Know What Happened to Your Amex Points: Another Devaluation?

Last verified: 10 November 2026, against American Express India’s consumer experience updates page, card cancellation page, Membership Rewards terms and conditions, Membership Rewards Credit Card page and grievance redressal policy, and American Express’s emails to cardholders of 11 September and 9 October 2026. The 9 November removals are reported by cardholders, including a copy of Amex’s email to them. Amex has not published anything on them on its website.

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Latest updates

This story is still moving. CardShala re-checks it twice a day until 18 November and once a day until 30 November, and anything new goes here first. Last checked: 10 November 2026, 12:30 am IST.

• 10 November, 12:30 am IST: TechnoFino’s founder has posted a copy of Amex’s email and his own figures: 23,88,090 points debited and a balance of minus 21,48,040. Other members report balances below zero and cards closed as far back as January 2025. Amex has made no public statement, and we have not seen any report of points being given back.

The short version

On 9 November 2026, American Express India took back Membership Rewards points from cardholders who had closed one or more Amex cards and kept another open. Its email says points linked to a cancelled card must be redeemed within 30 days of cancellation, and that a technical issue kept those points showing in the account for longer. So the “glitch” Amex is talking about is that the points stayed, not that they went. Some cardholders now have a balance below zero.

This is not a devaluation in the usual sense. Earn rates and the value of a point have not changed. But it lands six days before 15 November, when every Amex card gets its own points balance and you can no longer move points between your cards. Every report so far involves a closed card plus an open one. If you have never closed an Amex card, nothing in this story has touched your points.

What happened on 9 November (cardholder reports)

Cardholders who were hit describe the same pattern. They held two or more basic Amex cards, closed one or more of them, and kept at least one open. On 9 November their points activity showed a large negative Points Adjustment, and an email arrived headed “Important update regarding your Membership Rewards points balance”.

TechnoFino’s founder posted a copy of that email in a thread on the forum. It tells the cardholder that, under the Membership Rewards terms, points linked to a cancelled card must be redeemed within 30 days of cancellation or are forfeited. It says a technical issue kept the cancelled card’s unredeemed points showing beyond those 30 days, that the issue is now resolved, and that the balance no longer includes the cancelled card’s points. It ends by saying no action is needed.

The cases posted so far, all cardholders’ own figures:

• TechnoFino’s founder: 23,88,090 points debited, leaving a balance of minus 21,48,040. He had held several Amex cards with one pooled balance and closed some older ones without using their points. He says an Amex representative, on a call he recorded, accepted that Amex’s own staff had no instruction about a 30-day rule for individual cards when he closed them. He plans to go to the Banking Ombudsman.
• A cardholder who published the full timeline: closed Platinum Travel on 14 September and kept the Membership Rewards Credit Card (MRCC). Before closing, Amex’s app chat told them three times that their points would stay active. On 9 November, 56 days later, 1,20,928 of their 1,49,110 points went, about 81% of the balance.
• Other TechnoFino members: figures of minus 52,000 and minus 63,000 points, and a screenshot of a balance at minus 69,764. One says he closed the Platinum Card in January 2025 and Platinum Travel in February 2026, had already used his points, and went from about 1,00,000 points to minus 1,98,000.

Two things stand out. The closures go back at least to January 2025, so this is not only about people who dropped Platinum Travel after this year’s cuts. And many balances went below zero, which means Amex took back more points than people held on 9 November. The founder’s own figures show it: 23,88,090 − 21,48,040 = 2,40,050 points before the debit, so roughly ten times his balance was taken. A TechEnclave post sums up who is hit the same way: people who closed cards but kept another one open. Nobody has published a count.

The glitch, and what Amex says it was

If you have heard this was a glitch that Amex will fix on its own, the email settles it. The technical issue Amex names is that the cancelled cards’ points kept showing past 30 days. The 9 November debit is what Amex calls the fix, and it tells cardholders they do not need to do anything.

So do not wait for an automatic reversal. If you think the points should be yours, you have to complain in writing. The steps are further down.

Something else will look like a glitch next week and is not one. Amex’s update page says that between 12 and 16 November, transactions, payments and points may take longer than usual to show in your online account, and that pending updates will appear by 16 November. Amex says your points are not lost during that delay.

Amex’s own rules point both ways

Amex’s side. Its Membership Rewards terms say that if you cancel your card, points you have not redeemed must be used within 30 days of cancellation, or they are forfeited. Its card cancellation page tells you to redeem your points before you cancel. After cancellation, it says, points can only go as a credit to your card account, and anything not redeemed within 30 days is forfeited automatically.

