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American Express suspends its relationship with Curve Card, just 36 hours after launch

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Here’s something I didn’t see coming.  After launching with much fanfare on Monday, American Express suspended its relationship with Curve Card on Tuesday night.

This came just 36 hours after Amex functionality was launched to the public.  Amex cards had, however, been activated for a test group of Curve Card users for a few months before this.

(EDIT:  Curve has now published a lengthy blog post explaining how the split with American Express occurred.  I copied it into a separate article here.)

If you look on the Curve website, none of the cards are showing the option to link to American Express.  This means that the company is effectively back to the position it was in before Monday.

American Express sent me a statement last night which said:

“American Express participated in a limited Curve beta test where we enabled a small number of Card Members to load funds onto an e-wallet using their Amex Card in the Curve app. Following this beta test we informed Curve that we would not participate in the further roll out of the Curve e-wallet.”

I spoke with Curve’s CEO early this morning and, whilst for legal reasons I don’t want to repeat what he said, he confirmed the position with American Express.

Curve has sent the following to users:

“We are extremely sorry that the top-up functionality for your Amex wallet is currently disabled.

Like thousands of other UK merchants, Curve has a valid merchant agreement to accept Amex payments into its e-wallet. However, on Tuesday evening, Amex decided to terminate this agreement and block all Amex transactions to Curve with immediate effect.

Amex has given no good or fair reason for their decision and we feel it is entirely disproportionate and discriminatory to Curve and all our (joint) customers. UK payment regulations clearly state that Curve should be allowed to access the Amex payment network on a level-playing field with every other fee-paying and legitimate merchant.

Rest assured that you can still spend the funds that you have already topped up to your existing Amex Wallets. If you have contacted us for support, we apologise for the delay in response and will endeavour to do so as soon as possible. We will update you as soon as we have any further information.

With our customers interests in mind, and our mission to deliver to you a truly innovative product, Curve intends to fight Amex’s decision with its full might. We believe financial freedom is the future and we are prepared to fight for yours.”

If there is any more news during the day I will drop it into this article.

TechCrunch has decent take on the subject here if you want to read more.  It is worth noting that the Amex statement given to TechCrunch – 18 hours after my statement – is a bit different:

“We participated in a limited Curve beta test in which we explored enabling Card Members to load funds onto an e-wallet using their Amex Card in the Curve app. A very small number of Amex Card Members participated in the test. Based on the results, we communicated to Curve that we would not participate in the further roll out of Curve because of concerns related to the overall American Express Card Member experience. Subsequently we terminated our contract with them.”

Curve will pay you £10 for trying it out if you use our link.

PS.  In a separate (or perhaps not entirely separate) note, payment company Billhop – we covered Billhop here – sent the following email to users yesterday:

“Due to guidelines from American Express you will no longer be able to make payments to private accounts with an American Express card regardless if the purpose of the payment is related to a business transaction. This change will come into effect on the 7th of February 2019.

You will still be able to use a MasterCard and/or VISA card for transactions to private accounts relating to business transactions including, but not limited to, payroll, housekeeping, rent, nanny services, etc.

Please note that peer-to-peer remittance is still not allowed regardless of card.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.”

Note that this only covers payments to sole traders.  You can continue to use Amex via Billhop to pay a company, local authority, HMRC etc.

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Comments (788)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Rick says:
    30 Jan30 January 08:35

    It would be very interesting to find out when Amex told Curve that they wouldn’t be participating after the beta. If this was prior to the launch on Monday, but they launched anyway, then this sounds like a huge fraud.

    Curve would have got good cash injection from people paying for the metal card up front (me included), and then the Amex wallet topups.

    If Amex told them after the launch, then it just seems spiteful.

    • Rob says:
      30 Jan30 January 08:41

      5pm yesterday

      • Lev441 says:
        30 Jan30 January 08:49

        Wow. If that’s the case they’ve really screwed curve over. Will this be the end of curve? Surely their subscription model can’t work without the Amex feature? Glad I didn’t bother upgrading – always like to see how the land lies and this one blew up faster than I thought!

      • Rick says:
        30 Jan30 January 08:49

        Thanks – so just spitefulness by Amex then.

        • Callum says:
          30 Jan30 January 11:51

          Or Amex had no idea Curve we’re launching it on Monday. It doesn’t seem like everyone at Curve knew either given the stupid beta sign up process at the weekend!

