One American Express Card Feature Ends in India Today
American Express cardholders in India are entering another phase of changes to the company’s card services and rewards ecosystem.
Effective September 16, 2026, American Express is discontinuing its “Check Your Spending Power” feature, according to communications sent to cardmembers and independently reported by multiple publications.
The feature allowed eligible cardmembers to check through their online account whether a planned purchase was likely to be approved before actually attempting the transaction.
There is, however, an important distinction in the timeline.
A second service — Emergency Card Replacement — is also being discontinued, but not from September 16. American Express has communicated that this service will end effective October 8, 2026.
That makes headlines suggesting that two features disappear “from today” technically inaccurate. One change takes effect today; the second follows roughly three weeks later.
What Was ‘Check Your Spending Power’?
The Check Your Spending Power tool was designed to let a cardmember test whether a planned transaction was likely to receive approval.
This could be particularly useful before making an unusually large purchase.
The feature should not, however, be confused with a guaranteed spending limit. Transaction approval on a card can depend on the issuer’s authorisation process and other account-related factors.
According to the communication reported by Moneycontrol, discontinuing Check Your Spending Power does not change the way normal card transactions are authorised. Cardmembers can continue using their cards normally, and American Express said no action is required from customers because of the change.
In practical terms, the change removes a pre-transaction checking tool, rather than removing a cardholder’s ability to make purchases.
What Changes From October 8?
The second change is potentially more noticeable for customers who travel frequently.
American Express currently provides an Emergency Card Replacement service that offers expedited delivery of a replacement card when an eligible replacement is required.
That service is scheduled to be discontinued from October 8, 2026.
American Express cardmembers will still have access to the standard card-replacement process after the emergency service ends. The company’s communication estimates the standard replacement timeline at 7–10 business days.
That distinction matters: card replacement itself is not being discontinued. What disappears is the expedited emergency-replacement option.
For someone who loses a card shortly before or during travel, the difference between expedited replacement and a standard 7–10-business-day process could become significant.
Cardholders should continue to report a lost or stolen card promptly so that it can be secured and the replacement process can begin.
These Aren’t the Only Amex Changes in September
Viewed on its own, removing Check Your Spending Power might appear to be a relatively narrow operational change.
But it comes during a much broader restructuring of American Express card benefits in India.
One of the biggest confirmed changes is the closure of the American Express Reward Multiplier programme.
American Express states on its official Indian website that the programme will be discontinued effective September 30, 2026. The programme has allowed eligible cardmembers to earn accelerated Membership Rewards points when purchasing through selected participating brands and the programme ecosystem.
American Express says ShopWise will continue as an independent e-voucher platform offering vouchers from more than 200 brands across shopping, dining and travel.
For cardmembers who deliberately routed large purchases through Reward Multiplier to accumulate additional Membership Rewards points, this change may have a more direct effect on their rewards strategy than the removal of Check Your Spending Power.
Platinum Travel Card Has Already Seen Major Changes
The American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card is also undergoing a separate restructuring of its milestone benefits.
From September 10, 2026, the additional 7,500 Membership Rewards points previously associated with the ₹1.9 lakh annual-spend milestone have been removed.
The ₹4 lakh spending milestone continues to provide 10,000 additional Membership Rewards points.
At the ₹7 lakh milestone, the previous additional 22,500 Membership Rewards points have been removed, while the Taj Experiences e-Gift Card benefit has increased from ₹10,000 to ₹20,000.
This is an important distinction because the change does not simply reduce every benefit. Instead, it changes the composition of the reward proposition: fewer milestone Membership Rewards points at some thresholds, but a higher-value Taj voucher at the ₹7 lakh milestone.
How significant that trade-off is depends on how an individual cardmember normally redeems Membership Rewards points and whether they can fully use the Taj benefit.
Airport Lounge Access Is Changing Too
Another change arrives on October 1, 2026 for American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card holders.
Complimentary domestic airport lounge access will become dependent on spending in the preceding calendar quarter.
To receive up to two complimentary domestic lounge visits in a calendar quarter, cardmembers will generally need to have made at least ₹1 lakh in eligible spending during the preceding calendar quarter.
There is a transitional rule for October–December 2026: eligible spending of ₹70,000 or more between July and September 2026 can qualify a cardmember for lounge access during that quarter.
The number of potential complimentary visits is therefore not necessarily what changes. The important difference is the introduction of a spending condition to unlock them.
September and October Form a Bigger Amex Transition
For Indian American Express cardholders, it is more useful to view these announcements as a timeline rather than as isolated changes.
On September 10, revised Platinum Travel milestone benefits took effect.
On September 16, Check Your Spending Power disappears.
On September 30, Reward Multiplier is scheduled to end. American Express itself confirms this date on its Reward Multiplier page.
On October 1, spend-linked domestic lounge eligibility begins for Platinum Travel cardholders.
And on October 8, Emergency Card Replacement is scheduled to be discontinued.
Taken together, the changes affect several different parts of the cardholder experience: pre-purchase account tools, emergency support, accelerated rewards, milestone rewards and airport lounge eligibility.
JantaScope Analysis: Which Change Matters Most Depends on How You Use Amex
Not all of these changes have the same financial impact.
For someone who rarely used Check Your Spending Power, today’s change may make little practical difference. Normal card transactions can continue to be attempted and authorised through the existing process.
For a frequent traveller, however, losing expedited Emergency Card Replacement could matter more because the standard replacement timeline is currently estimated at 7–10 business days.
For rewards-focused customers, the September 30 closure of Reward Multiplier could be more consequential because it changes how accelerated Membership Rewards points can be accumulated on eligible purchases.
And for Platinum Travel customers, the combination of revised milestone rewards and spend-linked lounge access changes the calculation further.
The broader lesson is that a credit card’s value should not be judged only by its headline rewards. Cardholders need to consider the benefits they actually use, the spending thresholds required to unlock them and whether those benefits continue to justify the card’s cost for their particular usage.
What Should American Express Cardholders Check Now?
Cardholders do not need to take any special action merely because Check Your Spending Power has been discontinued.
But September is a useful time to review how an American Express card is actually being used.
Customers who relied on Reward Multiplier should take note of its September 30 closure. Platinum Travel cardmembers should understand the revised milestone structure and the new lounge qualification rules. Frequent travellers should also remember that the expedited Emergency Card Replacement service is scheduled to disappear from October 8.
For any account-specific question, cardmembers should rely on the communication issued to them, the American Express app or the customer-service number printed on the back of their card.
