Amex Is Shutting Down Reward Multiplier in India From September 30

American Express is shutting down its Reward Multiplier programme in India, ending one of the more useful ways for cardholders to earn accelerated Membership Rewards points on online shopping and travel.

The programme will be discontinued effective September 30, 2026. American Express informed cardmembers of the change by email on August 26, and the Reward Multiplier page now carries the discontinuation notice as well.

For cardholders who regularly used the portal for purchases at brands such as Apple, Myntra, Nykaa, Tanishq, MakeMyTrip, Flipkart and Lenovo, this takes away a straightforward route to earning bonus Membership Rewards points.

Amex says transactions completed up to September 29, 2026 at 11:59 PM will continue to be processed under the existing Reward Multiplier terms. After the programme ends, purchases will earn the card's regular Membership Rewards rate unless they qualify for another Amex offer or accelerated-earning programme.

How Reward Multiplier Works

Reward Multiplier is Amex India's shopping portal for earning additional Membership Rewards points.

Instead of visiting a participating merchant directly, cardholders start through the American Express Reward Multiplier portal, select the merchant and complete their purchase using the eligible Amex card.

The multiplier depends on the card being used.

Notably, the multiplier isn't the same across Amex's Platinum-branded cards. Platinum Travel and Platinum Reserve earn 3X through Reward Multiplier, while the Platinum Card earns 5X.

The Merchant List Made Reward Multiplier Useful

The significance of the closure becomes clearer when you look at the brands available through Reward Multiplier.

The current merchant list spans fashion, electronics, travel, jewellery, beauty and lifestyle, including:

Shopping & Fashion: AJIO, Nykaa Fashion, Myntra, Nykaa, Flipkart, Uniqlo, Farfetch and Koskii.

Electronics: Apple, Dyson, Lenovo, Croma and Acer.

Travel: MakeMyTrip for domestic and international flights, as well as domestic and international hotels.

Jewellery & Lifestyle: Tanishq, Forest Essentials, IGP, Wellbeing Nutrition and Mokobara.

Individual merchants have their own exclusions, while some currently show no exclusions on the Reward Multiplier portal.

The mix made the programme particularly useful for large transactions. An iPhone or Mac purchase at Apple, jewellery at Tanishq or a sizeable flight or hotel booking through MakeMyTrip could generate substantially more Membership Rewards points when routed correctly through Reward Multiplier.

Once the programme closes, purchases at these merchants will no longer qualify for the Reward Multiplier rate simply by going through the portal.

What Does the Reward Multiplier Shutdown Cost Cardholders?

The actual impact depends on which Amex card you hold and how much spending you routed through Reward Multiplier.

Put simply, a purchase that currently earns 2X, 3X or 5X points through Reward Multiplier will fall back to the card's standard earning rate once the programme ends, unless another offer applies.

For example, consider ₹20,000 of monthly eligible spending on a card earning 3X through Reward Multiplier. If its regular earn rate is 1 Membership Rewards point per ₹50, that spend currently generates 1,200 MR points a month, versus just 400 MR points at the standard rate.

Over a year, that's a difference of 9,600 Membership Rewards points. At CreditKeeda's illustrative valuation of ₹0.50 per point, that's roughly ₹4,800 in reward value.

The exact loss will vary by card, multiplier and spending pattern, and can be higher for cardholders who regularly used Reward Multiplier for large purchases.

Illustrative only. The actual value of Membership Rewards points depends on how they are redeemed.

Reward Multiplier Wasn't Flawless Either

The headline numbers don't tell the whole story. Reward Multiplier's link-based tracking wasn't always reliable, and some cardholders reported missing accelerated points even after following the required purchase flow.

Credit card geek CardWizrd called the shutdown a “non-event”, describing Reward Multiplier as a “badly implemented product” where very few transactions tracked properly. For cardholders who had already stopped relying on the programme because of tracking issues, the practical impact may therefore be smaller than the numbers above suggest.