  • Lewis says:
    30 Jan30 January 08:35

    LOL

  • Sussex bantam says:
    30 Jan30 January 08:36

    Quelle surprise…

    According to the statements Amex agreed to participate in the beta. Then decided not to go further. Curve were upset about that and so launched anyway. Amex pulled plug

    Glad I don’t have any money in a curve wallet given their track record of behaviour…

    • Combatjohnny says:
      30 Jan30 January 08:40

      If thats true it is a very stupid move by Curve

    • Steve-B says:
      30 Jan30 January 08:41

      Indeed… launch and sort agreements out later… very naive.

      • Sussex bantam says:
        30 Jan30 January 08:47

        The Amex statement says “following the Beta test we informed curve we would not participate in the further roll out”

        Draw your own conclusions …

    • Rick says:
      30 Jan30 January 08:54

      According to the post from Rob on the previous page, that’s not true. Amex didn’t inform Curve until 5pm yesterday.

    • Big Dave says:
      30 Jan30 January 09:00

      yup and attract as many new comers as possible in the hope some would still stay to make up the numbers to attract investment / not make investment run away

    • Rob Walker says:
      30 Jan30 January 09:44

      Yep, this is exactly what I think they did too. They thought describing it as an ‘open beta’ would mean they’d get away with it.

  • N says:
    30 Jan30 January 08:37

    In my very unqualified opinion, I genuinely believe Curve have a really good product, with a good concept, that has been very well executed.

    However, their communication strategy with their customers is p1ss poor, even on a good day. If their comms with Amex were even ten times as good as their comms with their customers, that’s still pretty bad. And I reckon that’s where they fell.

  • Daniel Evans says:
    30 Jan30 January 08:39

    This is a real blow for Curve. Amex is not essential for me but they’ve clearly invested a huge amount in the functionality only to have it pulled as soon as it went live. As for the comments on their customer service I’ve always found it to be great. They’ve even called me on occasion to sort out issues – such working around the fact that I’d hit my 50,000 limit. They also have a community forum which I encourage you all to join if you are not already members where there are lots of updates on exactly what is going on in Curve world. I wish them all the best and hope this is a temporary issue.

    • Joe says:
      30 Jan30 January 08:49

      I don’t understand the value of Amex in curve either.

      At 0.65% you are paying about 0.85p per mile which is barely worth it.

      If you have a lot of non-Amex spend and were considering the curve metal then linking the virgin+ MasterCard to the free curve is just as cost effective.

      • Hector says:
        30 Jan30 January 08:53

        Assuming you value Virgin points / can be bothered managing two credit card accounts.

      • Mark2 says:
        30 Jan30 January 08:53

        only if you want to fly with Virgin (and perhaps Flybe or FlyingBlue) and are not near triggering a sign up bonus or 241.

      • Owen Rudge says:
        30 Jan30 January 09:15

        My Amex Gold business card gets 2 points per £; and for my business I spend a lot in EUR/USD. Paying 0.65% for Curve then getting 2 points back, plus saving 2.99% on forex, is definitely a money saver for me. With the original Curve product, there was a 1% forex charge, but no Amex top-up fee, so I was quite excited when it launched, even though I only got about a month’s use of it. Didn’t even manage a month this time. 🙁

        • Mr Dee says:
          30 Jan30 January 09:23

          How do you get 2 points, is it a non GBP card?

        • Owen Rudge says:
          30 Jan30 January 09:27

          It’s a GBP card – that was the offer available when I signed up about 7 years ago; it seems as long as I keep the card then I’ve still got that rate…

    • Daniel Evans says:
      30 Jan30 January 09:16

      Exactly, 90% of my UK spend can go direct through Amex. All the rest (tax, VAT, FX) can go onto my IHG through Curve and I get to Spire Elite status each year. Win-win. I wouldn’t be spending £14.99 per month for Amex and certainly not £150 for a METAL card – status anxiety much!

      • Mr Dee says:
        30 Jan30 January 09:26

        Certainly no appeal for the £15 fee when you don’t need to meet additional Amex spend and also if you are stuck on a 50k limit with them

        • Hector says:
          30 Jan30 January 09:33

          Limits seem to be way higher since the new cards launch – from Robs article two days ago –

          Monthly spending limit (on a rolling 30 day basis) – £120,000
          Annual spending limit – £1,400,000

          • Alan says:
            30 Jan30 January 09:39

            Those are theoretical and not yet available. Depends on KYC/AML checks. Haven’t heard of anyone with >£100k annual limit so far.

