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Been a customer for 7 years and shocked to receive this from Amex today. I enquired the reason but they stated it was an internal decision. I think this might be due to usage of PayPal for FF but not sure.
American Express is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and we are trusted to adhere to specific requirements and governance.
I am writing to inform you of a decision that has been made in relation to the above referenced American Express Card Account.
Following an internal review, we have decided to give two months notice of cancellation to the card account. This decision has been taken in accordance with the rights we reserve under the terms and conditions of our agreement.
Therefore as of XX/XX, the account will be cancelled. In the meantime the card account has been blocked .
Please advise any supplementary card holders on the account of this decision.
If you have any queries regarding this request please call our dedicated servicing team, 24 hours a day, on +44 (0) 1273 868900.Has anyone else gone through this and was able to open a new account after a ‘cooling off period’. Also do you know what happens to credit files (does it just show closure or reasons too). And can you still retain any companion vouchers allocated to you?
I recently had 3 AMEX cards all given the 60 day notice warning.
The card(s) could no longer be used for purchases so I just cleared the balances and closed all of them myself, I didnt wait for AMEX to close them after 60 days. Credit files haven’t been affected by me closing them, not sure if that had been the case had AMEX closed them.
Vouchers will be fine, although you will need an AMEX card to use a 2-4-1.
Ironically, I was only a few weeks away from closing them anyway and resetting the 2 year clock.
Not sure if there is an official cooling off period as such, but other chats on here have suggested 12 months.
Quite a few readers have reported the same, there’s a long thread in this section.
One doesn’t know the reason for the closures, but the risk of PayPal F&F payments is obvious and has been highlighted here before. Amex is getting more trigger happy.
What’s harsh is giving the requisite 60 days notice but then immediately blocking the card such that it would, inter alia, prevent getting any companion voucher the cardholder was working towards. If this were Creation, we would already have pages of remonstrations.
But Creation have been made to pay up …
But Creation have been made to pay up …
There’s an important difference though – with Creation, almost everyone was allowed to keep spending for 60 days, so the points you had earned and thresholds to earn the voucher were easily identifiable, plus they didn’t warn you in the closure letter. Here you would need to rely upon theoretical spend for points and/or voucher, a much harder argument to make. The Amex terms do also state this is what they will do, but I’m not sure that greatly assists Amex.
@gadgetzmo – you have now posted on a different thread (that relates to IOM residence based account closures). That wrongly located post clarifies another reason why your account may have been closed and makes it likely you will need a longer break before trying to reapply.
What I’d like to know from you @gadgetzmo is when they say “Been a customer for 7 years and shocked to receive…” and also “might be to do with use of Paypal for FF but not sure” do you really mean “have rinsed hundreds of thousands of MRs from Amex via Paypal FF cycling over the last 7 years, Ming the Merciless stylee, and am now indignant that I have been found out”?!
@gadgetzmo – you have now posted on a different thread (that relates to IOM residence based account closures). That wrongly located post clarifies another reason why your account may have been closed and makes it likely you will need a longer break before trying to reapply.
@JDB – interesting… as a fellow resident of a Crown Dependency, my understanding is however that Amex is grandfathering existing cardholders so this should not be the case. As per my other post above, I think the spotlight has to be either on the Paypal Friends and Family spend or otherwise something to do with Amex not liking the balance transfer activity mentioned in the other thread.Ming the Merciless stylee, and am now indignant that I have been found out”?!
🙂 🙂
@Guernsey Globetrotter – it would appear that Amex didn’t grandfather people in IOM but maybe the regulator and politicians/bureaucrats there didn’t make that possible. It would appear that the authorities in the Channel Islands are currently quite active in trying to resolve this issue as they have generally been in working with other jurisdictions.
@Guernsey Globetrotter – it would appear that Amex didn’t grandfather people in IOM but maybe the regulator and politicians/bureaucrats there didn’t make that possible. It would appear that the authorities in the Channel Islands are currently quite active in trying to resolve this issue as they have generally been in working with other jurisdictions.
Ah – that’s news to be @JDB – I assumed (perhaps wrongly here) that all Crown Dependencies had been treated equally by Amex. If that is not the case then I will watch developments with even more interest.
The way that the ring-fencing process has effectively excluded access to retail banking credit facilities for many consumers from these Territories is surely not working as intended. The special relationship that exists between the UK and the Crown Dependencies should be taken into account in such situations.
I am not sure if it is really an issue in the legislation or instead in the interpretation of it by banks but I hope that in the end common sense will prevail… I won’t hold my breath though!
@Guernsey Globetrotter – yes, ring fencing is one of the key problems for other banks offering lots of products, but that shouldn’t affect Amex. The issues around access to credit checking data including the lack of an electoral roll is a problem as well as the relative difficulty in enforcing debts vs UK. It all adds a layer of complication and cost for a small market. The Channel Islands (and I know one shouldn’t really group them together but for these purposes, they are on the same page) took a very early decision that to keep their very powerful and lucrative position in financial services, they needed to be clean and cooperative and they have been fairly good at that. As for some of the other Crown Dependencies…
Global transfer to the U.S. before your account closure if you want to keep an Amex account.
Global transfer to the U.S. before your account closure if you want to keep an Amex account.
Easier said than done, but definitely the best course of action.
What I’d like to know from you @gadgetzmo is when they say “Been a customer for 7 years and shocked to receive…” and also “might be to do with use of Paypal for FF but not sure” do you really mean “have rinsed hundreds of thousands of MRs from Amex via Paypal FF cycling over the last 7 years, Ming the Merciless stylee, and am now indignant that I have been found out”?!
Aren’t Paypal known for being trigger happy on account closures with excessive FF payments?
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