The cardholders’ side. The same terms say every basic card you hold in your name is combined into one Membership Rewards Program Account. The cancellation page says nothing about people who hold more than one card. TechnoFino’s founder says the 30-day rule was always understood to apply when you close your last Amex card, not one of several feeding a shared balance. Amex’s email of 11 September said points would be kept separately for each card from 11 October, and its email of 9 October moved that, and every other change, to 15 November. Until then there was one shared balance, and the account holding it never closed.

The dates matter. The card closed on 14 September reached day 30 on 14 October: three days after Amex’s original date for separate balances, and a month before the new one. Cards closed in January 2025 or February 2026 were closed long before separate balances were even announced. Neither of the two emails Amex sent MRCC holders about these changes, on 11 September and 9 October, says anything about points on a card you close.

Amex also keeps the right to change the programme’s terms at any time, without notice. Which reading holds is for Amex’s grievance desk or the RBI Ombudsman to decide, not for us.

Another devaluation: what has and has not changed

Not in the usual sense. Amex’s 11 September email says your earn rate and redemption options stay the same, and its update page says the value of points for Select and Redeem is unchanged. What has changed is what your points are tied to. From 15 November they belong to the card that earned them, and that matters the day you close a card.

It does land on top of a year of cuts. The MRCC loses its 50% renewal-fee waiver on 15 November, which we costed in our post on the MRCC fee change. Platinum Travel’s card page now lists 10,000 bonus points at Rs 4,00,000 of spend in a card year and a Rs 20,000 Taj stay voucher at Rs 7,00,000, after its milestone points were cut this year. That is why so many cardholders closed Platinum Travel and kept the cheaper MRCC.

What it cost, in rupees

After a card is closed, Amex’s terms let you take its points only as a credit to your card account, at 4 points to Rs 1, with a minimum of 1,000 points. That gives a floor for what was lost.

• The timeline case, 1,20,928 points: 1,20,928 ÷ 4 = Rs 30,232 at Amex’s own cash-out rate. The cardholder values the points at 50 paise to Rs 1 each, which puts the loss at Rs 60,464 to Rs 1,20,928. That valuation is theirs, not Amex’s.
• The founder’s 23,88,090 points: 23,88,090 ÷ 4 = about Rs 5,97,022, again at Amex’s own cash-out rate.

Now a reader closer to most of ours. Take someone in Pune earning Rs 40,000 a month who holds only the MRCC and puts Rs 12,000 a month on it: Rs 5,000 of groceries, Rs 3,500 at local shops, Rs 2,000 of fuel and Rs 1,500 of electricity.

• Fuel and utilities earn nothing on the MRCC, so Rs 5,000 + Rs 3,500 = Rs 8,500 a month earns points.
• Base points: Rs 8,500 ÷ 50 = 170 a month.
• Monthly bonus for four spends of Rs 1,500 or more: 1,000 points.
• A year: (170 + 1,000) × 12 = 14,040 points.
• If she closes the card with all of that unused, Amex will only credit it to her card account: 14,040 ÷ 4 = Rs 3,510, and only within 30 days. On day 31 it is Rs 0.

A negative balance is worse than an empty one, because the points you earn next go into the hole first. At her 14,040 points a year, a balance of minus 63,000 takes 63,000 ÷ 14,040 = about 4.5 years of spending just to get back to zero. Minus 1,98,000 takes 1,98,000 ÷ 14,040 = about 14 years.

Nothing was taken from her on 9 November. The lesson is the order of things: use or transfer a card’s points first, close the card second.

Check whether you were hit

• Open the Amex app or website and go to your Membership Rewards points activity.
• Look for a large negative Points Adjustment dated 9 November 2026, or a balance below zero.
• Check your inbox, including the promotions and updates tabs, for the email described above.
• If you have never closed an Amex card, every report so far says you are not in this group.

If your points were removed

1. Take screenshots today: your points activity and balance, the 9 November email, and the chat, call notes or email from the day you closed each card. Amex moves to a new app and website on 15 November, and some of its digital services are unavailable from 11 to 18 November.
2. Do not close your remaining card in anger. Amex has not said what happens to a negative balance when you close a card. And if Amex later gives points back to a closed card, its own terms allow only account credit within 30 days. Get Amex’s answer in writing first.
3. Complain in writing. Amex’s grievance ladder runs from the helpline (1800 419 3646) to the Manager, Executive Correspondence Unit (Manager-Customerservicesindia@aexp.com), the Head of Customer Service (Head-Customerservicesindia@aexp.com), the Nodal Officer (AEBCNodalOfficer@aexp.com) and the Principal Nodal Officer (pnoindia@aexp.com).
4. Say exactly what happened: each card you closed and when, the card you kept, what Amex told you before you closed it, how many points were removed and on what date, and your balance before and after. Ask for the points back and for a reference number.
5. Escalate if needed. If Amex does not resolve it within 30 days of your complaint, or you are not happy with its answer, file with the RBI Ombudsman at cms.rbi.org.in (toll-free 14448).

