American Express Prepaid Card – Try It Out $25/$75 Bonus
Here’s another offer from AmEx regarding their new American Express Prepaid Card which is a reloadable prepaid card with no credit check, no monthly fees, no upfront purchase fees, and no overdraft fees if you try to spend more than what is on the card. You can load the card for free via online bank transfer.
If you enter the promo code AEPC25 when ordering the card and load the card with $25 within 45 days and before 4/30/12, they will send you another $25 AmEx gift card for free. You are allowed 3 prepaid cards per person, so that’s a potential bonus of $75 for trying out their new product.
Limited-Time Offer: Receive a $25 Gift Card.*
The American Express® Prepaid Card is a reloadable Card that’s a safe, easy way to pay – in stores or online. There is no credit check to get the Card – so it won’t impact your credit history. To claim your $25 American Express® Gift Card, simply:Enter promo code AEPC25 when you order the Prepaid Card.
Load the Card within 45 days (prior to April 30, 2012). Loaded with benefits. Not with fees. No monthly, overdraft, or purchase fees.
The potential issue for this is that it may be a targeted offer. Sometimes these end up working for everyone, sometimes not. But the good news here is that even if it doesn’t work out, you won’t have lost any money. Just use the $25 cards to pay for your everyday purchases. You even get one free ATM withdrawal per month if you can find an ATM that doesn’t charge a fee on their end.
Find more in Deals & Offers | 2/23/12, 8:27pm | Trackback
February 23rd, 2012 at 9:31 pm
when you say ‘You are allowed 3 prepaid cards per person, so that’s a potential bonus of $75 for trying out their new product’
is that limit of 3 for 1 amex credit card or we need 3 amex credit cards?
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:22 pm
@hem – You don’t need any American Express credit cards at all. I think one of the aims of this card is to make an AmEx “more accessible” to everyone. You will need to supply your name and SSN on the application, but you can get 3 of these AmEx prepaid cards per person (identified by unique SSN/bank account).
February 24th, 2012 at 12:08 am
oh ok got it. thanks much for info. Sorry missed it earlier.
February 24th, 2012 at 12:28 am
I called and this promo code will not work unless the offer is sent directly to you via email. Good Luck!
February 24th, 2012 at 12:35 am
They always say that.
February 24th, 2012 at 12:46 am
Are you saying that the free $25 gift card will come anyway? Is there a way for them to check if one has not been given the offer by direct email? Also when I asked about the offer, I was asked if I received the offer by email and I said no….do you think that the operator would then flag my order? What are your suggestions? Thanks for the heads-up and help!!
February 24th, 2012 at 1:28 am
I’m just saying what I said in the post – that in the past people have gotten promotions that were not specifically sent or targeted to them, even if it was said not to have been targeted to them. If AmEx really wanted to restrict this, they could simply reject your credit card number when you enter it on their enrollment page. That said, it may indeed be targeted, that’s just how these offers go. You win some, you lose some, at least in this case you aren’t risking any money but a little time and effort. These prepaid cards look like they might be useful anyway when signing up for free trials and such anyway where you want a credit card number with limited “liability”.
February 24th, 2012 at 7:26 am
There’s an option to fund with cash… how the heck does that work??
February 24th, 2012 at 7:38 am
I see — you buy a “MoneyPak” at a drug store/gas station type place with cash, and then add the funds to your Amex online. There’s a fee to buy the thing, but Amex is temporarily offering to refund the fee… I think I’ll go with bank transfer anyway.
February 24th, 2012 at 9:05 am
There is a banner for this promotion when you log into your Amex account. I just funded it right away via bank transfer. Put in the promo code and it took. Never got an email for this that I remember. You will need to confirm 2 small deposits to your bank account in a couple of days. Figure if I fund right away they may send the bonus card right away.
