Amex to discontinue Emergency Card Replacement and Spending Power check
American Express has written to Card Members about two service cuts. Neither changes how spends are authorised, and neither closes your account. Both are about convenience tools: a pre-check for a planned purchase, and an expedited path to a replacement Card when you need plastic in a hurry.
What is changing
| Service | Ends | What remains |
|---|---|---|
| Check Your Spending Power | 16 September 2026 | Gone from the online account. Transactions are still authorised as they are today. |
| Emergency Card Replacement | 8 October 2026 | Standard Card replacement only. Amex currently estimates 7–10 business days. |
The letter is a Card Member notice, not a website banner. Amex India’s Manage your Card page still lists Check Spending Power under Payment and Statement, and “Request a replacement Card” under Account Servicing. Treat the letter dates as the cut, not the marketing page — that page has not been rewritten yet.
Emergency Card Replacement
Today, Emergency Card Replacement is the expedited delivery path when an eligible replacement is required — the rush option people lean on when a Card is lost abroad or days before a trip. From 8 October 2026 that service is discontinued. You keep the ordinary replacement process. Amex’s current estimate for that ordinary process is 7–10 business days.
- If the Card is lost or stolen, notify Amex promptly so the Card can be blocked. That step does not wait until 8 October.
- A replacement will still be issued. After 8 October it will not be the emergency / expedited product.
- Plan around 7–10 business days of plastic in the mail, especially if you are travelling or have only one Amex.
- The letter does not say digital wallets stop working. Confirm with Amex whether a tokenised Card in Apple Pay / Google Pay still authorises after you report the physical Card lost.
If you already travel with a backup Visa or Mastercard, this is an inconvenience. If Amex is your only card for hotels, airlines, or foreign currency, build a spare before 8 October — or know you may be waiting more than a week for plastic.
Check Your Spending Power
Check Your Spending Power, in the online account, lets you test whether a planned purchase is likely to be approved before you hand the Card over. Amex India’s manage-card page still surfaces it next to statements and bill pay. From 16 September 2026 the feature is removed.
Amex is explicit that this does not change how transactions are authorised. You can keep using the Card as usual. What you lose is the pre-flight check — useful on Charge products and on large one-off spends (hotels, hospitals, showroom invoices) where a decline at the desk is expensive.
- Authorisation, available credit / spending capacity, and declines at the merchant do not change because the button disappears.
- After 16 September, the live test is the transaction itself. If you are close to limit, pay down or call Amex before a large swipe.
- The letter does not replace Spending Power with another in-app estimator.
Who should care
Care if you use Amex as a travel card and have no backup, if you rely on rush replacement when a Card goes missing, or if you routinely pre-check a large Charge or credit spend in Spending Power. Existing Cards, Membership Rewards, statements, and everyday authorisation are not being withdrawn.