American Express Gold Credit Card

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the home of ultramodern and major city of Dubai and, of course the tallest tower of the world, making it one of the most popular destinations worldwide. Many people from all over the world visit the country to enjoy the luxury shopping complexes and extravagant attractions the country boasts. But luxury does not come cheap, so it is worth knowing how the use of credit cards can help you.

The credit card industry is a huge business, and this business is dominated by a couple of companies. Digital payments are getting popular in UAE. For a lot of people including UAE residents, expats, and tourists, cash is dying. As per the latest data released by the Euromonitor International – a market research firm, the consumers in UAE are gradually living in a cashless world.

From paying for daily things, utility bills, restaurant bills, and footing the price of high-value purchases, expats as well as residents of UAE are using their credit cards.

The recent data from the Euromonitor International shows that the consumers of the country spent around $59 billion (which is Dh 216 billion) on products and services using only their debit and credit cards in the year 2017. The number of credit cards in UAE in circulation is considerably higher than the total number of people within the total banked population in the nation, making intensely-competitive surroundings in the payments and financial cards as the firm vie for space in the customer wallet.

About American Express Company:

The American Express Company is popularly known as Amex. It is an American multinational financial institution offering financial services worldwide. The bank was founded in 1850. The company was named as the world’s 23^rd most valuable brand by Forbes in 2017. Amex had 112.8 million cards in force worldwide as of December 31, 2017.

American Express (Middle East) was established in 1977. They are a joint venture company, owned by American Express and Mawarid Investment Limited.

American Express Gold Credit Card:

American Express Gold Card debuted in the year 1966 by the American Express Company in an effort to cater to the upper level of business travel. Amex Gold Card opens avenues to a world of exclusive travel benefits with complimentary to Airport Lounge. This card is a charge card and has no pre-defined spending limit to its users. Amex Gold Card is an ideal choice for high-spending foodies in the UAE. It might have a high yearly fee; it provides enough benefits to make it worth the price.

American Express Gold Card members do not have to pay any interest and have to pay off the due amount in full every month.

Highlights of American Express Gold Credit Card:

The key highlights of Amex Gold Card in UAE are as follows:

• No pre-defined credit limit
• Access to Airport lounges worldwide with Priority Passes
• Comprehensive travel insurance. (The policy number is ‘AMEX19’)
• Exclusive and exciting offers by American Express Selects
• No interest is charged
• Access to Membership Rewards programme.

American Express Gold Card at a Glance

Minimum Annual Income	Annual Fee	Rate of Interest	Salary Transfer	Cashback
USD 75,000 (employed) USD 100,000 (self-employed)	USD 175	0%	No	No

Salient Features of the American Express Gold Credit Card:

With a multitude of exclusive and innovative features to aid card members get the maximum value for their money spent American Express Gold Card ensures unlimited and immediate returns for its members. The gold card members can easily manage the expenses, and save considerably, without having to run from pillar to post. Here’s a rundown to some standout features of American Express Gold Card:

Enjoy Real Rewards:

American Express Gold Card members can enjoy the Membership Rewards programme. Under this programme, every time the cardholders make a purchase using the card will be rewarded with 1 Membership Rewards point on each USD 1 spent. In addition to this, the reward points earned by the card users will never expire. Hence, the cardholders can collect these points and redeem them for various travel and lifestyle rewards from any of the 12 hotel partners or airlines partners.

Protection:

American Express Gold Card is the key to peace of mind while shopping or travelling. This is because AMEX protects the card members including the Supplementary cardholders with comprehensive insurance plans across the globe.

The card members can get:

• Travel Accidental Insurance - up to USD 350,000
• Retail Protection Insurance - up to USD 1,500
• Travel Inconvenience Insurance - up to USD 1,000

Online Access:

The American Express Gold Card members can now register for convenient online access to their gold card account. The cardholders just have to visit their official website of American Express. With the online facility, the card members can also:

• Update their contact details
• Activate their credit card
• Request for supplementary card
• Set an alert preference for Email and SMS
• Refer someone to take the advantage of Amex Gold Card and earn Bonus Membership Reward Points.

