topic Re: AMEX history in Credit Cards

AMEX history

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 00:38:37 GMT

My wife is an AMEX cardholder since 2000. Her first card was a regular AMEX but she closed it in 2004. She just applied for a blue cash and got approved. She has added me as the Authorized user. On our online account, it shows her as "member since 2000". Will I also be considered a member since 2000 as I'm an Authorized user?

Re: AMEX history

dragontears — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 00:47:16 GMT

You credit report (and hers) will have 2016 as the open date as Amex no longer backdates

Re: AMEX history

SunriseEarth — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 00:47:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My wife is an AMEX cardholder since 2000. Her first card was a regular AMEX but she closed it in 2004. She just applied for a blue cash and got approved. She has added me as the Authorized user. On our online account, it shows her as "member since 2000". Will I also be considered a member since 2000 as I'm an Authorized user?

Your MSD would be effective as of the year you became an AU. At one point in the past, AMEX did give AUs the same MSD as the original member. Of course, the significance of the MSD greately depreciated when they quit using the MSD year on your CRs when reporting new accounts.

Re: AMEX history

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:33:08 GMT

@dragontears wrote:
You credit report (and hers) will have 2016 as the open date as Amex no longer backdates

Like I've said on another thread, the company needs to fire their CEO.

AMEX no longer goes out of their way to make the customer happy anymore, they don't back date, their card rewards programs are par or only slightly above par, and they're losing partners left and right... Plus their underwriting criteria has loosened up significantly.

"Uh, boss, why aren't we back-dating anymore?" "Well, you see, we have to keep our downhill slide going."

Re: AMEX history

dragontears — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:42:24 GMT

While I personally find Amex to be a meh company, I seriously doubt that they quit back dating based on someone's whim. Most likely it was to prevent the government from fining them since the law states accurate information must be submitted to CRAs and even though it benefited the consumer, back dating is inaccurate information

Re: AMEX history

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:44:46 GMT

@dragontears wrote:
While I personally find Amex to be a meh company, I seriously doubt that they quit back dating based on someone's whim. Most likely it was to prevent the government from fining them since the law states accurate information must be submitted to CRAs and even though it benefited the consumer, back dating is inaccurate information

Technically they aren't lying. All AMEX has to say is, "once a customer, always a customer."

They did it for years, so no excuses are acceptable.

Re: AMEX history

dragontears — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:48:51 GMT

You can argue all you want but if you open a card in 2014 and they report it as opened in 2000 it is incorrect information. Simple fact you did not have that card the entire time

Re: AMEX history

RonM21 — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 08:03:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@dragontears wrote:
You credit report (and hers) will have 2016 as the open date as Amex no longer backdates
Like I've said on another thread, the company needs to fire their CEO.

AMEX no longer goes out of their way to make the customer happy anymore, they don't back date, their card rewards programs are par or only slightly above par, and they're losing partners left and right... Plus their underwriting criteria has loosened up significantly.

"Uh, boss, why aren't we back-dating anymore?" "Well, you see, we have to keep our downhill slide going."

I agree, the underwriting appears to have loosened for sure. I'm not sure why they decided to stop backdating, but it may just be unrelated.

Re: AMEX history

Credit_hawk — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 08:20:57 GMT

I'm inclined to agree about loose approval criteria for not only AMEX but many traditionally upper tier cards. When I see people in the 600's getting approved for the Prestige, CSP, AMEX BCP, Gold, Platinum, etc I'm a bit surprised. I don't know if it's a good thing or bad thing.

Re: AMEX history

creditguy — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 08:52:23 GMT

mountaindewvoltage wrote:

dragontears wrote:
You credit report (and hers) will have 2016 as the open date as Amex no longer backdates

Like I've said on another thread, the company needs to fire their CEO.

"Uh, boss, why aren't we back-dating anymore?" "Well, you see, we have to keep our downhill slide going."

While I agree that Amex needs a new CEO for various reasons I would not include backdating as one of them. Backdating was a courtesy extended to customers and wasn't required, but now Amex must appease this guy and his business, his names Uncle Sam and his business is the US government. They got this thing about accurate credit reporting nowadays and backdating just doesn't mix with that. You open an account 20 years ago and close it a year later then open a new one 19 years later, is it really accurate to say that new account is 20 years old? Nope. So in this case the CEO is blameless, everything else? Sure, go ahead and pile it on him.

Re: AMEX history

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 11:21:39 GMT

@creditguy wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
@dragontears wrote:
You credit report (and hers) will have 2016 as the open date as Amex no longer backdates
Like I've said on another thread, the company needs to fire their CEO.

AMEX no longer goes out of their way to make the customer happy anymore, they don't back date, their card rewards programs are par or only slightly above par, and they're losing partners left and right... Plus their underwriting criteria has loosened up significantly.

