American Express Shop Small returns for one day only

For one day only you can get £5 back when you spend £10 on your American Express at selected smaller retailers.

American Express is bringing back its Shop Small promotion for one day only.

On Saturday 7th December, to mark Small Business Saturday, each time cardholders spend £10 on their card with selected independent retailers they will get £5 credit. There’s no limit on the number of merchants you can spend with.

The credits will be issued within five business days, but may take up to eight weeks to be applied to your account.

To take part, you just need to register your card on the Shop Small website.

You can see which local shops in your area are taking part with the map on the Shop Small website. In my area, I can see a florist, aerial supplier, pharmacy, jewellers, supermarket, gym and a couple of sports shops are all participating.

A word of warning

This promotion is an excellent way to support local businesses and get a reward back. But it’s not an excuse to go mad and spend more than you can afford. If you can, why not use it as a chance to do some Christmas shopping with money that you would have spent anyway?

There’s no point earning loads of £5 credits if you can’t pay off your cad bill at the end of the month.

American Express cards

American Express cards offer you the chance to pick up various rewards over the course of the year, not just on occasions like Small Business Saturday.

The American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday card pays 5% cashback on purchases in the first three months, capped at £100 cashback. After that you enjoy a rate of up to 1.25% depending on how much you spend over the year. It’s one of the few cashback cards that doesn’t charge an annual fee and boasts an APR of 19.9%.

There’s also the American Express Platinum Cashback card, which boasts a higher cap of £125 in the first three months, followed by a flat rate of 1.25% cashback irrespective of how much you spend. That rate doubles to 2.5% in your anniversary month with the card each year. However, it will cost you £25 a year and has an APR of 18.7%.

To see how these cards compare, read The best cashback credit cards.

If you’re a big Nectar point collector, then the American Express Nectar credit card may be worth a look. You earn up to four points for every £1 spent at Nectar sponsors and two points for every £1 spent elsewhere. You also get 20,000 bonus points when you spend £2,000 in the first three months. It comes with a representative APR of 25%.

Alternatively, if you like to cut the cost of your holidays, American Express has two credit cards which reward you with Avios (formerly Airmiles) when you spend. First there’s the British Airways American Express, which gives you one Avios for every £1 you spend, as well as 9,000 bonus Avios when you spend £1,000 in the first three months. You also get a voucher for a free companion ticket if you spend £20,000 in a year.

And then there’s the British Airways American Express  Premium Plus, which offers 1.5 Avios for every £1 spent and a 25,000 Avios bonus should you spend £3,000 in the first three months. You only have to spend £10,000 to get the free companion ticket too. However there is a massive annual fee of £150.

These cards come with representative APRs of 15.9% and 56.4% respectively.

Finally there’s the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card. This is a charge card rather than credit card, meaning you have to pay the balance off in full each month no matter what. It offers Membership Reward points on your spending, with double points on petrol and major supermarket purchases for the first year.

You get a welcome bonus of 20,000 points if you spend £2,000 in the first three months. That’s enough for a return flight for one to Istanbul (excluding fees and charges). Normally the card comes with an annual fee of £125 but it’s currently free for the first year.

To see how these reward cards shape up, check out The best reward credit cards.

More on credit cards:

The best 0% balance transfer credit cards

The best cashback credit cards

Top credit cards for Christmas shopping

The best reward credit cards