Is the Rakuten American Express Card worth a spot in your wallet?
The honest math on the Rakuten American Express Card: which credits you'd actually use, what its points earn beyond a plain 2% card, and what its protections would cost to buy.
First Electronic Bank · No annual fee · cash back
Earning rates
- 4x Rakuten purchases (online & in-store), through your linked Rakuten account ($10,000/calendar year, then unlimited 1%)
- 5x Rakuten Dining Program partner restaurants (No cap, and doesn't draw down the $10,000 Rakuten-purchases cap)
- 2x Grocery stores
- 2x Restaurants
- 1x Everywhere else American Express is accepted
Protections and perks (3)
- Purchase Protection — New purchases covered 90 days against theft or accidental damage, up to $1,000 per purchase.
- Extended Warranty — Adds a year to eligible manufacturer warranties of 5 years or less.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees — No surcharge on purchases abroad.
Recent changes to this card's data
2026-08-27 — Rakuten American Express Card (new card)
- Rates: extra 4% Cash Back on Rakuten purchases (online & in-store, through your linked Rakuten account) on top of Rakuten's own portal rate, capped at **$10,000/calendar year** (raised from $7,000 effective July 15, 2026 — today's data reflects the current $10,000 cap), then unlimited 1%; extra 5% at Rakuten Dining Program partner restaurants for 10% total (uncapped, doesn't draw down the Rakuten-purchases cap); 2% at groceries and restaurants generally (MCC-based, not Rakuten-specific); 1% on everything else (the card's real base rate — NOT the 4% headline figure). Source: Imprint's Rewards Program Terms and Conditions PDF (media-assets.imprint.co/partners/rak/legal/rewards-terms-en, eff. 7/1/2026), cross-checked against Rakuten's own Rewards Program Terms help article.
- Fees: $0 annual fee and $0.00 currency-conversion fee (no foreign transaction fee), confirmed in the Cardholder Agreement / Important Credit Terms PDF (media-assets.imprint.co/partners/rak/legal/asd-en, eff. 2/18/2026).
- Benefits: Purchase Protection ($1,000/item, $50,000/yr) and Extended Warranty ($10,000/item, $50,000/yr, +1yr on warranties ≤5yrs) confirmed present by the official launch press release; exact dollar figures are inferred from Amex's standard mass-market card tier since no Rakuten-specific benefits guide is public — flagged for a maintainer recheck if one is published. No-FTF coverage added, sourced to the Cardholder Agreement's own fee table.
- Sign-up bonus ($25 after $500/90 days) and the separate "convert Rakuten Cash Back to Membership Rewards points via another Amex card" mechanic are out of scope / not this card's own benefit, respectively — omitted.
Card data verified against First Electronic Bank on 2026-08-27.
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