February 24th, 2012 at 9:14 am
“Get up to three Cards
Because you can order up to three Cards, you have the choice of giving them to the people you choose or keeping one for yourself. So you have the freedom to manage your own spending or use it to provide money to the other people in your life.”
I wonder if you need to send the other 2 to someone other than yourself?
February 24th, 2012 at 9:33 am
Probably a stupid question, but how do I order three cards? Do I need to go back and fill out the application each time?
February 24th, 2012 at 10:09 am
Got 1 $25 prepaid card, but it didn’t give me a discount at the end. Does that mean I will not get a gift card?
February 24th, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Ordered 1, decided not to risk 3 incase the bonus is only for targeted customers. I always seem to have a problem using up prepaid cards like this. They always end up with like $2.17 left or something, and then I never have a transaction that small to use up the last couple bucks.
February 24th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
Here is a screenshot of the offer:
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/wor.....enshot.jpg
@MAC – Thanks for the info, many times these are banner ads when you log in and it’s good to know you can say you saw it there.
@Andy – Yes, you can go back and order up to 3. I don’t think you need to send it to anyone, it could just be for your kids that live with you.
@Shey – You don’t get a discount, you load the prepaid card with $@5 and get an additional $25 gift card sent to you 6-10 weeks later.
@Stephen – You should just use it when you buy something for more than $25, and say you want a “split transaction”. Spend $25 all at once that way, and put the change on a credit card. You can even do it for the $2.17 left on a card. It’s pretty common to ask for nowadays, especially at a bigger store like Target.
February 25th, 2012 at 1:37 am
I use up cards like this by purchasing an Amazon e-gift certificate for a custom amount.
February 25th, 2012 at 7:35 am
@Jonathan – I should have said I saw a banner for the prepaid product when logging in to my account. Did not see this promo. There is a very long thread on Slickdeals discussing this promo in case anyone is interested: http://slickdeals.net/f/396047.....1st-reload
February 25th, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Under the FAQ’s on their site, to the question on the number of cards, it states:
An adult over the age of 18 may order and manage up to three American Express Prepaid Cards in total (including if one is purchased for him/herself). Each American Express Prepaid Card User can have only one Card in his or her name.
So if I read that right, the second or third card must be purchased for another person’s use (i.e., family member, kids, etc). So not sure how easy to get the bonus multiple times.
February 26th, 2012 at 6:57 am
Just to give it a shot I tried last time. In last Dec promotion I applied 4 cards all by me as purchaser to two on my name and two on my wife. I got only one gift card last time. This time i applied one my wife as purchaser. Lets see how it goes. Also i never got promotion email neither last time or nor now.
February 26th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Do they do a credit check?
February 26th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
No credit checks, says very clearly on the product page.
February 27th, 2012 at 10:28 pm
I did this the last time around and signed up for 3 accounts. I got a gift card for the first prepaid card but had to call in to get the second two.
March 1st, 2012 at 11:05 am
yea but cheapo did u get an invite email from amex?
March 7th, 2012 at 7:31 pm
@Stephen, when you’re paying by credit card, just tell the cashier that you’re splitting it on two cards. Pay with the card with the low remaining amount, it will go through for that amount and will give you the remaining balance to pay. At this point, you can pay with your regular card and cover the rest! That way, nothing goes to waste!
March 13th, 2012 at 5:18 pm
Has anyone gotten the second $25? Do you know how long it takes to receive it? I got the first card a few days ago.
March 14th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
Did not work for me. I ordered the three cards and afterwards called AmEx customer service and they said I didn’t qualify for the promotion since I didn’t get an email for it.
March 21st, 2012 at 12:56 pm
How long did it take after the card gets funded to receive the $25 gift card?
March 21st, 2012 at 12:58 pm
Please disregard, found the answer in one of the posts. 6 – 8 weeks. Anyways, mymoneyblog.com is one of my favorite sites online! woohooo!!!!
March 28th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Didnt work for me : ( Ordered one and just got one in the mail.
