American Express Green Card Review

With American Express' personal cards, you can see if you will be approved before you apply, without impacting your credit score. To make this decision, Amex runs a soft credit check instead of a hard credit check.

Most lenders perform a hard credit check when you apply for a new card, which can temporarily impact your credit score. A soft credit check, however, does not affect your credit score.

Instant decisions are only available for personal card applications and the soft credit check process is not available for applications done by phone. 

With a line-up of premium cards with substantial annual costs, it’s nice to know the American Express network also has some options equipped with similar benefits for no annual fee. Luckily, the American Express Green Card is one of these exceptions, allowing you to accumulate the highest rewards in Canada with no annual fee on the card.

Some welcome bonuses are trickier to achieve than others, this is because whether you receive the bonus all comes down to how much you spend within a certain timeframe. The American Express Green Card offers a welcome bonus that you can easily work your way up to, with a reasonable spending minimum that will earn you tons of bonus points in the first few months.

With Amex Experiences™ and Front Of The Line® Amex Presale Tickets, American Express Cardmembers get access to amazing events in Canada.

Use your Amex Membership Rewards points for travel redemptions like airline and hotel partner transfers, gift cards, shopping, or even to cover statement credits. So, whether you're a frequent traveler, a constant shopper, or just want some points to help clear your credit card balance, this card is equipped to suit a variety of needs.

With a no-annual-fee card, you can’t necessarily expect the best insurance coverage – that often comes with a cost. However, there are some no-annual-fee card competitors that do offer a bit more when it comes to insurance policies. That said, if purchase protection and extended warranty sounds like all the support you need, then the American Express Green Card should prove itself to be satisfactory.

American Express credit cards are known for their travel perks. While the American Express Green Card does fall under this same network, and offers some travel benefits in terms of extra points through online Amex travel bookings, it’s not the best choice for frequent travelers due to its lack of travel coverage and perks that tend to be present on other competing premium cards.

If you’re not completely impressed with the perks that come with having an American Express affiliated card, then you should know that there are some setbacks to using this network as your credit card provider. American Express cards are not as widely accepted as other networks like Visa and Mastercard (specifically they're not as commonly accepted internationally and even at some popular establishments like Costco and Loblaws). 

So, if you're looking for a card you can use almost anywhere or if you’re an avid Costco or Loblaws shopper, the network alone might be a dealbreaker.