American Express (Amex) is helping small businesses in the time of the pandemic.

Amex has announced that they will provide $200 million to a stimulus-style initiative that will give cardholders $5 back every time they spend at least $10 with a small merchant. So the money you save is the money you earn. Eligibility and terms apply.

This is a part of Amex’s small shop campaign, it begins and will continue over the next three months.

Only eligible cardholders can get $5 cashback up to 10 times when they shop online or from the store of the local merchant.

The announcement is beneficial for the small and midsize businesses around the country, they are struggling to stay in business during COVID-19 and the lockdowns, including a recent reopening in California, Texas, and Florida where daily new infections have spiked.

Amex’s own research says that these stimulus-type programs will actually induce customers to spend money.

“American Express has backed small business owners through challenging times for decades, and we are standing for them today as many struggle to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Stephen J. Squeri, Chairman and CEO of American Express.

Amex also stepped up to help small businesses during an economic crisis, during the Great Recession in 2008, they launched Small Business Saturday. American Express understands the impact these campaigns can have on the small and midsize business community. Over the past 10 years, Small Business Saturday has helped in driving over $120B in consumer spending at local businesses in the U.S. on the day.

Additionally, in continuation of support for minority and women-owned businesses, Amex in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, that will bring together the U.S. Black Chambers, the National Black Chamber of Commerce, the National Business League and Walker’s Legacy with a $10 million pledge over the next four years to fund a program that will provide grants to the U.S. Black-owned small businesses to help them in their recovery and address the challenges they face due to racial and social inequalities.

The research for Small Business Recovery shows that three-quarters of U.S. consumers are currently looking for ways to shop from small merchants and support their community, while 62 percent say that they will prioritize shopping small when businesses in their area reopen, assuming that they will be able to follow social-distancing guidelines.

78 percent of U.S. small business owners have a similar outlook, they are saying that they are optimistic about surviving COVID-19 impacts and 80 percent expecting to see customers return once it is safe to do so.

We all have to fight against this crisis due to coronavirus (Chinese Virus) and help small business owners.

Amex cardmembers can enroll in the shop small initiative by visiting the Shop Small website.