Your Guide To AMEX Shop Small

Support local businesses, earn rewards, and enjoy exclusive savings with AMEX Shop Small this season.

Tom Goward10 Jun 2020

American Express’ Shop Small campaign is always a favourite among Amex cardholders. The generous cashback promotion is run yearly, often eagerly awaited by many. If you haven’t heard of Amex Shop Small before, pay close attention as it could save you money whilst supporting small businesses at a time of need.

UPDATE: if you previously didn’t get the offer on your card, it is now possible to manually enrol into Shop Small by completing the form found on this page.

What is Amex Shop Small?

American Express uses their Shop Small promotion as a way of promoting their card acceptance in the local community. This year, Shop Small is bigger than ever and runs from 10 June to 31 August 2020. During the promotion period, eligible American Express Card Members will be rewarded with $5 cashback on each transaction over $10 (limited to 10 times per card). That means you could score $50 cashback per card!

The offer is only applicable once per participating business, both in-store and online and is limited to the first 300,000 cards.

How do I register for Shop Small?

It’s extremely easy to participate, all you need to do is visit the American Express app or website to register and save this offer to your card. Be sure to get in quick as the offer will be removed as soon as 300,000 cards are registered! (Update: the offer cap has now been lifted and is now uncapped!)

What cards are eligible?

Not all American Express Cards will be eligible for Shop Small. If your card is ineligible, you will receive an error message when you try to activate the offer. Corporate, business travel, government and store Cards are not eligible.

If you hold multiple Amex cards, you will need to register each. Both primary and supplementary cards are eligible for shop small, although again you will need to register each card separately.

Merchant map

The Shop Small map allows you to find businesses which are participating in the Shop Small promotion. From coffee shops to small boutiques, you’ll find your neighbourhood teeming with exciting businesses, plus there are so many online businesses to check out. Unfortunately, the map isn’t always 100% correct, so it’s always best to check directly with your local store..

When will I receive my cash-back?

Technically the terms and conditions say that it can take up to 90 days to receive your cashback, although during previous Shop Small campaigns it only took a few days and most users receive an instant notification via email.

Maximising Shop Small

Each card can only be used once per store you shop at. So one way to game the Shop Small promotion would be to politely ask the cashier to split your payment over several cards. For example, if you made a purchase of $100 using 5 cards, you could score 50% off your purchase!

Another way you could maximise your Shop Small potential is to organise supplementary cards for your family members. Most Amex cards will offer a set number of free supplementary cards, and since each card is eligible, you can multiply your cashback by using multiple cards!