Pros & cons
Pros
- 5% cash back for the first 3 months, up to $2,000 in spend.
- 2% cash back on gas and groceries.
- 1.25% cash back on all other purchases.
- No annual fee.
Cons
- Lower acceptance as an American Express.
- Limited insurance included.
- Cash back only paid out once per year.
Your rewards
Getting your welcome bonus
Based on $2,000 in monthly spending, you can get up to 5% in your first 3 months on up to $2,000 in spending which translates to an estimated $71.◊
For all welcome bonus details click here.
How you earn rewards
Each card earns rewards differently. Part of choosing your card is deciding what type of rewards you want to get. With SimplyCash Card from American Express, here's how you earn rewards:
- 2% cash back on gas
- 2% cash back on groceries (up to $300 cash back annually)
- 1.25% cash back on all other purchases
For all reward details click here.
How much your rewards are worth
The dollar value of your rewards depends on the specific rewards program ‒ and what you choose to redeem your points for. For SimplyCash Card from American Express in particular, if you spend $2,000 per month, here's our estimated annual rewards earned depending on which reward you choose:
| Statement credits | $350 |
Calculating your annual rewards
$24,000 annual spending x 1.46% return on spending = $350 annual rewards
$350 annual rewards − $0.00 annual fee = $350 net annual rewards
Details and eligibility
- Estimated Credit Score
- 660 - 724
- Personal Income
- N/A
- Household Income
- N/A
- Annual Fee
- $0.00
- Extra Card Fee
- $0
- Card type
- Credit
- Purchase
- 21.99%
- Cash Advance
- 21.99%
- Balance Transfer
- N/A
Insurance coverage
- Extended Warranty
- 1 year
- Purchase Protection
- 90 days
- Travel Accident
- $100,000
Please review your insurance certificate for details, exclusions and limitations of your coverage, terms and conditions apply.
Learn more about the value of credit card insurance coverage.
Genius Rating
SimplyCash Card from American Express's 4.6 Genius Rating is based on the weighted average of the following scores:
Methodology
All scores are produced by our math-based rating algorithm that takes into account over 126 credit card features.
Top cards from American Express
American Express SimplyCash review
American Express is largely known for their travel credit cards. But they're no slouch when it comes to cash back either.
In fact, the SimplyCash Card from American Express is one of the best no annual fee credit cards you can get. Here's what makes it tick.
Earning cash back with the SimplyCash Card from American Express
Cash back credit cards represent the simplest rewards programs out there. For every purchase you make, you get a small portion back in the form of cash.
Here's what this credit card earns for rewards:
- 2% cash back on gas
- 2% cash back on groceries (up to $300 cash back annually)
- 1.25% cash back on all other purchases
That's a lot of rewards for a no annual fee card, to the tune of $350 on a typical $2,000 monthly spend.
As to getting your cash back, it's paid out once per year as a statement credit in September.
3 benefits to the SimplyCash Card from American Express
There's more to this card than just the rewards – here are 3 things to like about it.
1. No annual fee or income requirements
It's a no annual fee credit card, even though it offers rewards that can compare to others that do have them.
And, it has no income requirements, not even a low one of $12,000, so that won't be a hindrance at all to getting the card.
2. Access to typical Amex benefits
It may have no annual fee, but the SimplyCash Card from American Express still gets you access to the usual Amex benefits.
So if you want easier access to concert tickets with Front Of The Line or easy savings with Amex Offers, this card offers both to you.
3. Excellent welcome bonus
No annual fee cards offer welcome bonuses, but they rarely crack the $100 mark, and most are much less than that.
But not here. When you get approved for a SimplyCash Card from American Express, you'll get 5% cash back for the first 3 months, up to $2,000 in spend. That's a good chunk of cash.
2 downsides to the SimplyCash Card from American Express
Is it a perfect card? Not quite. Here are 2 things to think about.
1. American Express acceptance
Amex acceptance isn't as bad as you think it might be. But we can agree that it's not on the same level as Visa or Mastercard.
It's easy to check if stores you frequent take Amex cards. Amex has a map you can look at, showing what stores in your area accept Amex cards to see if it would work for you.
There's also a workaround – simply pair your Amex card with a no fee Visa or Mastercard. Here are 2 options.
