Are Amex cancelling cards in Oz?

[lovetravellingoz]

Evidently in the USA at present Amex have been cancelling cards of cardmembers in good standing, including those who put hefty amounts through their cards, often apparently with no rhyme or reason (at least to the Cardmembers).

So is this happening in Australia…???


That's what happened to longtime American Express cardholder Jillian Ivey, a Southern California attorney who says she always pays her Amex bill on time. In January, Amex canceled her card, and wouldn't give her an exact reason. When she called to complain, Amex told her she not only lost her credit card, but she also lost the 105,000 membership rewards points she'd saved, to take a big trip abroad.


Credit Card Rewards Points: Use 'em Soon, or Lose 'em? | NBC San Diego


Or is just in the USA?

Normally I like to keep my points in the CC until I have a use for them.

But to spread the risk (as well as for some other reasons) I have moved some points to SQ and QFF.

Mind you there is no guarantee that any airline might not go belly up us well.

 

[JohnK]

I don't think this has happened in Australia but is there more to that story than what is revealed?

It is certainly a worry and I would hate to have the card cancelled, for no apparent reason, and lose all my MR points....

 

[futaris]

Mind you there is no guarantee that any airline might not go belly up us well.

The chance that a national carrier goes belly up is very minimal. You would think that the government would back them, but that being said, you'd think that USA would have backed GM and Chrysler to a greater extent.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

The chance that a national carrier goes belly up is very minimal. You would think that the government would back them, but that being said, you'd think that USA would have backed GM and Chrysler to a greater extent.

True.....so I am putting into practice the "not keeping all your eggs in the one basket" strategy...just to be prudent.

It reduces flexibility a little..but decreases risk as well.

 

[one9]

Yes. Very alarming.
I think keeping points in major bank issued cards is safer then keeping points in Amex cards.
Luckily I have not heard of anyone having their credit cards canceled in Australia for dodgy reasons. Hopefully in Aus the financial ombudsman would do something about this if they tried it here - but who knows. I read an article shortly ago in the US about Amex cancelling and reducing card limits for people who had used their card at certain locations (eg. pawnbrokers and massage places)

 

[Mal]

I don't believe cards are being cancelled - yet, but Amex did block Balance Transfers, and tighten up credit limit increases.

GE Money have been reducing some credit limits too - as per this thread : http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...scussion/ge-money-cuts-some-credit-15924.html

 

[JohnK]

I don't believe cards are being cancelled - yet, but Amex did block Balance Transfers, and tighten up credit limit increases.

Slightly disappointing Amex stopped offering balance transfers.

Another to stop offering balance transfers is Bankwest.

 

[beardoc]

If Amex did suddenly cancel my card after years of full payment of accounts, then I would be back off to the FOS to protect any MR points that are in the account. I wouldn't be too worried about spreading them now. They're still at their most flexible keeping them in the MR account - and I'm hoping that one day they might go 1:1 conversions to CX Asia Miles rather than their current 4:3 ratio.

 

[lovestotravel]

Amex have definitely tightened up their criteria.

I forgot to pay my charge card, one day late and they cut off all my Amex cards, called me and sent a letter in the mail.

I was overseas at the time and simply forgot the due date, my fault 100%

I did the same thing about 2 years before that and they didn't' care that I paid about 2 weeks late.

Also, on a totally separate business account that I have with them, under a company name, they tend to call me a query large amounts and ask when I am going to be paying them, even when they are not due for at least 3 weeks. At the same time they tell me not to use the card until payment is made, even though it is not due.....

This is on both a charge and credit card (which usually has about $15,000 available)

The day they cut off my business cards BEFORE payment is due is when I take all my spending to another card provider.

 

[lovestotravel]

As for the points, I had millions sitting in AMEX and have just transferred

600,000 to Qantas
600,000 to Singapore

Leaving about 1.5 Million in Amex

I may transfer the rest to Qantas and SQ as I don't trust AMEX anymore.

Paranoid or spreading the risk

You decide.

 

[SnowYeti]

lovestotravel, I don't think you are paranoid. You and everyone else has every right to be paranoid about them, now we know how clumsy they run their business

 

[Gold Member]

Amex have definitely tightened up their criteria.

I forgot to pay my charge card, one day late and they cut off all my Amex cards, called me and sent a letter in the mail.

I was overseas at the time and simply forgot the due date, my fault 100%

I did the same thing about 2 years before that and they didn't' care that I paid about 2 weeks late.

Also, on a totally separate business account that I have with them, under a company name, they tend to call me a query large amounts and ask when I am going to be paying them, even when they are not due for at least 3 weeks. At the same time they tell me not to use the card until payment is made, even though it is not due.....

This is on both a charge and credit card (which usually has about $15,000 available)

The day they cut off my business cards BEFORE payment is due is when I take all my spending to another card provider.

I know this is a little OT, but about a year ago I had to ring Amex (god forbid) for something and the Indian Call Centre had the audacity to ask when I was going to pay my statement which wasn't due for 2 weeks. I said I will pay it in my own good time and that if they ever questioned my paying habits (after paying every statement on time for the past 8 years) again that I would cancel my three cards and total annual spend of >$50K with them immediately.

I haven't received any such calls since.

 

[lovestotravel]

I know this is a little OT, but about a year ago I had to ring Amex (god forbid) for something and the Indian Call Centre had the audacity to ask when I was going to pay my statement which wasn't due for 2 weeks. I said I will pay it in my own good time and that if they ever questioned my paying habits (after paying every statement on time for the past 8 years) again that I would cancel my three cards and total annual spend of >$50K with them immediately.

I haven't received any such calls since.

Not OT at all, it's all related

I didn't like the questioning I received when I was grilled about paying my charge card a few days late.

The rep gave up grilling me in the end and apologized to me for the hassle.

My fault 100%, but a cardmember for 10 years plus with millions of $ through my cards.

 

[albatross710]

All financial institutions are rewriting their rules to consider that they have to reduce their leverage. Stopping balance transfers means less $$ tied up on lower interest lending.

If they can get people to pay earlier, they have more to lend again. It could be an internal push to increase the velocity of the business making the money go around faster.

They like many businesses are finding it tighter.

As for the OP, there would have to be mroe to the story.

 

[straitman]

AMEX recently reduced the limit on my CC by $1300. I didn't even notice until they rang up a week or so later and told me the date of the reduction. For me there was no issue as I never go anywhere near the ridiculously high limit they had previously set or the new one.

 

[beardoc]

AMEX recently reduced the limit on my CC by $1300. I didn't even notice until they rang up a week or so later and told me the date of the reduction. For me there was no issue as I never go anywhere near the ridiculously high limit they had previously set or the new one.

Agreed - Amex could cut my limit by more than 70% and I wouldn't even hit the limit. How I managed to get this much credit with them is amazing.

 

[JohnK]

AMEX recently reduced the limit on my CC by $1300. I didn't even notice until they rang up a week or so later and told me the date of the reduction. For me there was no issue as I never go anywhere near the ridiculously high limit they had previously set or the new one.

That is disturbing to know that banks/credit card companies are still reducing credit limits. Although to be fair I have reduced the outstanding amount on both Amex credit cards and the credit limit has not been reduced.

I will be peeved off if Citibank reduces my credit limit next week as I am about to make a sizeable payment and I want access to the funds again in 5-6 months time to recycle balance transfers....