Looks like Amex is adding some features including freezing a card....

[Felony_Phil]

I carry 3 cards that have a lock feature. The others stay at the house for online purchases. I've had my wallet taken before and it's was not a very pleasant experience mostly because 5 hours had passed by time I realized it was gone. I generally only make 2 purchases a day, lunch and fuel, so unlocking isn't a big inconvenience to me.

[Anonymous]

A 7 day freeze is useful if your card is lost or stolen, but for those of us who sock drawer their cards and don't want them to be usable for an arbitrary period of time (even months), being able to freeze the card indefinitely would be a Nice Thing To Have(tm).

I wish all cards offered this feature.  Then they can be kept frozen until ready for use, and it would prevent fraud.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I just don't see any advantage to using AMEX anymore even though I still have 3 of their cards. Why did it take them years to add a freeze capability after everyone else? I also find the website to be clumsy and non-intuitive. Takes 30 clicks just to claim cashback which is often unavailable. Read the story about how they lost Costco...that says it all.

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Personally, I just don't see any advantage to using AMEX anymore even though I still have 3 of their cards. Why did it take them years to add a freeze capability after everyone else? I also find the website to be clumsy and non-intuitive. Takes 30 clicks just to claim cashback which is often unavailable. Read the story about how they lost Costco...that says it all.

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They've since won the rest of Hilton...and the Amazon business card...and defended their Starwood relationship pretty well when it could have been much worse.

Losing Costco was bad, but it's not been all defeats.

[Anonymous]

I use my Chase Amazon card, very successfully thank you. Also it seems that many branded cards are issued by multiple banks.
Anyway, it seems like we have several Amex supporters here, so that's fine, to each his own, not interested in a flame war. I just feel that the elite status that Amex has held for 50 years is no longer justified. Thanks to all for your comments good luck to all and I hope your FICO score reaches 900!

[Anonymous]

I just got an email from BofA about a service with their app, that when activated it helps reduce chances of your card being declined while traveling. That also seems like a neat feature, but I generally call them and set a Travel notice. While some people like mobile banking, I feel over using it in this manner can have negative outcomes. Especially abroad, where encryption may not be what it is at home.