American Express has quietly rewritten one of the most basic rules of its Membership Rewards program: new cards no longer drop their points into your existing balance automatically. The change sits in the Membership Rewards Program Terms and Conditions labeled "Last Updated: October 2026," and the terms say it takes effect immediately.

For years the rule was simple — every Membership Rewards card under one login fed a single pooled balance. That era is over. Each newly opened product now gets its own separate Rewards Account, and it stays separate until you link it yourself through the Amex app or website.

The fix is a two-minute chore. The mistake is expensive: if you close a card before linking its account, you can forfeit every point sitting on it — even while you keep another Amex card open with its points intact. Anyone who opened an Amex card this month should check their account today.

Exact terms of the change

• Effective immediately: the new language appears in the "Detail of Changes to the Membership Rewards Program Terms & Conditions" at the end of the official terms document, which "completely replaces" any conflicting language earlier in the same document.
• The new rule: "When you open a new Product, a new Rewards Account will be created and linked to that Product."
• Linking is now manual: "you may choose to link some or all of your Products to the same Rewards Account. Once your Products are linked to the same Rewards Account, points earned on each linked Product will be consolidated into a single points balance."
• How to link: "connecting your Rewards Accounts online or in the Amex App by logging in and navigating to the 'Manage Connections' option." The terms add that "additional terms and conditions may apply when connecting your Rewards Accounts online" — without spelling them out. You can also "add or remove Products from a Rewards Account at any time by calling the number on the back of your Card."
• Scope: the change applies to newly opened products. Existing cards that were already pooled into one balance are not being split apart.
• Authorized users unaffected: Additional Card Members on consumer and business accounts do not get their own Rewards Accounts — that part is unchanged.
• The forfeiture rule: "Generally, you can't use points, and we may cancel your Rewards Account, if your Product is in restricted status, cancelled or past due."

The catch: an unlinked card is a loaded trap for churners

The central danger is not the separate account — it is what happens when the card carrying it gets cancelled. The old safety net said: keep any one Membership Rewards card open and your points are safe. That safety net now has a condition attached, and it reads "Manage Connections."

Do the stakes math. The current highest advertised Membership Rewards welcome offer is the Amex Platinum's targeted "as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $12,000 in the first six months" (welcome offers vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer). At Awardtrail's valuation of 1.7 cents per point, 175,000 points is worth $2,975 — nearly $3,000. Open the card, earn the bonus, close the card at renewal without ever linking it, and that entire balance can vanish while your other Amex points sit untouched.

Two more tripwires sit inside the same terms. First, partner transfers are one-way and irreversible, so an unlinked balance may not be there when you go to move points to an airline or hotel — always confirm the combined balance before initiating a transfer. Second, the terms warn that "the ways you can use points, including available redemption options and points values, may vary depending on the Product(s) linked to your Rewards Account" — linking now determines not just where your points sit, but what you can do with them.

The headline number most likely misleads in one specific way: the front page of the same 19-page PDF still carries the old sentence, "we may automatically link them to the same Rewards Account." A reader who skims the opening and stops there would think pooling still happens. Only the end-of-document "Detail of Changes" notice overrides it — and it overrides everything.

Who benefits—and who should skip it

Must act: anyone opening a new Amex Membership Rewards card from here on — especially bonus chasers who open, earn, and cancel within a year. Add one line to your new-card checklist: link the new account in Manage Connections before you do anything else.

Should check today: anyone approved for an Amex card in October. Open the app, look at Membership Rewards, and make sure the new card's balance is consolidated with your main balance before your next partner transfer or card cancellation.

A small upside: the separation makes per-card earnings visible at a glance before you link — useful if you track which card generated which points.

Can relax: cardholders who are not opening anything new. Existing pooled balances are not being split, authorized users never had separate accounts, and earning rates, transfer partners, and ratios are unchanged.

Awardtrail analysis

The verdict: this is a paperwork change with a forfeiture-shaped tail. The two-minute link protects balances worth thousands, so treat it as mandatory, not optional. Run this checklist for every new Amex card: (1) after approval, open the Amex app, go to Membership Rewards, choose "Manage Connections," and connect the new product — if the option is not visible, call the number on the back of the card rather than waiting; (2) verify the consolidated balance before any partner transfer, since transfers cannot be reversed; (3) never cancel or product-change a card until its Rewards Account is linked or its balance is zero.

One thing to watch: Amex's unspecified "additional terms and conditions" for online linking — read whatever appears in the linking flow before you confirm. And while one reported case saw balances combine in minutes, Amex's own flow quotes up to 24 hours, so do not start the link at the moment you need the points.

Primary source: Membership Rewards Program Terms and Conditions (October 2026), American Express

Verified: October 20, 2026