ShopWise Isn't Going Away

The end of Reward Multiplier doesn't mean Amex is eliminating accelerated rewards altogether.

ShopWise continues to operate.

ShopWise is American Express India's e-voucher platform, covering more than 200 brands across shopping, dining, travel and other categories. Depending on the eligible card, cardmembers can earn accelerated Membership Rewards points when purchasing eligible vouchers.

But ShopWise isn't a direct replacement for Reward Multiplier.

Reward Multiplier lets you click through to a participating merchant and make a purchase directly. ShopWise revolves around purchasing vouchers first. Merchant availability, voucher denominations, redemption conditions and bonus rates can therefore differ.

For cardholders who routinely used Reward Multiplier by clicking through to Apple, Myntra, MakeMyTrip or another participating merchant, the experience after September will be different even where some spending can be redirected through ShopWise.

Reward Xcelerator Continues Too

Amex also continues to operate Reward Xcelerator, its accelerated-rewards programme for eligible premium cardmembers.

This is separate from Reward Multiplier and has its own participating merchant list, eligibility requirements and offer terms.

Reward Xcelerator is currently scheduled to run through January 31, 2027, and offers accelerated earning at participating premium and luxury merchants.

That means accelerated earning isn't disappearing from the Amex ecosystem altogether. But Reward Xcelerator and ShopWise don't make the closure of Reward Multiplier irrelevant. They are different programmes with different merchant coverage and mechanics.

Cardholders should therefore check each alternative individually rather than assuming the same earning rate will continue elsewhere.

Another Rewards Cut for Amex Cardholders in 2026

Reward Multiplier's closure comes during a year in which American Express has already made significant changes to some of its card propositions in India.

Earlier this year, Amex revised benefits on the Platinum Travel Credit Card, including its milestone rewards and lounge access. The end of Reward Multiplier adds another change for cardholders who had built their spending strategy around Membership Rewards.

The broader picture is more nuanced than Amex simply eliminating accelerated rewards. ShopWise and Reward Xcelerator remain, but one of the easiest ways to earn bonus points by shopping directly with mainstream online merchants is disappearing.

And the difference can be significant on big-ticket purchases.

Someone planning to buy an iPhone or MacBook, jewellery from Tanishq, or book a sizeable trip through MakeMyTrip can currently earn 2X, 3X or 5X points through Reward Multiplier, depending on the card.

After the programme ends, that same transaction could fall back to the card's regular earning rate unless another Amex offer applies.

Should You Bring Forward a Purchase?

If you already have a large purchase planned at an eligible Reward Multiplier merchant, it is worth checking whether completing it before the programme closes makes sense.

That doesn't mean buying something simply to earn additional points. But if an iPhone, laptop, jewellery purchase, flight, hotel booking or another eligible expense is already coming up, completing it while Reward Multiplier is still available could preserve the accelerated earning opportunity.

Given Amex's stated transaction deadline, we would avoid leaving it until the last moment and complete any planned Reward Multiplier purchase by September 29, 2026.

Check the merchant's exclusions before paying as well. Some participating brands have category, product or transaction restrictions that determine whether a purchase qualifies.

What Changes From October 2026?

There is no indication that Membership Rewards points already earned through Reward Multiplier will be affected. Regular Membership Rewards earning also continues as usual.

What disappears is the extra multiplier available by routing eligible purchases through the Reward Multiplier portal.

From October, Amex cardholders looking to maximise a purchase will have to check ShopWise, Reward Xcelerator, merchant-specific Amex offers and the returns available on competing credit cards before deciding how to pay.

For casual users, Reward Multiplier's closure may not change much. And for those who had already given up on its sometimes-frustrating tracking, the shutdown may indeed feel like a non-event.

But for cardholders who made a habit of checking Reward Multiplier before an Apple purchase, a Tanishq bill, a MakeMyTrip booking or a Myntra order, September marks the end of a useful Amex earning route.