Zynga and American Express team up for virtual Membership Rewards

    AMEX Lightning Stove     Ridable Roadster
American Express wants to be in your virtual wallet and it's joined forces with the king of social gaming to make it happen. FarmVille creator Zynga announced today that it has made an industry first in teaming up with American Express to provide virtual goods through the credit card provider's Membership Rewards Program. Card members can now use their Membership Reward Points toward buying goods in Zynga's Facebook games as well as toward physical and virtual Zynga Game Cards.

"Our partnership with American Express marks the first time that virtual goods are available for purchase with rewards points and reinforces our commitment to offer consumers meaningful experiences that enhance their game play,”" says Vishal Makhijani, Zynga's SVP of Business Operations.

Take a look at some of the items you can buy with points after the break.
Purple Cow     Robot Boy     Outdoor Fountain
The games included in the deal are FarmVille, FrontierVille, PetVille, YoVille, Treasure Isle and Café World with items available for FarmVille, Cafe World and YoVille immediately. All you need to do type "Zynga" into the keyword search box on the Membership Rewards website to find all of the exclusive items available through points, some of which include:

FarmVille:
-Manx Cat (435 points)
-Purple Cow (540 points)

Cafe World:
-Outdoor Fountain (1,080 points)
-AMEX Lightning Stove (1,945 points)

YoVille:
-Ridable Import Roadster (755 points)
-Animated Robot Boy and Girl (325 points each)

While there isn't exactly a wide selection right now, 20 more items are on the way Dec. 6 including FrontierVille (including those golden items, so no Gold Rush just yet) and Treasure Isle items, according to Zynga and American Express. Finally, a way to justify buying virtual goods without actually spending money has arrived. Just don't go overboard, OK?