Earned points are Forever:

The points earned by American Express Gold Card member never expire. The card member can redeem these points.

Round the Clock Assistance:

The American Express Gold Card members get round the clock assistance through their call centres across the globe.

Key Benefits of American Express Gold Credit Card:

The Gold Card by American Express is a charge card promising an ocean of rewards and benefits to its users. The exclusive range of benefits and rewards offered by AMEX Gold card makes sure utmost convenience and huge savings. Some of the ground breaking benefits of the gold card from American Express are discussed below:

• 12 airlines Membership Rewards Partners to travel with
• The card members get Complimentary regional Airport lounge access across the Middle East.
• Guarantee for Online Fraud Protection
• Online access to account, e-Statement and Services Alerts
• Thousands of global, regional and local offers.

Travel Accident Insurance:

The American Express Gold Card member is insured against any loss in the sum of USD 350,000 – subject to Provisions, Exclusions, and Terms and Conditions of the Policy.

Schedule of benefits under this insurance:

Type of Loss	Compensation
Loss of  Life	USD 350,000
Loss of one foot and one hand	USD 350,000
Loss of both feet or both hands	USD 350,000
Loss of the entire eye-sight of an eye and the loss of one foot or one hand	USD 350,000
Loss of the entire eye-sight of both  the eyes	USD 350,000
Loss of entire eye-sight on only one eye	USD 175,000

Eligibility Criteria to apply for American Express Gold Credit Card:

In order to apply for American Express Gold Card, the applicant must fulfil the following parameters:

• The age of the applicant must be 21 or above
• The applicant of the card must be a resident of UAE
• The applicant must have an annual income of USD 75,000 (employed), USD 100,000 (for self-employed individuals) – or equal local currency (dirham).
• No history of any bad debt
• The self-employed individuals must have been working for over a year

American Express Gold Credit Card Fees and Charges:

The details of fees charged on American Express Gold Card are as follows:

Fees for Annual Card Membership
Basic	USD 175
Supplementary	USD 75
Membership Rewards Fee	USD 25*
Cash Access
Transaction Fees on Cash Withdrawal	USD 15 or 4% whichever is higher
Cash Withdrawal Limit	USD 2,000 per account for every 30 days
Other Charges
Charges on the Overdue Balance of the card	Monthly combined charge of 2.5% of all the due amount, with an additional late payment fee of USD 30
Conversion Processing Fee for non-billing currency transaction	2.8%
Charges for Dishonoured Cheque, direct debit or payment.	USD 25
Re-printing of the Statement Fee	USD 10 per printed statement
Summary of Insurance Coverage
Travel Inconvenience Insurance: Delayed flight departures, denied boarding, or flight cancellation	Up to USD 200
Loss of Baggage	Up to USD 1,000
Delay of Baggage	Up to USD 200
Missed Connections	Up to USD 200
Travel Accident Insurance	Up to USD 350,000

American Express Gold Credit Card Rewards:

The company offers Membership Rewards, which is the American Express Loyalty Programme. Here the card users can discover how this card can earn rewards for just using their card. Every time the cardholders spend on their American Express Gold Card they earn points that can redeem for exclusive rewards. Moreover, unlike many other loyalty programmes, the Membership Rewards points never expire.

How to earn Membership Rewards Points on American Express Gold Card?

The card members can earn Membership Rewards Points from American Express Gold Card by:

• The cardholders earn 1 Membership Rewards point for every spent of USD 1 or equivalent in local currency on their American Express Gold Card that can be redeemed for various fantastic rewards.
• In order to earn more points, the card members must make use of their American Express Gold Card rather than using cash, another card, or cheque.
• The Membership Rewards points never expire. As there is no ceiling on the points earned by the cardholders, they can accumulate as many points as they want.
• Nevertheless, once the users redeem the points for a voucher or transfer these points to a partner, they cannot credit the points back into their Membership Rewards account.

How to Redeem Membership Points of AMEX Gold Card?

