Rakuten American Express Card
No annual fee · 1% on everything else · no foreign transaction fees
Earn rates · how we got this
| Category | Rate | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Dining | 2% | uncapped |
| Groceries | 2% | uncapped |
| Everything else | 1% | uncapped |
| Online retail at the Rakuten portal only — anywhere else in this category the card earns its base rate, so it is excluded from every ranking on this site |
4% | on the first $7,000/year |
See how it ranks: best dining cards · best groceries cards.
Non-cash perks
- Amex Offers access
- Amex Experiences (presale/exclusive access to concerts, sports, theater)
- Return Protection (90 days from purchase)
- Extended Warranty (doubles manufacturer's warranty, up to 12 months)
Does the fee earn out? · how we got this
No annual fee, so every point earned is pure upside. The question is only whether its rates beat the other cards already in your wallet — which depends on your spending, not the card.
Check the current offer on the issuer's site → Where a card link will appear once available — no link on this page pays us today.
Who this card is not for
Every point below is a term the issuer prints, read off this card's own row in our database — not an opinion about the card. One thing on this card rules out a kind of spender:
- Anyone who doesn't spend at the Rakuten portal. Its largest printed rate, 4% on online retail, pays only at the Rakuten portal. Anywhere else it earns its base 1%, so the headline number is a loyalty rate rather than a category rate — which is why no ranking on this site counts it.
More from American Express
- Schwab Investor Card from American Express
- The Business Platinum Card from American Express $895/yr
- The Platinum Card from American Express $895/yr
- The Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab $895/yr
- The Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley $895/yr
- The Plum Card $250/yr
Which card should this spending actually be on? The demo re-scores a year of realistic spending against every card in a wallet — free, no signup. See it on sample data →
Verified 2026-09-03 against issuer terms · sources: www.rakuten.com · www.rakuten.com · thepointsguy.com. Spot an error? Tell us.