As you may remember, back in March I was invited to New York City for an immersion event to learn all about American Express’ new charge card geared toward people in their 20s and 30s called the ZYNC Card.  ZYNC has been in beta testing since December, but as of today the card has been officially released!

ZYNC is unique in that you can build the card to fit your lifestyle.  When you sign up for the card you can also sign up for “packs,” which give you additional benefits.  You choose the benefits, or packs, that will best fit your lifestyle.  With today’s release there are a whole bunch of new benefits that I had no idea were going to be included until I saw the press release.  As I’m already a ZYNC card holder, the packs I know I’ll be using include:

• The Style Pack offers 2X Membership Rewards points at department stores, enhanced return protection, a special collaboration with online sample sale site Gilt with benefits including a one time $25 account credit, quarterly access to private sales, and shipping promotions on select sales.
• The Go Pack offers 2X Membership Rewards points on airfare ticket purchases, lost $20 wallet protection, and travel discounts.
• The Restaurant Pack offers 2X Membership Rewards points at select restaurants plus special dining offers from Cold Stone Creamery®, Dunkin’ Donuts, Seasons 52, Morton’s The Steakhouse, Lettuce Entertain You and Patina Restaurant Group.
• The Give Back Pack offers 1,000 Membership Rewards(R) points for each logged hour of volunteer service, plus one Membership Rewards point for every charitable dollar donated using your American Express Card.

Most packs will cost $25 per year, but I know at least one pack, The Eco Pack, is free.  I’m really freaking excited about the collaboration the Style Pack has with Gilt.  The $25 Gilt credit offsets at least one year of owning the $25 pack, which is awesome.  There are so many different options available with this card and I’m excited to see how it all unfolds.

To kick off the launch of the card American Express will be hosting a live concert with The National on May 15, 2010.  The concert will be streamed online for free. For more information about the concert check out ZYNC’s Facebook Page.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see ZYNC creeping up all over the place.  Even this morning when I was checking out Dunkin’ Donuts Perks I unwittingly found a special section for ZYNC card holders {and I swear I had NO idea it would be there}.

When you spend $25 in a month at Dunkin’ Donuts and use your ZYNC card you’ll receive a $5 Dunkin’ Donuts Card.

I think the most important thing to remember is that ZYNC is a charge card, so it would more take the place of a debit card.  With the ZYNC Card you do not have a revolving line of credit.  You make purchases each month and then pay them off each month.  Click here to read more about Charge Cards vs. Credit Cards.

Or, click here to learn more about ZYNC from the American Express website.

I’m curious – would you ever be interested in a card like ZYNC?