EXCLUSIVE: American Express Shop Small to return in June, tweaked

We understand that American Express is bringing back its ‘Shop Small’ promotion in June.

‘Shop Small’ is an established Amex offer which incentivises you to shop at small independent retailers. In turn, of course, it encourages small independent retailers to accept American Express in order to participate.

It typically runs in November but American Express has been running more restrictive versions in Summer in recent years.

It seems that it will return for Summer 2021, but with a tweak. Look at the logo:

The Winter version of ‘Shop Small’ gives you £5 back for every £10 purchase you make at a participating independent retailer.

There is no limit to how much cashback you can receive, although you are limited to one £5 payment per retailer per American Express card you register.

As you can see above, the Summer 2021 version of ‘Shop Small’ will, under the current plan, give you £5 back on a £15 transaction.

What else do we know about Shop Small Summer 2021?

• The promotion is currently scheduled to run from 5th to 25th June.

• You will be restricted to £25 cashback per American Express card you register.

• The standard rule on one payment per retailer per card will remain.

One thing worth remembering about Shop Small is that you have historically been able to register supplementary cards separately. This allows you to earn cashback at the same store on both your main card and your supplementary cards.

If you had been thinking about adding a supplementary card to your American Express account, you may want to make sure it is in place by 5th June.

For clarity, American Express funds 100% of the cashback. Your local shops are not paying to participate.

We’ll let you have more details on Shop Small Summer 2021 when it is officially confirmed.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – June 2023 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 13th June, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card is doubled to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – and you get £200 to spend at Amex Travel too! Apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 13th June, the sign-up bonus on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ card is doubled to 30,000 Virgin Points. Apply here.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.