April 5th, 2012 at 11:48 am
Was a lot of work & non-sense to open and fund all 3. 4/4/12 and no bonuses yet… Keeping my fingers crossed… Thanks for the blog Johnathan !
April 10th, 2012 at 7:43 am
I didn’t get my bonus either
April 10th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
I did one of there back in November. I did not receive an email about it, but i still got the gift card. The gift card arrived some weeks after the prepaid card did. It also arrived in a plain white envelope addressed to me. I almost through it away.
April 18th, 2012 at 9:33 pm
Filled out this offer just to get the credit card. Works. Decent free prepaid card with self-defined limits.
April 29th, 2012 at 6:16 pm
I ordered these within a few days of you posting the offer information. All went well with the application process and the money was put onto the cards. I have now waited ten weeks to receive the promotional cards so it was time to call. The advisor told me that I did not qualify for the card and that because I did not receive an email with the code I would not receive the promotion. I am not going to argue with him over something so minor, especially since the promotion was not clearly stated on their own advertisement, but it does make me wonder if the code worked for more than just the moderator.
May 4th, 2012 at 7:55 am
Well got an email today telling me I did not qualify for the $25 bonus (no reason given).
“Thank you for ordering the American Express® Prepaid Card. Unfortunately you are not eligible for the promotion entered with your order and we are unable to send you a $25 bonus Gift Card. We hope this does not cause you any inconvenience.”
There was a come-on for a $50 bonus if I setup direct deposit to the prepaid card, no friggin way! And an offer for a refund check if I called the number on the back (x 3 of course).
This offer followed my rule of thumb exactly, the more time & effort it takes to setup and qualify for a promotion, the less likely you will actually get the bonus – my bad for ignoring my own advice!!!
Oh well. It was a huge time waster to setup 3 accounts, logons, passwords, wait & confirm test deposits, etc. I’ll use them 3 times for gas and in the garbage they go!!!
May 4th, 2012 at 8:39 am
Same thing happened for me. The prepaid card worked, but I got an email today saying I am not eligible for the bonus card… but I can take advantage of a different $50 promotion… if I am willing to direct deposit my paycheck onto the prepaid card. No thanks, AmEx.
May 4th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
This turned out to be an Amex marketing SCAM
They are now turning around and deny the promised $25 Bonus to everyone that applied and bought into their deal
They are now trying to get these folks to do Direct Deposit with another promise of a bonus
After this- I would not trust them in the least to honor their promises
Here is what they emailed everyone today:
Thank you for ordering the American Express® Prepaid Card. Unfortunately you are not eligible for the promotion entered with your order and we are unable to send you a $25 bonus Gift Card. We hope this does not cause you any inconvenience.
If you would like to redeem the balance on your Card, you can call us to request a refund check. Or you can take advantage of another valuable promotion that includes a $50 bonus1 — please see below for more details.
Sign up for direct deposit and get a $50 bonus.
Now you can get all or part of your paycheck automatically loaded onto your American Express Prepaid Card with direct deposit through your employer. Your money is available on payday, and it can be replaced at no charge if your Card is lost or stolen.
Plus, you’ll receive a $50 credit to your Card1 after you make two direct deposits of $250 or
more — per paycheck — by July 31, 2012. So sign up today.
May 7th, 2012 at 6:09 am
Well, maybe scam is a strong word for AMEX, perhaps it was targeted (although I am no fan of them right now).
Just burns me all the time wasted and personal info given (like my kids birthdays & SSN (which I made up and promptly forgot) and the time on the phone getting the cards activated when the info didn’t match.
I’d encourage everyone just to ask for a refund check in protest so they won’t collect their credit card processing fees – but more of a time wasting hassle on our part.
Chalk it up to experience, remember my rule above, the more time & effort it takes to setup and qualify for a promotion, the less likely you will actually get the bonus. Got to remember sometimes its not worth chasing every penny!!