Strategy to obtain US Amex

[levelnine]

Can anyone suggest few options or post# that I should refer to? I recently got HSBC Premier, thinking of opening the US bank account, but looking at the application it needs - "proof of your current address, such as a bank statement or utility bill" is that US address or AU address?

If the US bank account opened with AU address, can I change it to a US address later online?

They're looking for proof of your US address. If you can open a US checking account with the same address as your card application address, that is your best bet.

And if you have a Wise US bank account set up, try that. Even though there are reports that using Wise's US bank account feature doesn't work, I'd still have a go.

My experience is that US address verification is a bit of a haphazard process. For example, even though I've applied for previous Chase business cards without requiring proof of address, I recently applied for another Chase business credit card and they wanted proof of address. They said only a utility bill (not a bank statement) would suffice. Submitted one US bank statement. Rejected. Submitted another US credit card statement. Success.

 

[albyd]

I haven't applied in a while. What worked for me with Amex was submitting a statement from my Citi US bank account which showed my US address. If they're after a utility bill as more emphatic proof of residency, I think that will be much harder - at least for me it would be as I'm assuming a mobile phone bill might not cut it.

 

[maverick1]

They're looking for proof of your US address. If you can open a US checking account with the same address as your card application address, that is your best bet.

And if you have a Wise US bank account set up, try that. Even though there are reports that using Wise's US bank account feature doesn't work, I'd still have a go.

My experience is that US address verification is a bit of a haphazard process. For example, even though I've applied for previous Chase business cards without requiring proof of address, I recently applied for another Chase business credit card and they wanted proof of address. They said only a utility bill (not a bank statement) would suffice. Submitted one US bank statement. Rejected. Submitted another US credit card statement. Success.

thanks. submitted wise US statement.

 

[kpc]

thanks. submitted wise US statement.

Let us know how you go

 

[Yoey]

Just an update i got my call from AMEX had to confirm my last name spelling and that was it.
Thanks guys, maybe i did the GT a bit too early last time. This time ive held if for 1 year

 

[ETW]

Update - Used Talkatone for getting the US number.
Made 2 different applications and learnt the hard lesson of how GT is supposed to work.

One application was from an existing Amex Login but the card was closed 3months ago, when applying via this route, the application page didn't pickup the details like name etc and went via Nova credit check and asked me to submit form 4506. I think for this one, will give a call and try to connect to GT team and/or submit Aussie payslips.

2nd application was from an active amex card account, it auto pulled my name, dob, there was no Nova check and page said something like moving to US.
For GT route less details have to be put in. Application was fast, after submitting they asked me to call them.
I called them immediately but the CR said the application is still under review, no further action needed at the moment. Then he said he would need to transfer me to another team, who are currently NA, reckon that would be the GT team.

As mentioned above, I'm going to wait for few days and if I don't hear from them I'll give them a call next week.

What VPN did you use for Talkatone?

Edit: Figured out you don’t need one, linked it to my Google account, had to pay $1.50 to buy credits to receive a 2FA from Google. Yet to test it with Amex.

 

[maverick1]

Yeah. D

What VPN did you use for Talkatone?

Edit: Figured out you don’t need one, linked it to my Google account, had to pay $1.50 to buy credits to receive a 2FA from Google. Yet to test it with Amex.

Yeah I tried using a VPN, don’t think it worked.
Talkatone worked fine for my Amex verification call. Still awaiting approval so not sure if it will receive other 2FA codes or not.

 

[_TheTraveller_]

I just had the strangest mail from Amex. I was approved for the green card and had it sent to planet express. Then I had it forwarded and it arrived today but there is no card...? the letter was a copy of the Membership Rewards Terms and Conditions but no card.

The arrival date for this letter did match the estimated date for the card via first class mail so I had assumed it had been the same thing. It looks like no card was sent or perhaps it was lost? It seems a little strange that they wouldn't put the card with the terms and conditions..?

Just requested a card to Australia over the phone. That was a waste of money!

 

[blacksultan]

I just had the strangest mail from Amex. I was approved for the green card and had it sent to planet express. Then I had it forwarded and it arrived today but there is no card...? the letter was a copy of the Membership Rewards Terms and Conditions but no card.

The arrival date for this letter did match the estimated date for the card via first class mail so I had assumed it had been the same thing. It looks like no card was sent or perhaps it was lost? It seems a little strange that they wouldn't put the card with the terms and conditions..?

Just requested a card to Australia over the phone. That was a waste of money!

Planet express may have confiscated the card .
You can request pics of the package before they send .

 

[_TheTraveller_]

Planet express may have confiscated the card .
You can request pics of the package before they send .

I did get pictures and it wasn't confiscated because they forwarded me my new citibank card as well. The details on the picture match what I received so it's definitely the correct letter. Perhaps amex forgot to include the card? normally the card and the terms and conditions are together as per my aspire card but this was just strange.

Do they normally send them separate? The letter was also intact when I opened it. Can anyone who has applied for and received the green card chime in?

 

[jbmemories]

I did get pictures and it wasn't confiscated because they forwarded me my new citibank card as well. The details on the picture match what I received so it's definitely the correct letter. Perhaps amex forgot to include the card? normally the card and the terms and conditions are together as per my aspire card but this was just strange.

Do they normally send them separate? The letter was also intact when I opened it. Can anyone who has applied for and received the green card chime in?

They sometimes send you the T&Cs you've signed up for separately; however, there could be a case the machine straight up forgot to include the letter that includes the cad when packaging as well (there have been cases of severe misprints by AMEX). Nonetheless the Planet Express address is still valuable for you as it will give them a ping point of a US address for your account moving forward !

 

[SWFR]

Thanks desafinado74 !

