American Express Turns Travel Memories Into NFT Passport Stamps

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Ah, American Express! Always finding ways to make the ordinary extraordinary, or at least, making it into a digital memento for our soon-to-be retro future. Who wouldn’t want to immortalize their travels on a blockchain, right? Forget about tangible souvenirs, we’re now talking about blockchain-backed passport stamps that are as real as your last impulsive purchase at the airport duty-free shop. All thanks to the Amex Passport feature, which turns your travels into what can only be described as ‘non-fungible tokens’ or NFTs. Just a little something extra for that Instagram post that’ll never be seen again after 24 hours, but hey, it’s all stored on the glorious blockchain.

American Express Launches Passport Stamps

According to their trusty reports (and probably some enthusiastic interns who just discovered NFTs), Amex has rolled out a service called Amex Passport. This gem of a feature issues what are essentially NFT-style stamps-ERC-721 tokens, no less-on the Ethereum layer-two network, called Base. Because, of course, what’s a passport without the essence of cryptocurrency, right?

If you’re lucky enough to be an eligible US consumer cardholder who has somehow linked your Amex card to your online account (didn’t we all know that was coming?), then you’ll earn these so-called “stamps” every time you make in-person purchases in over 130 countries and regions. That’s right, you can now retroactively stamp your past two years of travel. Why bother having those physical stamps in your passport when you can relive them digitally, only slightly less satisfying?

What The Stamps Show

The NFTs themselves, according to the reports (which must have been as exciting to write as they are to read), record the basics: the country or region you visited, the date, and perhaps a quirky note about your favorite meal or a delightful memory. You know, the stuff that makes travel feel like an Instagram caption. But here’s the catch: these stamps are non-transferable, which means you can’t sell them on some dark web marketplace for quick cash. They’re strictly for personal use, much like that souvenir fridge magnet you swore you’d never buy but did anyway.

How Travelers Can Earn Stamps

Here’s the magic formula, folks: if you’re an American Express Cardholder (or if you’ve somehow tied Apple Pay or Google Pay to your Amex card), every qualifying purchase you make abroad should trigger a stamp. No, it’s not a real stamp, but you can brag about it online like it is! And apparently, within 25 days of the program’s launch, more than 20,000 stamps were issued. Clearly, there are some frequent travelers out there who would rather collect blockchain stamps than actual stamps on their passport. Gotta love the modern world!

American Express: Privacy And Technical Notes

Now, let’s talk privacy. American Express is all about limiting what goes on-chain. No, they won’t broadcast your coffee order to the entire world (unless, of course, you ordered an avocado toast). But hey, anything that lives on a public blockchain is visible to those with the right technical know-how. So while you may not see your personal data up there for everyone to gawk at, there’s always that risk. But don’t worry, Amex claims they’ve got privacy safeguards in place. Just don’t get too paranoid when you see that “blockchain explorer” window pop up in your browser. Your breakfast burrito from Barcelona doesn’t need to be world-famous.

What The Numbers Show

In case you were wondering how people feel about this, a survey tells us that around 73% of people would prefer more digital ways to mark their trips (because apparently, pen and paper are so last century). But 56% of them also said they miss the good ol’ physical passport stamps. You know, the ones that actually felt like an accomplishment rather than just another empty gesture. But never fear, this feature only applies to US consumer cards. Corporate accounts? Sorry, you don’t get to join the cool club.

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2025-09-17 02:19