American Express Launches An eGift Card

Earlier this week, American Express launched a new product: the American Express eGift Card. We recently added our review of the gift card and it performed well for a bank-issued gift card.

Here are a few things to know about the new American Express eGift Card:

1. $2.95 Purchase fee
2. No expiration
3. No post-sale fees
4. Delivered via email
5. No shipping fees
6. Requires activation by the recipient
7. Only redeemable online and via phone
8. Unused gift card may be refunded

The Trade Off

The American Express eGift Card actually has a higher Gift Card Score than the traditional plastic American Express Gift Card. This is mainly a result of purchase fees. The big trade off here is the restriction of not being able to use the gift card in-store in exchange for lower purchase fees.

That being said, it is possible the American Express eGift Card would work in-store. It just depends on the merchant's ability to manually key in the gift card number because there is nothing to swipe.

A Growing Trend: eGift Cards

Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express have historically not offered an eGift Card option to consumers. It's great to see American Express offer another option with lower purchase fees. Naturally, it would be even better if American Express could guarantee the egift card could be used in-store. I expect to see more egift cards enter the marketplace over the coming years.

Be sure to checkout our current and full review of the American Express eGift Card.