I did read somewhere about phone verification via a live call. Textnow won't work for this so I'll need to set up a T-Mobile? Is the T-Mobile plan easy enough to cancel without any additional fee's.

I'm already gold with Hilton + have the Citi Prestige card so the extra perks on the Aspire isn't worthwhile for me.

As an alternative to T-Mobile, you could also consider the following:

• Red Pocket Mobile: Cheapest plan (available only on eBay) is US$2.50 / month for 200 minutes, 1000 texts and 200 MB data. You can activate the SIM card outside the US and use WiFi calling to make / receive phone calls and text messages without using roaming outside the US. Visit Unlimited Annual Phone Plans - Red Pocket Mobile and $2.50/Mo Red Pocket Prepaid Plan: 200 Talk 1000 Text 200MB | eBay.
• Ultra Mobile PayGo: Cheapest plan is US$3 / month for 100 minutes, 100 texts and 100 MB data. You can activate the SIM card outside the US and use WiFi calling to make / receive phone calls and text messages without using roaming outside the US. Visit PayGo Plan - Talk, Text and Data for $3/Month | Ultra Mobile. However, at present, it seems that PayGo SIM cards are sold out in the official Ultra Mobile eBay store (PayGo SIM cards differ from the standard Ultra Mobile SIM cards).

 

[blacksultan]

I did get pictures and it wasn't confiscated because they forwarded me my new citibank card as well. The details on the picture match what I received so it's definitely the correct letter. Perhaps amex forgot to include the card? normally the card and the terms and conditions are together as per my aspire card but this was just strange.

Do they normally send them separate? The letter was also intact when I opened it. Can anyone who has applied for and received the green card chime in?

But you can request for letter to be opened and pic for same sent ( which would make it clear if card is present ) before dispatch .

Post automatically merged: Jan 8, 2023

I did get pictures and it wasn't confiscated because they forwarded me my new citibank card as well. The details on the picture match what I received so it's definitely the correct letter. Perhaps amex forgot to include the card? normally the card and the terms and conditions are together as per my aspire card but this was just strange.

Do they normally send them separate? The letter was also intact when I opened it. Can anyone who has applied for and received the green card chime in?

The green card was my first us card and I received the same at my friends place and directly all in same envelope like all other Amexes received .

 

[timmy1234]

I dont recommend Chase checking acc. Heard a lot of horror stories about getting locked out of acc while overseas and the only way to unlock it was to visit the branch and that happened to people who already left the country permanently. You can google it. I have had citi acc since 2012 with 0 issue and cant recommend them enough. I applied for cap1 online using Itin and has been great so far but heard they started being fussy about identity verification ie they want a driving license. You can give it a try though if you really need an acc. Some people still got around providing just passport.

I will second it on Citi Checking account. I have been with them when living in the US and then reopened it 2 years ago and worked as a charm. The only hitch was when I was trying to transfer my money from my HSBC to my Citi where there was a 3 way call needed. This was more on a HSBC side rather Citi

 

[jbmemories]

As an alternative to T-Mobile, you could also consider the following:

• Red Pocket Mobile: Cheapest plan (available only on eBay) is US$2.50 / month for 200 minutes, 1000 texts and 200 MB data. You can activate the SIM card outside the US and use WiFi calling to make / receive phone calls and text messages without using roaming outside the US. Visit Unlimited Annual Phone Plans - Red Pocket Mobile and $2.50/Mo Red Pocket Prepaid Plan: 200 Talk 1000 Text 200MB | eBay.
• Ultra Mobile PayGo: Cheapest plan is US$3 / month for 100 minutes, 100 texts and 100 MB data. You can activate the SIM card outside the US and use WiFi calling to make / receive phone calls and text messages without using roaming outside the US. Visit PayGo Plan - Talk, Text and Data for $3/Month | Ultra Mobile. However, at present, it seems that PayGo SIM cards are sold out in the official Ultra Mobile eBay store (PayGo SIM cards differ from the standard Ultra Mobile SIM cards).

I would be hesitant about Ultra Mobile - I had one and didn't work as back then it required me to be within a US Cell tower to activate before intl roaming related items are allowed.

 

[Yoey]

What's everyones preferred wait to pay the credit card off with the least fees without having a bank in the states?

 

[levelnine]

What's everyones preferred wait to pay the credit card off with the least fees without having a bank in the states?

You're going to need some type of US bank account to pay a US credit card. An easy option is the US bank account that can be set up in Wise. They have among the lowest fees — I find Revolut is slightly lower, but only by a very small margin.

 

[Finale]

Thanks desafinado74 !

I did read somewhere about phone verification via a live call. Textnow won't work for this so I'll need to set up a T-Mobile? Is the T-Mobile plan easy enough to cancel without any additional fee's.

I'm already gold with Hilton + have the Citi Prestige card so the extra perks on the Aspire isn't worthwhile for me.

The only bank that does such a verification so far for me is Chase. It appears that only post paid plans will work which cost a lot more than prepaid or free service. And you don't really need it as they can ask you questions from public records instead. All other text verification works just fine on Google Voice including those from Amex, Cap1 and Citi.

I still keep my t-mobile number only because I collected hundreds of dollars from Amex wireless credits.

 

[levelnine]

I still keep my t-mobile number only because I collected hundreds of dollars from Amex wireless credits.

Is there any way to bank Amex wireless credits with T-Mobile (or another provider)? They're currently going to waste on my Biz Plat.

 

[Finale]

Is there any way to bank Amex wireless credits with T-Mobile (or another provider)? They're currently going to waste on my Biz Plat.

I'm not aware of any if you don't have the number. I just top up my existing account. I will probably let the number go when I run out of credits which will take about 8 years lol