First is the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card. You can earn 2% cash back on up to 3 categories of your choice, including other popular categories like restaurants, bill payments, and home improvement stores. And you'll earn 0.5% on all other purchases where Amex isn't accepted.
The other is the Brim Mastercard. It only earns 1% cash back on all purchases, but also has no foreign exchange fees, rare insurance coverages like mobile device and event ticket cancellation, as well as the opportunity to earn bonus rewards when shopping with Brim’s 150+ retail partners.
2. Rewards only paid out once per year
Many cash back cards at least let you choose when you want to get your cash back paid out, even if they're only statement credits.
That's not the case here. You'll get your cash back paid out once per year in September.
Comparison to the SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express
Amex offers a pair of SimplyCash cards, the other being the SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express. Here's what this card offers.
| SimplyCash Card from American Express | SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express | |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome Bonus | 5% cash back for the first 3 months (terms) | 10% cash back for the first 3 months + $50 (terms) |
| Earn Rates | * 2% cash back on gas * 2% cash back on groceries (up to $300 cash back annually) * 1.25% cash back on all other purchases | * 4% cash back on gas and groceries * 2% cash back on all other purchases |
| Insurance Included | 3 types | 10 types |
| Annual Fee | $0 | $119.88 |
There's really no comparing the 2 – which is better depends on how much you spend and what you want in a credit card.
For a $119.88, you'll get far more rewards and better insurance coverage.
So, based on a $2,000 spend, here's the annual return for each card.
SimplyCash Card from American Express – 1.46%
SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express – 2.55%
The magic number when that annual fee pays for itself? Well, here's the math on the monthly spend where the annual fee offset itself.
First, the formula to use:
Difference in annual fee / Difference in annual return / 12
Plug in our numbers and we get:
$119.88 / (2.55% – 1.46%) / 12 = $916
So we'll say if you spend around $900 per month, at least consider the preferred version. Otherwise, the no fee card is an excellent card for you.
Leave a review
These are our thoughts on the SimplyCash Card from American Express. Do you have any opinions?
If you have the card, or had it in the past, leave a review so others can see real world experience with it.
FAQ
What does the SimplyCash Card from American Express offer for rewards?
The SimplyCash Card from American Express is a cash back card that earns the following on purchases:
- 2% cash back on gas
- 2% cash back on groceries (up to $300 cash back annually)
- 1.25% cash back on all other purchases
What benefits does the SimplyCash Card from American Express include?
The only benefits provided by the SimplyCash Card from American Express are the standard Amex benefits of Front Of The Line and Amex Offers.
What are the annual fee and income requirements of the SimplyCash Card from American Express?
The SimplyCash Card from American Express has no annual fee or income requirements.
Key benefits
User reviews
Reviewed by 23 Canadians
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Not the best rewards and not the best accepted, but Amex has the best customer service.
Every time I call them, the phone is picked up without much wait time, and the agent always speaks clearly with high quality microphone.
No annual fee, beautiful looking, 1.25% cashback on everything and 2% cash back on groceries.
Great card for every day purchases for which there are no bonus points (i.e. gas, groceries). In addition, Amex constantly has their Amex Offers and Shop Local promotions through the year that boosts the cashback up to 50% for some purchases (aka, spend $10, get $5 cashback). Also includes insurance on car rentals which helped me last year. The only drawback is that Amex is not accepted at a lot of places and some of the Shop Local places promoted don't even accept Amex (reason why I gave a 4 out of 5 rating)! The few times over the years that I've contacted customer service, they've been top notch.
I just wanted everyone to know that are researching this card. I got approved for a $1,000 limit with a 694 Canadian CreditKarma score. This website advertises 725 - 759 range so I wanted to inform everyone that you're able to get it at a lower score if you pay your credit cards on time.
Meh, so so. I am not a big credit card user but my only one and only credit was defrauded and therefore replaced, had to wait a week for it, so I thought I'd try this one as a second backup just in case. Credit limit is one sixth of my other one LOL!!! What a joke. Top credit score, very good income, money in the bank, zero debts, property owner with no mortgage, etc......
I'm not impressed.
So I applied for another non american express brand out of curiosity, was approved with the same (high) credit limit as my original card in 60 seconds.
I think amex needs to rethink their strategy.
