Update: American Express has decided to discontinue the Local Champion game, the program will conclude sometime in February 2021 and have already stopped accepting new enrolments since 12 November 2020.
Read the FAQs we received from Amex below to learn more.
Local Champion has been available since 2013 but will be ending for all players in February 2021. The game will no longer be available for enrollment for new users or any users that cancel their enrolment after 11 November 2020. A notification on the close of the game was provided to you in November 2020.
No action is required on your part and points will be earned and added as normal up until the last day of the competition.
All points earned during the competition will be available in your account as normal and will simply stop being earned when the game concludes.
Yes, you can continue to add or remove merchants and earn points as normal up until the close of the game. If you un-enroll from Local Champion however you will not be able to re-enroll again
No. Local champion was provided at no additional fee to allow customers to earn additional points, you can continue to use the program and earn points as normal up until the end date in Feb 2021 but there will be no additional compensation for unearned points or financial adjustments.
American Express always aims to offer products and services that benefit customers. After over 7 years the competitive game is no longer meeting the needs of our customers so we will be retiring it. You can still continue to use your card and earn points as normal and we are always looking for new ways to innovate and provide value to our customers.
Although Local Champion is ending Amex is still backing our local businesses with many initatives such as Shop Small, Vogue Fashion Night In, Music Backers Program and many more. We hope that moving on from Local Champion can make way for the next wave of innovations and support for our local businesses.
The section below contains our original Local Champion guide which can still be used as a reference for existing Card Holders enrolled into the program until February 2021.
American Express first launched their Local Champion game back in 2013. It allows users of their apps to earn an additional bonus point per $ spent at retailers where they shop the most.
What is Amex Local Champion?
The premise is pretty simple: Amex knows the physical merchants where you use your card the most. Therefore, it is willing to reward you with an additional bonus point per dollar spent at those merchants if you become the ‘Local Champion’ for that specific store.
The range of eligible American Express cards includes Qantas- and Velocity-branded cards. You’ll earn the bonus points into the scheme in which you are enrolled, i.e. American Express Membership Rewards, Qantas Frequent Flyer or Velocity Frequent Flyer.
How Local Champion works
After downloading the Amex app for iOS or Android, you’ll find Local Champion included as an option within.
Local Champion status seems to be achieved by having the most transactions (over an unknown time period) of anyone also playing the local champion game.
You can select ten stores from a list Amex presents you in the app to play Local Champion at. It seems that if no one else is playing for status at a given location, then it takes 3-5 transactions in 30 days to become the Local Champion.
For popular locations, the number of transactions could be as high as 10-15. It all depends how much competition there is.
The additional bonus point per dollar is accrued on top of category bonuses for the spend. For example, on the Platinum Edge, you’ll start earning 4 points per $ on your local supermarket spend at a spot where you have become the Local Champion.
You don’t need to have your phone on you or pay using your device, e.g. via Apple Pay or an Android digital wallet. It’s all done via the transaction appearing on your statement.
How to set up Amex Local Champion
If your Card is eligible, you could earn 1 bonus Membership Rewards point per dollar spent at your favourite places. Here’s how:
- Register by clicking the Membership tab in the app
- Select up to 10 participating places
- Become Local Champion once you’ve used your Card at these places more times than other Card Members in the last 30 days
- Earn 1 bonus point per dollar spent while you hold the title (up to 10,000 bonus points per year)
The app keeps tally of how many transactions you have left to go before gaining Local Champion status. It also contains a neat Places Nearby map view of merchants. This feature shows how many transactions it would take to become the Local Champion with them.
How to play the Local Champion game and rake in the most points
As I mentioned before, the game is based on the number of transactions at a given location in the 30-day period. Then points are awarded based on your dollar spend.
As a result, it’s easy to get involved. If you have two or three transactions a week at your local supermarket, dry cleaner, petrol station or typical work lunch cafe, you could, without trying too hard, become the Local Champion.
However, you can, of course, play this more strategically in a couple of ways.
First, you could go hard and try and get Local Champion status more quickly by adding more transactions to your account for a location you’ve selected to play at, over and above your everyday spend.
Secondly, you could strategically target locations at which you know you’ll want to make a larger transaction at in the future to become Local Champion at. Try making a few transactions on the Amex for low-dollar amounts and gaining Local Champion status first. Then spend up on a big-ticket item like a TV and earn the bonus points on that larger transaction.
Why Local Champion is a great way to earn more points
Local Champion is super-personalised so that you can make it work easily. You can do so by both selecting the right retailers to play at, and then adjusting your behaviour a little to gain the extra points.
I assume that it won’t be hard to gain Local Champion status for most people, as the pool of competition is likely to be low. This is due to:
- The local targeting of specific retailers limits those who you play against to those who shop at the same retailers you do
- Of these customers, they need to be using an American Express-issued personal card to play
- Of those Card Members, they need to have the Amex app installed
- And of those Card Members, they need to know about the Local Champion game, and have opted in to play, and at that specific retailer
Limitations of Local Champion
The first limit is the ten retailers at which you can play Local Champion at one time. This is fine—it’s just a rule of the game you need to know about.
Another is that business cards aren’t eligible for Local Champion—personal cards only. And supplementary Card Members don’t get to play either—transactions need to be made on with the primary card on an account.
Thirdly, note that for franchises, department stores and retail chains, you must select a specific store location.
And, finally, there’s a limit of 10,000 bonus points, that can be earned from playing Local Champion. For those who really use it, that limit can be reached quite quickly.
Cards that work with Local Champion
These are the key cards that now work with Amex Local Champion, and the Point Hacks guides for them:
- American Express Explorer
- American Express Platinum Card
- American Express Platinum Edge
- Qantas American Express Ultimate
- Qantas American Express Premium
- Qantas American Express Discovery
Summing up
I’m a big fan of Local Champion as a way to boost points earn.
