In 2020, I noticed that if you added an AMEX card that earned Membership Rewards to your Amazon.com account, they’d automatically enroll that card in the “Shop with Points” program. Besides AMEX cards, they’d do the same with Citi ThankYou eligible and Discover cashback rewards.
None of these redemptions are a good value and I thought it was sneaky that Amazon would set people up to spend their travel rewards for random online purchases.
To show what I think means nothing to Amazon, they kept up the practice of automatically enrolling credit cards through the pandemic as people were hoarding miles and buying more things online.
I can’t believe it but Amazon.com has changed its practices and now lets you know they will enroll your card unless you tell them not to. I received an email after adding a new AMEX to my account:
We noticed that you’ve recently made a purchase using credit card ending XXXX on your Amazon account! If your card is from a participating program, you could be eligible to use your rewards to shop for millions of items at Amazon.
Best of all, there’s nothing you need to do to get started! Amazon will check with your credit card issuer to see if your card is eligible for Amazon Shop with Points. If it is, we’ll automatically enroll your card in the program and send you a confirmation email to let you know.
For a full list of participating programs, visit Amazon.com/shopwithpoints. Or if you’d like to check if your card is eligible and immediately start using your rewards to shop at Amazon, you can use the same link to manually enroll in Shop with Points.
If you would prefer not to be automatically enrolled in Shop with Points, let us know by visiting the Shop with Points preference page.
Thank you for choosing Amazon!
Because it’s Amazon and they can’t help themselves- here’s the fine print at the bottom of the email:
You will have 15 days from the date of this email to opt out if you don’t want to be automatically enrolled in Shop with Points. If you see this message after the 15-day period has ended and wish to un-enroll, you can do so on the Your Enrolled Rewards Accounts page by clicking ‘Unenroll’ next to ‘Manage account’.
So Amazon is still going to automatically sign up your rewards card for the Shop with Points program but at least now they’re letting you know they’re doing it. They also provide information on how to unenroll. If you’d like step-by-step instructions, check out this post.
I know that all of the mega-online websites are under increased scrutiny about their customer service practices. While I’d hope that Amazon would make the Shop with Points program something you have to opt-in for, I have to admit that telling customers that you’re going to sign them up is a small step in the right direction.
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