The card user of American Express Gold Card can redeem Membership Rewards points by:

• The card members can redeem their Membership Rewards points for vouchers and gift cards such as complimentary shopping and hotel accommodation. The cardholders can also redeem their points for merchandise rewards item such as jewellery accessories or electronics.
• The cardholders can transfer their points to frequent flyer programme of any participating partner for complimentary upgrades and tickets, or to frequent guest programme of any partner for complimentary hotel accommodation.

How to enroll into the Membership Rewards Programme of AMEX Gold Credit Card?

The card members can enroll into Membership Rewards Programme as it is easy and simple. They can do this by following ways:

• Log on to the Online Services and choose ‘My Requests’ on left side. Within this the cardholder will see ‘Enrol into Membership Rewards’ option. Click on this tab and follow the steps from there, or
• The card members can also call on the dedicated Membership Rewards Customer Service Team of American Express on (+973) 17 557722

Documents required to Apply for AMEX Gold Credit Card:

The applicant must have the following documents in order to apply for American Express Gold Card:

In the case of Employed Individuals:

If the applicant is an employed individual, then the following documents are required to apply for Amex Gold Card:

• Copy of the passport
• Copy of UAE National ID Card or Iqama
• Copy of statement of bank for the last three months for the salary account.
• Copy of an attested employment or salary certificate by the company. This must have the date of employment, designation, and annual income of the applicant. Or, a copy of pay slips for three months attested by the company.
• A signed copy of UAE Credit Bureau Consent Form.

In case of Self-Employed Individuals:

The self-employed individuals applying for American Express Gold Card must present the following documents in order to apply for this card:

• A copy of the passport of the applicant
• A copy of the UAE National ID or Iqama
• Copy of the statement of the salary account of the applicant for the last three months
• Copy of the bank statement of the company/business/firm for the last three months
• Copy of commercial registration of the company, and certificate of incorporation or certificate of company registration. The applicant must ensure that the attachment displays the percentage of the ownership of the applicant in the company.
• A signed copy of UAE Credit Bureau Consent Form

How to apply for American Express Gold Card?

Applying for AMEX Gold card is easy and quick. One can apply for this card online through the official website of the Bank. In order to apply for Gold Card from American Express, the applicant must follow the steps mentioned below:

• Step 1: Visit the official website of American Express (Middle East)
• Step 2: Click on ‘The American Express Gold Card’ on the home page. The applicant will be redirected to the Gold Card page.
• Step 3: Click on the ‘Apply Now’ tab on the right hand side of the page. The user will be redirected to a new page.
• Step 4: On this page, the applicant has to fill in the ‘employment status’ whether the user is an employed individual or a self-employed person along with the ‘Country of Nationality’.
• Step 5: Upload the necessary documents mentioned above (in the documents required section). The file size of each document must not exceed 1MB. These documents are to uploaded in .tif, .gif, .jpg, or .png format.
• Step 6: Check all three options below the heading ‘Please confirm the following before you begin’.
• Step 7: Click on ‘Start Application’ tab. The user will land-up on another page, which will have the form. The applicant has to fill in the form. The form has different tabs namely:
  • About You
  • Employment
    • Your Finances
    • Additional Benefits
    • Supporting Material
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Review and Submit

FAQs on American Express Gold Credit Card

Q1: What is One Time Payment?

Ans: There are payments, which you initiate for every individual transaction. The opportunity to control how much and when you pay for every bill is given by one-time payments.

Q2: For how many days I’ll get the complimentary retail insurance?

Ans: You’ll get the complimentary retail insurance for 90 days.

Q3: What does ‘No Pre-set Spending Limit’ means?

Ans: No Pre-set Spending Limit is not unlimited spending. The purchases made by you are approved depending on various factors like credit history, spending patterns, and various financial resources.

Q4: What is minimum age required to apply for supplementary cards?

Ans: Any family member above 15 years of age can be enrolled for up to 9 supplementary cards.

Q5: What is annual fee of the American Express Gold Credit Card?

Ans: The annual fee of American Express Gold Card is USD 175.