Oct4 October 14:23
    
    Not that I have one, but what about Centurion?
    - Rob says:
      
      4 Oct4 October 15:12
      
      Oddly, small print didn’t mention that but would be OK I think
BruC says:

4 Oct4 October 09:10

I downloaded YPlan and registered my details.. how do I know that it’s gone through? Is there a confirmation email?
- Rob says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 09:18
  
  No email. You have to trust them, I think.
  
  Alternatively, load one of the other apps and see if it recognises that you have a card stored via Venmo.
- Jonny says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 09:20
  
  Log in to your Amex online account, and check the “pending transactions” statement of the relevant card.
  I have a £1.00 pending charge for Yplan (which presumably is some kind of authorisation and won’t actually come through) – gives me comfort that it is registered correctly though
  - Rob says:
    
    4 Oct4 October 09:21
    
    Good spot.
    - Brendan says:
      
      4 Oct4 October 09:54
      
      Hmm nothing listed under pending transactions for me. May need to download another app to see if it worked
      - Brendan says:
        
        4 Oct4 October 10:34
        
        Downloaded Bizzby and went into the add card details part and my Amex was already listed under Venmo so it seems to have worked but I don’t have the pending transaction so it may not be a sure way of knowing.
Oh Matron! says:

4 Oct4 October 09:28

Thanks for this, quite nice 🙂

Quick Q though… I can see where I can check the total number of MR points I have, but where can you see the actual points earned?
- Oh Matron! says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 09:36
  
  What I actually meant was each individual point earning instance…
  - Oh Matron! says:
    
    4 Oct4 October 09:57
    
    Just read the above comment. Pending transaction from DRIVR 🙂
Jonny says:

4 Oct4 October 09:55

Can you register multiple cards on one app?

Or do you have to do it on different apps? Or even different devices?
- Rob says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 09:58
  
  We don’t know!
Roger says:

4 Oct4 October 10:07

The smartphone market is largely Android these days and it is disappointing to see another opportunity for Apple users denied to the majority of us who don’t use iPhone/iPad.

The app is not available from Play Store. I read somewhere that Android users could register by using one of the retailers using Venmo. As a previous customer, I tried using livingsocial but there was no such opportunity probably because I already had cards listed. I’ll perhaps try again as a new account.