For your local supermarket, you can pick up 4 points per dollar when using a Platinum Edge, for example. Plus, Qantas- and Velocity-branded American Express cards are also eligible.
Make sure that your card is registered for Local Champion on your mobile Amex app. And remember that supplementary Card Member transactions do not count.
The annual 10,000-point limitation on the game is the most frustrating aspect, as it disincentivises heavy card users and game players from engaging once the points cap is hit.
That said, Amex has been running the game with different iterations and improvements for several years. Therefore, I would hope that it if usage keeps growing, this might be looked at in future.
Been racking up FF Points via Amex for years on food, PO, tax. elec, rego’s etc. anywhere I can get them, sure have to pay some fees but points are still cheap. Wooolies are great for points of you have a card each and play the offer game.
Can anyone share how many point s you will get for being local champion?
I was thinking if I should buy my coffee, books groceries else where – but the local hero stores on Amex are more expensive than my usual. 10,000 pts is only about 80 is that’s correct – so it may not be worth it unless you shop there already.
Hi Keith ,
I first learn about Local Champion here in Pointhacks . just a quick note that i recently earned 493 bonus points on 13/1/2018 after 10,000 cap been reached around October 2017 and haven’t moved since , not sure if Amex have reset the 10k cap or let it go uncapped now as the total points on my Amex Apps showing total points earned 10,493 points in total
Just attained my 10,000 bonus points and the Local Champion tab disappeared overnight from my card when I look at it on my phone
none of my local supermarkets seem to be showing up?
What happens after you get 10,000 points? Does it reset to zero again after a certain time period?
Yes, but only once Amex reset the game entirely at some future date they don’t publish. It’s an odd quirk of local champion that the 10,000 points is a hard cap. They last reset the promotion about a year ago.
Is there a limit of the number of transactions you can do per day per store? So can I break one shop up into 2 or 3 transactions?
I’m guessing this only applies to American Express branded cards, not say, CBA AMEX?
Boo for no co branded bank Amex black cards 🙁
Definitely not easy for me. I and friends have been monitoring. Always between 15 -30 short for Coles, Woolies, Spar, IGA in Surry Hills, Redfern, Waterloo, Zetland, Erskineville, Marrickville, Mascot, Eastgardens, Maroubra, Coogee, Randwick. Never achieved local champion!
Question – how many bonus points for velocity platinum?
One extra point per $ if you reach local champion for spend at that store.
Just researching this topic. Do you know, is every merchant a Local Hero? I have a cafe next store and it won’t appear on my Amex Local Hero map so I can’t select it ..but there are other places around it. Strange thing is this merchant is participating in the Shop Small promo.
Been tried twice 2months ago with my Amex card but it doesn’t count the transaction (both shops are in my register list). I thought the offer was finished. Maybe should have another try see if it works.
Hey
I need 9 transactions at my local coles to become local champion..will it register me as a champion right after i do the transactions or only after the transactions post?
Thanks
You should hit Local Champion immediately after the transaction are made, although the points will take longer to post – it seems like they are added weekly (ish) now.
Thanks Keith
i saw my local champion transactions update within a few minutes, however splitting payment didnt work so would have to be separate transactions.
I started using amex in my local shop and done 3 transactions and i became local champion. However next day i got message on my amex mobile app saying you are dethroned.
What that mean?
That means someone else has made more transactions than you, and you are no longer local champion at that retailer. The app will tell you how many more transactions are needed to become local champion again.
Does anyone know how long it takes to have the bonus points credited? I have been waiting around 6 weeks for any points to come through. All my purchases have been at Coles and Woolworths and have been told my the Amex rep that it has been taking longer from the bigger retailers. Just wondering what others experience has been.
Is there a waiting time for the bonus points to kick in once you become champion? I made 2 transactions to become champion, then later that day another purchase, with the App displaying I was champion at the time. But, there are no bonus points listed. Anyone else had this happen?
With the old Local Champion there generally was no waiting time, in my experience. Are the points from all those purchases now showing in your account and none of them are bonused? And are you still Champion now?
Yeah, all 3 sets of points show up, and I’m still champion. It’s not a huge amount of lost points, more a test to easily become champion somewhere. I’ll make another transaction (assuming I’m still champion) and see how it goes. Thanks for the quick response!
Figured I’d update this in case anyone else stumbles across it – the bonus points posted separately 4 days after the initial transactions. I guess I should have been more patient.
When I search the suburbs nearby, all the Coles and Woolworths stores do not seem to be options (only all the small stores).
Yes, I’m getting the same on the map view 🙁
My local IGA is not show up for register until i spent with them after that Amex show it as a list you can register with
Keith,
the local champion thing is driving me mad! I can’t get the app to display my local petrol station or supermarkets and can’t find the businesses I want to add. Also, can you explain how it works with primary and secondary cardholders. if only one of us can play, do we have to be using the card of the person who signed up?
I can’t see supers/fuel on the map view either. Otherwise for businesses I have transacted with I am seeing them in my list of options.
The primary cardholder sets the locations you are playing at. Transactions from the secondary cardholder are counted toward Local Champion points/status in the primary account.
@Keith In the terms & conditions it says:
“Transactions must be on your Registered Card”
“Transactions on a Supplementary Card do not qualify”
Does this mean the secondary cardholder transactions are therefore not eligible?
Just to confirm – the secondary cardholder purchases definitely do not count towards Local Champion. Had a bunch of purchases that didn’t register on it.
Thanks Chris – sorry it took so long for a reply – I’ve checked and updated the guide accordingly.
Hi Keith!
Great article! Just giving you a heads up that Centurion cardholders can also play this game 🙂
Sadly DJ Amex seems to be excluded