Amex TPC under Financial Review

[wowzera]

Hello,

First off, I am a non-resident alien and applied 08/01/2019 and got approved at the same date for the Bluecash Everyday and The Platinum Card cards from American Express, just using my credit score built with my Bank of America credit card and my foreign passport number (I don't have Social Security Number).

Because of the welcome bonus, I concentrated all my expenses on my The Platinum Card credit card.

In the first month I had no expense and the bill only closed at $ 550. The second bill, however, I started using the card daily for my expenses, but when I reached about $ 4000 in spending, my account was submitted to the Financial Review.

I got a call from American Express and couldn't answer it. Then I verified that my account was charging suspended. I called the number indicated at my account and spoke to the analyst in charge of my account. After reporting my professional and income data (about $ 80,000 annually), she requested me a Tax Form issued by US. I said that I would not have such a document, but only Brazilian tax documents, as I declare my income in Brazil and receive my salary in Brazil. As I told before, I am a non-resident alien and I applied and got approved as a non-resident alien, just by giving them my foreign passport number, where they checked my credit history (Fico Score).
Then she told me she could do nothing and that in 14 days she would close my account.
Does anyone of you have any ideas that might help me?
I have a bank of america account, bank of america credit card, brazilian Amex TPC (which expenses are a lot higher than what I spent on US American Express).
I want to call the analyst and explain the situation again to see if I can reverse the situation. Otherwise, I will lose my account and cards.

I am also prohibited by US Laws from filing a US Tax Form (obviously).
Any idea?

[Anonymous]

Under what status are you in the US? Even illegal aliens can get an ITIN (although most don't want too) so I would suggest that you obtain one anyway.

As to Amex wanting to check your income, if you can't do it and/or they won't accept your foreign tax filings you are really out of luck and they'll close your account as they have already said.

Ultimatly it's their card, and their money, so if you can't do what they want you have little recourse.

[wowzera]

I dont work in the US and neither live there. So, theres no reason to get an ITIN.
About checking my income, theres no problems about that... what happens is that I dont have US tax documents, because I dont live and/or work in the US, and Amex knew that when I requested and approved my credit card.
When I requested, I had to give them my foreign passport number, because I hadn’t SSN. There, they told me that was no problem being a non-resident allien.
Thats the reason I am asking if anybody knows what can be done in my case. Surely theres a way to prove my income without the US Tax documents, as I am a non-resident and Amex US certainly knows that.

[Shadowfactor]

Welcome to the forums.

Why do you have a US issued platinum card if you don’t reside in or work in the United States or work for a US based company ?
Personally I think that may be the issue even if they aren’t saying that, but I don’t work for American Express so this is just my personal opinion.

American Express has its global transfer program, so you may see if that angle is worth considering if you have American Express accounts in your own country. The program was designed to transfer your card accounts to another country if you move but it doesn’t sound like you are moving to the US so it may not be an option.

Ultimately Amex makes the rules during a FR. If you can’t or won’t provide the documents they are requesting they will just close the account and you will likely end up on a blacklist. Any further accounts you ever try to open with Amex will be met with some sort of income verification (most likely).
You can ask if they will accept bank statements instead of tax documents but I would assume if they did accept bank statements it would need to be an account with a US financial institution.

[CreditInspired]

Hi OP and welcome

IMHO, you may be out of luck if you can’t/don’t provide docs for a FR. Even, if you were a US citizen with a SS#, the same thing could/would be asked of a card holder who has had a card only 2 months and spent $4.5K. AmX doesn’t know your spend/payment pattern and needs to make sure you really have stated income you put on application and you have the income to pay. Even when you pay, they don’t know if it’s income or laundered money since you can’t provide documents proving one way or the other. 

Look at it this way. Having credit is a privilege and it’s their sandbox. We have to play by their rules or they take their pail and shovel home (in this case, they shut you down). Think about it. Suppose something happens and you can’t pay your bill. It could cost AmX more to recover their money than what you charged on the card since you don’t earn a salary in the US. 

It’s all about AmX risk—nothing more, nothing less. 

[wowzera]

Thanks @Shadowfactor.

I applied for the US Amex because  I travel a lot to the US and, especially, because when I use my Brazilian cards there are a lot of fees that apply to my purchases outside Brazil. So, it's cheaper to use an US card, as I do use for months my BofA credit card.

American Express global transfer does not apply for Brazil, unfortunately.

I understand that Amex US makes the rules of the game, but as they know since I applied and were approved for the credit card, I am a non-resident alien and do not file US taxes. So it doesn't seem logical to me that they now require a Tax Form issued by the US.

About the Black List, what happens if I close by myself the account? That may be my last option here, I really don't want to be blacklisted, since I did not wrong and seems so unfair to me.

I could give them my bank statements issued by Bank of America, I maintain a checking and saving accounts there since July 2018. I send around $ 2.000 monthly from Brazil to that accounts. May this be an option for me?

@CreditInspired Thanks!

I understand and accept FR, that's not the case. I am not lying and have not provided false information to AMEX US from the beginning.

AmX may know my spend/payment pattern because I have credit history built with Bank of America and, also, they could check my statements help by Bank of America (checking and saving accounts maintaned since July/2018).

I understand about concerns about money laundering or illicit activity, so I am willing to provide any documents requested by them. What I cannot do is provide documents that do not exist or would be illegal since I am not a US resident and do not file US taxes.

I really want to play by their rules, I'm not willing to do anything illegal or irregular, that's why I am looking for a solution there. I could submit all my documentos to US Embassy in Brazil if they wanted, but it seems the analyst is adamant about it.

Can I escalate the case to someone superior? They didn't provided me even an e-mail to send documentos or anything else, all options I have is talk and arguing by telephone.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

I don't think you'll be blacklisted, you'll just have to jump through hoops when you apply.

I'm wondering, what did you enter as income? You stated you entered based on your local currency. That may have been what triggered it. $50k USD converts to $12,150 real, currently. If you reported real and they have it down as USD in their system, that could raise flags as it would look like you're spending more than you can afford.

EDIT: just realized I had the conversion backwards

[wowzera]

@Brian_Earl_Spilner

In relation to the registered income, I entered my income in Brazilian Real converted to United States Dollar. I get around R$ 350,000 annually (brazilian real), which would be converted to around $ 80,000 - $ 90,000 annually in US Dollar.

When I applied for the cards, I inserted an annual income of $ 80.000 (eighty thousand us dollars). It's the actual amount I get in brazilian reais when converted to US dollars. These values are what are in my Brazilian Tax Form.

[FinStar]

AFAIK, they may not accept bank statements, unfortunately. Unless, they have such discretion handling your specific FR, but it's likely on a case-by-case basis. Escalating the issue further up the ladder is not going to make an exception to circumvent the process either.

And, as mentioned upthread, it may appear that AmEx would close the account unless you comply with the required information or you voluntarily close the account. But, since your income is not US-based and they require the 4506-T, then there's really not much of a workaround.

[frugal47374]

I suppose it's too much to hope there is another non-resident alien with Amex who could chime in with their experience

The OP has played by the rules, hasn't misled Amex, is willing to provide proof of income, but is unable to provide the specific documents requested because he doesn't have them.

I don't think there is any harm in escalating this at Amex.  So far it seems he's only dealt with someone who can't think beyond "we need to see US tax documents".  Since they gave him the card knowing he wasn't a US resident, it seems that someone up the chain knows what is really required.