Amex Courts Gen Z and Millennial Diners With Gold Card Updates

American Express is hoping to attract younger consumers with its latest card update.

Amex on Thursday (July 25) announced a new version of its Consumer Gold Card, offering new credits for restaurant spending.

“We’re seeing particularly strong restaurant spend with Millennial and Gen Z consumers, which is our fastest growing customer segment,” Howard Grosfield, president of U.S. consumer services at American Express, said in a news release.

“The new Gold Card delivers more value to Card Members for doing what they love to do like grabbing their morning coffee at Dunkin’, dining at U.S. Resy restaurants and traveling with friends.”

Over the last six years, the company said, restaurants have become a top spending category for gold card members, who are also seeking more value for what they already spend.

With the new update, members can get up to $100 in annual statement credits after using an Amex gold card at eligible U.S. Resy restaurants, Resy.com, and in the mobile Resy app. There are also new and updated credits at Dunkin’, Five Guys, Grubhub and The Cheesecake Factory, the company said.

The rollout is happening amid a period of changing generational spending trends at restaurants, according to a recent PYMNTS Intelligence study for the “Last Transaction Report” series.

In March of 2022, the earliest period included in the study, baby boomers and seniors were spending $33 on their average purchase at a restaurant, while Generation Z consumers were spending 30% more than that at $43.

But by May of 2024, baby boomers and seniors were averaging a somewhat higher $35, while Gen Z per-purchase spending fell 21% to $34.

During the same period, Generation X average spending per restaurant purchase dropped from $42 to $36, millennial spending declined slightly from $44 to $42, and bridge millennial spending has decreased from $44 to $40.

Additional PYMNTS research also examined consumers’ digital engagement with restaurants, finding that this can vary depending on their age but also their incomes and where they live.

The recent “How the World Does Digital” study revealed that high-income consumers average 14.4 activity days to low-income consumers’ 10.2 activity days.

In addition, those who live in cities are more digitally engaged. Research from the PYMNTS Intelligence study “ConnectedEconomy™ Monthly Report: The Urban-Rural Health Divide Edition,” revealed that 75% of consumers in urban areas engage with restaurants digitally, as do 46% of suburban residents and 28% of those who live in rural parts of the country.