American Express Membership Rewards has introduced Mobile Gift Cards, a new award option for smartphone users. Members can redeem their points for gift cards with eight retailers: Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, PBteen, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, West Elm and Williams-Sonoma.
To redeem points for a mobile gift card, log in to your American Express Membership Rewards with the American Express app or by visiting AmericanExpress.com from a smartphone. Redeem your points for the gift card and at checkout, find the gift card in your account’s Gift Card Wallet, select “tap to pay” from your smartphone and show the barcode and gift card number at checkout.
Bottom line: You will only get a value of about a penny per point when redeeming for gift cards. For example, a $25 gift card requires 2,500 points. But if you’re out shopping and want to save some money, you can download a gift card at checkout and spend points instead of cash.