What changes on 15 November

What	Until 14 Nov	From 15 Nov
Points if you hold two or more basic Amex cards	One combined balance	A separate balance on each card
Moving points from one of your cards to another	Allowed	Permanently discontinued
Points as statement credit	Pick individual transactions	Applied to your whole balance, minimum 1,000 points
Payment still due at your next statement	Points carry on	No earning or redeeming on that card until you pay
MRCC 50% fee waiver at Rs 90,000 of yearly spend	Available	Removed
MRCC monthly bonus counted by	Transaction date	Posting date

Amex says points already in your account will be split according to each card’s current balance. Earn rates and redemption options stay the same.

What you should do

• Closing a card? Use or transfer its points first. After closing, Amex only lets you take them as account credit at 4 points to Rs 1, and only for 30 days. From 15 November you cannot move them to your other card either.
• Holding two Amex cards with a big redemption planned? If you need points from both cards for one redemption, ask Amex before 15 November whether a card-to-card transfer is still possible. After that date it is not.
• Do not panic if points look stuck from 12 to 16 November. Amex says pending updates will show by 16 November.
• Pay in full and on time. From 15 November, a payment still due at your next statement stops earning and redeeming on that card.
• Hit by the 9 November debit? Complain in writing this week, keep every screenshot, and hold off on closing your last card until Amex answers.

FAQ

Why did Amex remove Membership Rewards points on 9 November?

Amex’s email to affected cardholders says points linked to a cancelled card must be redeemed within 30 days of cancellation, and that a technical issue had kept those points showing in the account beyond that. Amex has not published a statement on its website.

Was it a glitch, and will Amex reverse it?

The email calls the earlier display the technical issue, not the removal, and says no action is needed. We have not seen a reversal reported so far. If you think the points are yours, complain in writing and keep the reference number.

Is this another Amex devaluation?

Not in the usual sense. Earn rates and point values stay the same. What changes on 15 November is that points belong to the card that earned them, so closing a card can cost you that card’s points after 30 days.

My points balance is now negative. What does that mean?

Amex took back more points than you held on 9 November. Until the balance climbs back above zero there is nothing to redeem, and the points you earn next go to filling the gap. Amex has not said what happens to a negative balance if you close the card, so ask in writing before you do.

I hold only one Amex card. Am I affected?

Every report so far involves someone who closed one card and kept another. If you hold one card and have never closed one, nothing in this story has touched your points. The 30-day rule still applies the day you close your only card.

Where do I complain if my points were removed?

Start with the helpline, then write to the Head of Customer Service at Head-Customerservicesindia@aexp.com and, if needed, the Nodal Officer and the Principal Nodal Officer. If it is not resolved within 30 days, file with the RBI Ombudsman at cms.rbi.org.in.

Sources

• American Express India, consumer experience updates (points per card, end of card-to-card transfers, 12 to 16 November delays, service disruption dates), checked 10 November 2026.
• American Express India, card cancellation (redeem before cancelling, account credit only, 30-day forfeiture), checked 10 November 2026.
• American Express India, Membership Rewards terms and conditions (PDF) (sections IV.3, VII.2 and VII.5 on cancellation, I.6 and II.3 on the Program Account, VIII.9 on changes), checked 10 November 2026.
• American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card page (earn rate, exclusions, monthly bonus, fees), checked 10 November 2026.
• American Express India credit cards page (Platinum Travel milestones), checked 10 November 2026.
• American Express India grievance redressal policy (escalation contacts, RBI Ombudsman), checked 10 November 2026.
• American Express’s emails to Membership Rewards Credit Card holders of 11 September 2026 (list of changes) and 9 October 2026 (new date of 15 November).
• American Express’s 9 November 2026 email to affected cardholders, as posted on TechnoFino.
• Cardholder reports: the TechnoFino thread (first page), pointsforfeited.in (one cardholder’s timeline and points activity) and the TechEnclave thread, read 10 November 2026.