By December, American Express Membership Rewards members in the U.S. will be able to use their Membership Rewards points at the time of payment at all U.S. McDonald’s.

Currently, there are a few select locations where this capability is available.

How does it work?

To use points at the counter at participating McDonald’s restaurants:

• Pay with an eligible American Express Card at the counter
• On the payment screen, see the option to use points, and the number of points needed for the order
• Press the green “Yes” button to use points for the order; receive an on-screen confirmation that points were used

One point equals one penny.

If you use your AMEX card at a McDonald’s drive-thru, you may retroactively use points through the AMEX mobile app or on the AMEX website.

During the launch of this new points option, each time a card member uses points for their McDonald’s order, American Express will make a $1 donation to the Ronald McDonald House Charities, helping to support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children.

You can read the announcement about this new way to spend your Membership Rewards points HERE.

INSIDE|Point: Leslie Berland, executive vice president, Digital Partnerships & Development at American Express, says, “Card Members love using Membership Rewards points in everyday, relevant ways, and we’re leveraging our technology to make it easy and seamless to redeem points in real-time.”

The value at one penny per point is not great but if you’re craving a Big Mac and you have Membership Rewards points to burn, no one but you, the person behind the counter, the person behind you in line or American Express has to know.