"Uh, boss, why aren't we back-dating anymore?" "Well, you see, we have to keep our downhill slide going."

While I agree that Amex needs a new CEO for various reasons I would not include backdating as one of them. Backdating was a courtesy extended to customers and wasn't required, but now Amex must appease this guy and his business, his names Uncle Sam and his business is the US government. They got this thing about accurate credit reporting nowadays and backdating just doesn't mix with that. You open an account 20 years ago and close it a year later then open a new one 19 years later, is it really accurate to say that new account is 20 years old? Nope. So in this case the CEO is blameless, everything else? Sure, go ahead and pile it on him.

The CEO is the scrape goat for the company when something goes wrong.

I'm trying to figure out whey the shareholders didn't get together and fire him after the loss of Costco and Jet Blue.

AMEX should've just stuck with their original business model instead of trying to be like everyone else. Why do you need to market to the lower end of the customer spectrum when your cardholders spend more than those who use a Visa, MasterCard, or a Discover? Now not only is the prestige gone, and the reputable customer service is gone, but also the acceptance isn't as good as the other three issuers. At least AMEX used to have the exceptional customer service, top of the line benefits, and a prestige factor built into their business model to make up for the lack of acceptance, but not anymore.

If AMEX wants more money, they should join the debit card and actual checking account business... Not fake ones with chipless cards that can't be used with Apple Pay, which are actually "prepaid". I mean an actual bank where they give out loans, have a real checking account, branches, ATM's, and chipped debit cards which you can use with mobile wallet systems. If AMEX tapped into that area, they wouldn't lose as much money as they are now.

Re: AMEX history

grillandwinemaster — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 14:48:09 GMT

@dragontears wrote:
You can argue all you want but if you open a card in 2014 and they report it as opened in 2000 it is incorrect information. Simple fact you did not have that card the entire time

Completely agree. Items MUST report accurately. However, once they stopped backdating, Amex lost its appeal for me.

Now, since accurate reporting is a MUST, why have they not gone back to fix all those accounts that have inaccurate "open" dates? Just a thought...

Re: AMEX history

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 16:03:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
AMEX should've just stuck with their original business model instead of trying to be like everyone else. Why do you need to market to the lower end of the customer spectrum when your cardholders spend more than those who use a Visa, MasterCard, or a Discover? Now not only is the prestige gone, and the reputable customer service is gone, but also the acceptance isn't as good as the other three issuers. At least AMEX used to have the exceptional customer service, top of the line benefits, and a prestige factor built into their business model to make up for the lack of acceptance, but not anymore.

Maybe that wasn't all that sustainable in the face of competition. Other issuers have made moves into the "premium" space, and my guess is that the younger affluent subset are (at least to a degree) less wowed by the "prestige" of Amex and do more comparisons about which issuer suits them best.

And it's a pretty common strategy that when a competitor moves into your space you also try to move into some of theirs. Lowering underwriting standards may still be a good idea, providing they can keep defaults etc near to their industry-leading low levels.

Re: AMEX history

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 18:07:47 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
AMEX should've just stuck with their original business model instead of trying to be like everyone else. Why do you need to market to the lower end of the customer spectrum when your cardholders spend more than those who use a Visa, MasterCard, or a Discover? Now not only is the prestige gone, and the reputable customer service is gone, but also the acceptance isn't as good as the other three issuers. At least AMEX used to have the exceptional customer service, top of the line benefits, and a prestige factor built into their business model to make up for the lack of acceptance, but not anymore.

Maybe that wasn't all that sustainable in the face of competition. Other issuers have made moves into the "premium" space, and my guess is that the younger affluent subset are (at least to a degree) less wowed by the "prestige" of Amex and do more comparisons about which issuer suits them best.

And it's a pretty common strategy that when a competitor moves into your space you also try to move into some of theirs. Lowering underwriting standards may still be a good idea, providing they can keep defaults etc near to their industry-leading low levels.

AMEX charges a higher transaction fee (at most places) than Visa or MasterCard does.

If Visa and MasterCard prompted banks to offer "premium" cards, then AMEX should have simply upped the ante with their cards a bit more. With a closed loop system and higher processing fees, AMEX could more than afford it before their downslide happened. AMEX will never survive in a world where they offer cards other than to those who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars on their charge cards.

Perhaps when the current CEO gets fired, perhaps the next one will find a way to increase rewards for their flagship cards, bring customer service back to America, and set the bar a bit higher for their underwriting for card member acceptance.

I do understand what you're saying though about the younger generations. I used to get AMEX offers all the time back when I didn't care so much about credit and cards, and I just tossed them in the garbage because I knew AMEX wasn't accepted in as many places as my Visa card would be. I didn't care so much about the prestige, but was also ignorant about the closed loop system and its advantages... Luckily I now have a Discover card, which I think is better than AMEX, plus there's a guaranteed English speaking American on the other side of the line every time I call them.