American Express card demands personal info

Read this, Dont get bullied by them.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29568109

The main culprete of this mess was easy credit. American Express is simply trying to verify Cathy Jone's income so what is the problem? Don't be bullied? Then pay cash. People need to understand credit is a privilige, not a right. If here income and credit were so good she could have cancelled the Amex cards and opend new business cards, obvisouly there is more to the story then them simply trying to verify here income.

I think it has more to do with this.

Remember, American Express recently offered certain customers $300 to give up their cards.

Most of the credit card companies are trying to trim their customer bases. AMEX tried to buy a few, now they are just hassling the rest.

I just went thru a HUGE hassle with AMex, they sent my Second card to my old address? Weird, since there is ONLY 1 bill and the address was changed. They sent a replacement card, I activated it, and my wife went to use it, Didn't work, they canceled it on their own stated I never recieved it?? Then another card, same deal, activated it, then they thought I didn't get it and canceled it too?? WTF. Finally, they send these out Next Day UPS and now after the 3rd replacement card, FINALLY it worked....geesh. What a PITA...

Most of the credit card companies are trying to trim their customer bases.

I just helped them out by canceling the last of my credit cards.

"The borrower is slave to the lender."

There was very good show on PBS's Frontline about Credit Cards:

Secret History of the Credit Card

What's interesting is how the high interest fees evolved, at one point the banks could only collect X amount of interest because state laws forbid it beyond a certain point. I forget exactly when but sometime in the late 70's or early 80's there was supreme court decision that allowed the banks to charge whatever interest based on what state they were in. A state out in the west followed by Delaware played ball and the banks all moved there credit card operations to those states.. the rest is history..

What's the appeal of AE anyway? Why not just use any Mastercard or Visa & pay them off each month & avoid any membership charges? What's the benefit of AE?

Devil505 wrote:What's the appeal of AE anyway? Why not just use any Mastercard or Visa & pay them off each month & avoid any membership charges? What's the benefit of AE?

Ahhh. You remember the old Amex the company that wouldn't be in the mess they are now if they stuck with that business model. A few years back Amex starting issue "credit cards" as opposed to "charge cards." Most corporate cards are still charge waht you want and pay with in 30-45 days. I have a corporate card and an Amex "Blue" card which works just like a credit card that can be paid off over time. This is where Amex ran into the credit mess but they were late to the game. They offered lax terms and insane cash back rewards with no annual fees. I pay off my balance in full each month and have never paid a finance charge. However I recieve .5% cash back on all purchases and 1.0% on gas, drugstores, and groceries. In addition after $6,500 in annual purchases you recieve 1.5% for all purchases and 5% for gas, drugstores and groceries. Needless to say I always use my Amex card whenever possible and last year recieved an annual cash back reward of $386! Since I paid $0 in finance charges they essentially paid me $386 to use thier card.

As far as annual fees you can generally call any credit card company and threaten to cancel if they don;t waive the fee. generally they will waive the fee.

I own 1 Visa card and pay off the total any time I have a reason to use it.
Credit cards in general are a slippery slope for many and the banks are all too eager to suck you in.
As for AE simply verifying someones credit being no biig deal.
I think thats TOTAL BS! Its one thing to verify your credit worthiness its another to send your personal info over seas for review. Send yours if you like I'll keep mine.
I value my privacy and guard it well. Far too many hand out personal info to anyone who asks. Protect your privacy or someday you just might wish you did.

wnyjim wrote:I own 1 Visa card and pay off the total any time I have a reason to use it.
Credit cards in general are a slippery slope for many and the banks are all too eager to suck you in.
As for AE simply verifying someones credit being no biig deal.
I think thats TOTAL BS! Its one thing to verify your credit worthiness its another to send your personal info over seas for review. Send yours if you like I'll keep mine.
I value my privacy and guard it well. Far too many hand out personal info to anyone who asks. Protect your privacy or someday you just might wish you did.

I agree with you that people are lax with thier personal info. I simply indicate they have a right to ask and if you don't want to send it you don;t need to use thier services. I would also be leary of sending anything overseas but most of the customer service for larger companines in already overseas. In a sense it doesn't matter whether or not you want to send it it is already there.