@Anonymous wrote:
I have been considering the zync card, but don't think I'll go with it. Even with AmEx calming down a bit from last year, I'm not sure I want to be a guinea pig while they try to reinvent the charge card.
I don't want to get an amex credit card. If they do stop backdating (which I think is unlikely), having the credit card still wouldn't do me any good because you can't product change from a credit card to a charge card.
AMEX charge card has been business as usual. After the collapse of housing and the dramatic increase in unemployment, AMEX took precautions to ensure that cardholders continued to meet credit standards, and took measures to ensure that there wasn't an abuse of charge priviledges associated with financial circumstances.
While there are those who faced Financial Reviews, as long as those reviews checked out and spending habits remained within a range of normal habits, I don't think the Charge Cards really saw much change in how they operated.
However, they did increase the approval and credit standards because many people who were closer to the threshhold were more likely to default.
AMEX has balancing act they have to attempt to pull off: balancing risk exposure with cardholder expansion profits.
AMEX charge is basically a deferred, end of month debit card. What you spend is what you pay. Thus they want to make sure you are making charges within a reasonable ability to pay based upon verifiable income.
Message Edited by txjohn on 12-26-2009 12:41 PM
I am concerned, though, that canceling a charge card after 6months might upset AmEx and cause problems for me when I apply in the future.