        • Daniel Evans says:
          30 Jan30 January 11:30

          There’s nothing in the FAQ about new limits, though admittedly their FAQs are out of date and don’t mention Amex at all.

  • Jonathan says:
    30 Jan30 January 08:40

    How do I get money out of my curve wallet ?

    • Combatjohnny says:
      30 Jan30 January 08:42

      Im wondering the same thing. I was thinking dump it into an online bookies account then withdraw it is a possible option

      • Hector says:
        30 Jan30 January 08:49

        Don’t try this! I did to try and move money between bank accounts after forgetting the pin to one of my debit cards and not having the card reader needed for online access handy. Ended up with the money frozen in the bookies account while they carried out anti money laundering checks after which they would only return it to the original payment source.

        I’d suggest spending it through curve / topping up your amazon account by whatever awkward amount is left.

    • N says:
      30 Jan30 January 08:42

      Spend it

    • Joe says:
      30 Jan30 January 08:51

      Pay yourself using PayPal if you have two PayPal accounts

    • N1David says:
      30 Jan30 January 09:14

      I’ve tried buying an Amazon voucher (I’ve got less than £100 in my Amex wallet) but the payment keeps getting declined…

      • Simon says:
        30 Jan30 January 09:32

        Amazon take a £1 amount as a test before taking the full amount. As below, take £1 less than your balance.

        • Hector says:
          30 Jan30 January 09:35

          I believe this is only on the first transaction on the card – i.e. if you split it into two payments with the second after the £1 hold has cleared then I think you’d be OK.

          I’ve certainly cleared prepaid cards like this before.

        • N1David says:
          30 Jan30 January 10:58

          First tried for the full amount, saw the £1 hold, tried again on £1 less, rejected again (after a 20 minute delay), tried again at £20 less than my balance, still rejected.

          I’ll try again tomorrow.

          Have used Curve on Amazon before, it’s not a new card to them.

        • chelynnah says:
          30 Jan30 January 12:21

          I had this issue a couple of weeks ago. I changed the underlying card and did a small top up. Amazon did the test then did the top up.

          I waited a couple of days for the original test £1 from my Amex wallet to reappear then topped up for the full amount and it worked fine. Hope this helps.

          Seems like it just needs a solid test and full transaction from the curve account first,

    • Mr Dee says:
      30 Jan30 January 09:31

      Buy Morrisions vouchers

    • Go says:
      30 Jan30 January 10:29

      Spend it by pre paying utilities. I prepaid electric this morning

  • Liz says:
    30 Jan30 January 08:40

    Perhaps launching just a few days before the HMRC deadline was not such a great idea causing a huge spike in spend in the first couple of days of launch.

    • N says:
      30 Jan30 January 09:16

      Try a voucher for your balance minus £1.

      So if your balance is £100, try £99.

    • Mr Dee says:
      30 Jan30 January 09:32

      I doubt it as most wouldn’t have waited for Curve/Amex especially when your lucky to get 1 payment a day through

  • Sam says:
    30 Jan30 January 08:44

    Excuse my ignorance here on how these cards work from the business side.

    How would Amex make money out of these Curve transactions?

    • Grant says:
      30 Jan30 January 08:49

      Amex receive a fee everytime an Amex card is used to top-up a Curve wallet.

      • Big Dave says:
        30 Jan30 January 08:57

        The spend you put on the Amex wallet – funded by your Amex card would normally have been done via other bank cards in places that do not support Amex so your spend with Amex doubles or tipples

        • Amir says:
          30 Jan30 January 09:05

          It will also mean that the pressure to support Amex will ease off since you can use the Curve, so Merchants will not need to support it as much.

          Eventually Curve will be able to carry significant power if a significant percentage of Amex transactions are through it, and the Amex payment network is diminished.

          I don’t see why Amex would ever want this relationship.

        • AlexT says:
          30 Jan30 January 10:10

          Amir, never thought about it this way, but you’re absolutely right. Doubt Curve would have ever gotten past being a niche product though.

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