How to earn Amex Membership Rewards from Rakuten
There’s an option to get paid in points instead of cashback through Rakuten, I chose this option because I’m able to get much more value from the points than the cashback rate.
By default, Rakuten earnings are paid as cash back on a quarterly basis through a "Big Fat Check" or a PayPal deposit. However, in 2019, Rakuten added the option for members to opt into earning Membership Rewards points instead of cash back.
To switch your Rakuten earnings to AmEx points, first, log into your Rakuten account and browse to your account settings. In the "How would you like to get paid?" section, you should see the option to "Switch to Membership Rewards points." Click or tap this link to get started.
A pop-up box explains that any earnings you have earned to date will be paid as cash back on the next payment date. You'll immediately start earning Membership Rewards points on future purchases.
To earn Membership Rewards points through Rakuten, you need to be a card member of an AmEx Membership Rewards points-earning card. You'll be prompted to log into your American Express account to link your accounts.
If you have an eligible Membership Rewards card, you'll get a pop-up saying so. Then, after verifying your email address, you should get a message that you're now earning Membership Rewards points instead of cash back.
As Rakuten notes during this process, you'll continue to see earnings listed as cash back. However, you'll instead earn 1 Membership Rewards point for every 1% of cash back. That means an offer to earn 8% cash back is equal to earning 8 Membership Rewards points per dollar.
How Rakuten pays out Amex points
Like with cash-back earnings, Rakuten pays out Membership Rewards points once a quarter. Rakuten's current payment schedule pays out earnings around a month and a half after the close of a quarter. That means the points that you earn from April to June are paid out on Aug. 15. Then, it can take eight to 12 weeks for the points to post to your Membership Rewards account.
Rakuten members need to earn more than 500 points to be eligible to transfer points to your Membership Rewards account. If your balance is under 500 points, it will carry over into the next quarter. If you switch to earning points mid-quarter, you'll still get credit for the cash-back earnings you earned before the switch.
This is a GREAT way to earn points during the holiday season by shopping at places you would normally shop! The holiday season is typically the most expensive time of year for families so you might as well get some points out of it!