Amex customer service takes another dive

[The real Swiss Tony]

[RANT]
OK, so just received a letter from AMEX about making payments to my card from a current account that isn’t “mine”.

So I rang up to try and ascertain if this was sent just to me or to everyone. They said the latter, I reckon it’s more selective.

I use my Plat card for business expenses so pay that bill off from my Ltd company business account.

Amex have no process in place for pre-validating that the business account is mine, they just make a vague suggestion that next time you do this, the payment may be delayed or rejected. At that point they clarify the situation, but there seems to be no protocol in place for then white flagging that account.

Capital on Tap is looking increasingly more attractive as a home for the majority of my business spend. I then just keep the Plat card for the benefits, which YTD have already paid the subscription fee. Bloody nonsense. I mean i’m sure Amex won’t miss the 3% of £25k a year from me, but I can’t believe I’m the only person in this position, either.

The phone agent tells me they’re currently collating feedback from members on the change. I bet they are…
[/RANT]

[JDB]

I’m surprised your accountant doesn’t ask you to pay your personal card yourself and get repaid by the company for all legitimate business expenses. Also, by having the discussion with Amex, you are inviting them to close your personal account as you are using it for business in breach of the terms. Their requirement is just a tightening of AML rules about source of funds.

[Matt]

Pay by curve backed up with the debit card?

[SteveJ]

Matt wrote:

Pay by curve backed up with the debit card?

Why introduce curve if paying by debit?

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[The real Swiss Tony]

No, the solution is easy. CoT account opened and virtual card issued, so with immediate effect that’s no business spend going over Amex.

The irritation is that the note from Amex says if this doesn’t work for you then call us and we’ll sort, But they have no way of sorting it. They couldn’t even advise if I had been flagged – I mean the debit card attached to my business account doesn’t even have the business name on it. It says “Business” in the top corner and “commercial” next to the chip, but no reference of the company. Just my name.

As for accountants, both my current accountant and the previous one have had no concerns at all about running things this way. Keeping non salary/dividend cash away from my current account seems to be welcomed in terms of transparency.

[SamG]

I’m surprised Amex have allowed it for so long – it’s an easy way to get flags on your account / payments blocked etc. Any time I use my personal cards for business purchases I immediately go in my business banking app and reimberse myself to my personal account for the correct amount. Makes tying up the transaction in Xero with the receipt easier

[SteveJ]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

No, the solution is easy. CoT account opened and virtual card issued, so with immediate effect that’s no business spend going over Amex.

Seems like the correct outcome all round. Personal spend on a personal card, business spend on a business card.

[Luca M]

As per my rely on the other thread, Amex has issued such a letter to my wife for her personal BA card..

The only thing that could have triggered such a letter is that the DD comes out of a shared account rather then a personal account, but again is perfectly reasonable for an individual to only have a shared account if that is how they wish to manage their finances with their other half, and is not up to Amex to dictate this.

[The real Swiss Tony]

SteveJ wrote:

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

No, the solution is easy. CoT account opened and virtual card issued, so with immediate effect that’s no business spend going over Amex.

Seems like the correct outcome all round. Personal spend on a personal card, business spend on a business card.

Indeed – but without having a better capture/verification mechanism in place, Amex have just kissed goodbye to an awful lot of flow which was probably more benign than average. As I say, they don’t care about the £700 or so they lose in merchant fees on my account, but scale this up and you have a meaningful number. So many ways Amex could have tackled the situation and arguably still come out ahead.

[Mark9900]

As of today, I’ve stopped using this card and will look for a new one when back in the UK.
I understand that they want me to pay for 2 business cards but that’s not going to happen.
I’m sure the commission on my £4k/month average spend won’t bother them but it bothers me.
Cheers.

[The real Swiss Tony]

Mark9900 wrote:

As of today, I’ve stopped using this card and will look for a new one when back in the UK.
I understand that they want me to pay for 2 business cards but that’s not going to happen.
I’m sure the commission on my £4k/month average spend won’t bother them but it bothers me.
Cheers.

Get a Capital on Tap card. It took me seconds to do, virtual card already loaded on my phone and ready to go. Not sure if that worksif outside of the UK, but a VPN would solve the problem.

This has simply made the decision making process easier – now the BAPP card is £250 a year, once my next 2-4-1 triggers I’m binning that and will keep the Plat as the benefits are worth it to me – for now. But my total spend over Amex is going to drop quite sharply.

[freckles]

I’ve had this letter tooo – mine is personal card paid from my personal bank account. Looks like standard letter – maybe money laundering rules?

[Ricardos-Alpert]

Will this have any effects on balance transfers? I have only ever used my own personal debit card to pay off card, no business transactions etc, however always pay off my AMEX using a 0% no fee balance transfer Card.

[SteveJ]

Ricardos-Alpert wrote:

Will this have any effects on balance transfers? I have only ever used my own personal debit card to pay off card, no business transactions etc, however always pay off my AMEX using a 0% no fee balance transfer Card.

If that balance transfer card is your name or supp card holders name, then no issue.

[Dudulle]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

Indeed – but without having a better capture/verification mechanism in place, Amex have just kissed goodbye to an awful lot of flow which was probably more benign than average. As I say, they don’t care about the £700 or so they lose in merchant fees on my account, but scale this up and you have a meaningful number. So many ways Amex could have tackled the situation and arguably still come out ahead.

They do have a verification mechanism for this though. They call it business cards.
Note that a business account does not belong to you it belongs to a company even if the company is yours.