The Platinum Card from American Express for Schwab has a unique super power: it makes it possible to convert your Membership Rewards points to cash for 1.1 cents per point. Even if your Membership Rewards points were earned from other Amex cards, simply having the Schwab Platinum card unlocks this capability. The name for this feature is “Invest with Rewards“.
Invest with Rewards
Using the Invest with Rewards feature is simple: Log into your Amex account, click “invest with rewards”, then follow the prompts. In the end, the cash will be deposited into your Schwab brokerage account where you can then invest it or withdraw it.
1) Log into Amex and click “Invest with Rewards”
Log into your Amex account and select your Schwab card. On the right, you should see a box showing your Membership Rewards points total. Beneath that total, you should see a link labeled “Invest with Rewards”. Click it.
2) Get started
The next screen will invite you to get started. The screen after that (not shown) will ask for your Schwab credit card info.
3) Pick your brokerage account and the number of points you want to convert
The “Select Brokerage Account” drop down should auto populate with any valid Schwab brokerage accounts you have.
Finally, after confirming your selections, you’ll see something like this:
Your redemption has been received and is being processed. Thank you for redeeming your Membership Rewards® points through Invest with Rewards. You should expect to see a deposit from Schwab in your brokerage account in approximately 4-6 business days. If you do not receive your deposit within that time frame, please contact Charles Schwab at 1-866-385-1227.You will receive an email confirmation of your redemption request. In the meantime, please print this page for your records.
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Don’t forget to update it to 1.1c per point.
Thanks for the reminder. Updated.
I recently opened a Schwab Platinum card. When I get to step #2, after I enter my credit card details, I get an error stating that my information is incorrect and needs to be fixed. (It isn’t. Everything is entered accurately.)
I spent about an hour on the phone with an AmEx customer service agent, who ultimately concluded its a Schwab issue and directed me to contact them. I then spent about another hour on the phone with a Schwab agent who was equally flummoxed and insisted it must me an AmEx issue.
Has anyone else encountered this? Any idea on how to resolve?
This is a common problem with the Invest with Rewards option. I had the same problem back in 2019. Based on comments I’ve seen since then, it has never been fully resolved
I was in the same situation as you a few days ago. Did you get an instant number after approval? I used the expiration date from the instant number instead of the one on the physical card (I guess it takes them a while to update). The actual card number and CID should be the same though. Give that a try, it worked for me.
Had this issue early on as well. After calling in, we determined that the expiration on my card didn’t match what AMEX had in their system. Odd issue. Was easily resolved by requesting a new card (used that it was damaged – in order to get a new card number). As AMEX overnights Plat cards,it was working correctly in 24 hr turnaround.
Do you get 1099 if you convert MR to cash?
No