Strategy to obtain US Amex

[Viridis]

Global mail
- living in Australia is fine
- SSN or ITIN is irrelevant
- no previous USPS is fine - don't need to redirect anything
- 1583 is so that they can receive the mail on your behalf - they just want a passport and a bill (eg rego or insurance) to your AUS address to prove you are who you say - it take about 5 mins done online - this is so they can receive all mail for you on your behalf - the notary thing is only to prove your ID - nothing else - I have done it now about 6 different times - I think they get paid per notary so they will want you online for less than 2 mins if they can help it

Is there something particular about the notary that worries you?

More concerned with how deep they dig on reasons for having the address - I'm not especially good at lying and the US legal over-reach worries me somewhat

 

[georgie23]

Your not lying
Its perfectly legal to have an address to get mail posted - you can have friends post you letters or online shopping or whatever
you are giving your AUS address and ID and they are setting you up with a US address - they don't care why you have one and no one is breaking any law (as far as I can tell) - you are paying for a service

 

[djchuckles]

Hi All,
I wonder if anyone has signed amex checking with bonus $300 or $250 offer, how did you meet the dd requirement pls. Thank you.

What do you mean by dd? If it’s like business checking where you need 5 eligible transactions then ACH transfers in tick the box. Have done three from HSBC and just testing a WISE one

 

[georgie23]

What do you mean by dd? If it’s like business checking where you need 5 eligible transactions then ACH transfers in tick the box. Have done three from HSBC and just testing a WISE one

Not sure of they mean a direct debit - like someone's pay or salary each month

I found the below

A Qualifying Direct Deposit is a single ACH transfer of $500 or more from an employer or thegovernment for a paycheck, pension, government benefit (such as Social Security), or tax refund. Thefollowing are not Qualifying Direct Deposits: person to person transfers (P2P), demand deposit accountto demand deposit account transfers (for example, from a checking account to another checkingaccount), and deposits or ACH transfers not from an employer or the government (for example, onlinetransfers or bank transfers).

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/directdepositincentiveterms2023/#:~:text=The%20following%20are%20not%20Qualifying,example%2C%20online%20transfers%20or%20bank

According to this one - Wise worked for this person

https://www.reddit.com/r/amex/comments/1empmq4/amex_checking_300_bonus

 

[DC3]

I'm just looking to set up a Global Mail account but I've never lived in the US and don't have an SSN or ITIN. Will this be a problem? I also don't have a previous USPS address from which to forward; likewise - a problem?

Is it compulsory to go through the whole form 1583 thing or only if you expect USPS mail? Bit concerned about the whole Notary thing

The process has been pretty much explained upthread. Posts 8288, 8290 and 8884, and others in that area are a good start.

Edit: Also, searching AFF for “Notary US Global” will get some hits

 

[djchuckles]

I tried to find the answer via search with no luck. But if I want to do AU MR to US MR transfer do I call AU team or US team?

 

[georgie23]

I tried to find the answer via search with no luck. But if I want to do AU MR to US MR transfer do I call AU team or US team?

US GT team is best bet - the AU team will likely tell you it is not possible

 

[Viridis]

The process has been pretty much explained upthread. Posts 8288, 8290 and 8884, and others in that area are a good start.

Edit: Also, searching AFF for “Notary US Global” will get some hits

Did a search before asking my original question but didn’t include the word Notary.

That was very helpful, thank you

 

[blacksultan]

What do you mean by dd? If it’s like business checking where you need 5 eligible transactions then ACH transfers in tick the box. Have done three from HSBC and just testing a WISE one

Have the hsbc ones been confirmed as being eligible for the purpose of the bonus ?

 

[Tiki]

I just discovered recently that transfers via Wise to a US bank account are much faster if you load the AUD onto the Wise card first, then send it to the US account. Shows up almost instantly.

 

[Tiki]

I also noticed that when done this way they post as a Transfer which may not be considered ACH. Done as a Send Money, they post as Deposit which for years has been counting as a $250 or more deposit to save the monthly account fee.

 

[US_Amex]

10% off Amazon gift cards!

https://www.giftcards.com.au/ShoppingCart/ProductDetail/CG_Card_Amazon

 

[djchuckles]

Have the hsbc ones been confirmed as being eligible for the purpose of the bonus ?

Worked for me open business checking

 

[GDale]

10% off Amazon gift cards!

https://www.giftcards.com.au/ShoppingCart/ProductDetail/CG_Card_Amazon

Thanks, it's a good deal but that website is super sensitive and blocks transactions arbitrarily it seems - I tried purchasing some gift MasterCards from there recently with no success (and Chase confirmed the transaction never reached them, so it wasn't them doing the blocking). Hope it works for you!

 

[djchuckles]

I just discovered recently that transfers via Wise to a US bank account are much faster if you load the AUD onto the Wise card first, then send it to the US account. Shows up almost instantly.

I did two yesterday. HSBC was instant. Amex still waiting

 

[georgie23]

I just discovered recently that transfers via Wise to a US bank account are much faster if you load the AUD onto the Wise card first, then send it to the US account. Shows up almost instantly.

Just to clarify you load your AUD into account and then convert to USD and then transfer USD to US Bank account?
Thanks

 

[djchuckles]

Does anyone know the number to get through to US GT team? I phoned number on website and got through to regular customer services who said there is no such team as a Global Card Relationship team in the US and I will need to speak to Australian Amex CS

 

[Tiki]

Just to clarify you load your AUD into account and then convert to USD and then transfer USD to US Bank account?
Thanks

You load the AUD onto the green plastic card via the Wise app. It shows up instantly. I use my NAB debit card. Then also using the app, you use the Send Money function to your US bank account. Mine is B of A. Doing it this way it shows up instantly in B of A. If I use Send Money direct from the website on my laptop it takes a few hours depending on what time of day I do it. Then the ACH thingy goes from Pending to Completed transaction around 19:30-20:30ish my time the same day it shows up in B of A. I don't like to use it to pay my cards until if finishes processing.

 

[georgie23]

You load the AUD onto the green plastic card via the Wise app. It shows up instantly. I use my NAB debit card. Then also using the app, you use the Send Money function to your US bank account. Mine is B of A. Doing it this way it shows up instantly in B of A. If I use Send Money direct from the website on my laptop it takes a few hours depending on what time of day I do it. Then the ACH thingy goes from Pending to Completed transaction around 19:30-20:30ish my time the same day it shows up in B of A. I don't like to use it to pay my cards until if finishes processing.

Thanks

I don't think I have ever used the green plastic card from Wise - just checked and I have never ordered one - the money transfer into Wise is usually very fast as I use PayID which is almost instant

I have money sitting in USD and I send to US Bank account (currently Amex Checking) - mine usually take about 24 hours to get across
Might need to see if I link up my HSBC one if it will be faster

Post automatically merged: 5 minutes ago

Does anyone know the number to get through to US GT team? I phoned number on website and got through to regular customer services who said there is no such team as a Global Card Relationship team in the US and I will need to speak to Australian Amex CS

For Personal Card apply by phone: Call 877-621-2639, available Monday - Sunday from 8:00 - 23:00 (EST)

Was that the number you called?