Forget airline miles, cash back, rewards points, or any of that rubbish. American Express wants you to remember that the best way to take full advantage of your card is to carry a balance. [More]
American Express, Where Carrying A Balance With An 18% APR Is A Perk
By March 25, 2013
Supreme Court To Decide Whether Companies Can Use Forced Arbitration To Skirt Federal Laws
By February 27, 2013
It’s been nearly two years since the Supreme Court slapped U.S. consumers across the face, ruling in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion that companies could take away customers’ rights to class-action lawsuits by including a tiny arbitration clause in user agreements. Today, SCOTUS hears another arbitration case that could shift the balance even further in favor of corporations. [More]
Now You Can Buy Stuff With A Tweet: Amex’s Twitter Sync Turns Hashtags Into Cashtags
By February 12, 2013
Last year American Express launched its “Amex Sync” integration, where customers could link up their credit cards to Twitter and get discounts on certain items by way of special offers sent out on the social network. And now the two companies are turning hashtags into dollar signs with a joint venture that allows users to buy certain items simply by hashtagging tweets. [More]
How Do Different Credit & Debit Cards Stack Up In Terms Of Consumer Protection?
By January 28, 2013
We’ve mentioned any number of times how federal laws offer more protection to consumers who make purchases with credit cards because $50 is the most you can be held responsible for a fraudulent purchase, while the sky could be the limit with debit cards. But how do the various networks compare? [More]
Watch Your Credit Card Statement: Refunds Arriving Soon From AmEx, Capital One, Discover
By December 17, 2012
Getting money back from a credit card issuer doesn’t happen every day, so plenty of Discover, American Express and Capital One customers are in for a treat in the form of refunds hitting their accounts soon. Those three companies were ordered to pay up a total of $435 million to almost six million customers after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action against deceptive credit card practices. [More]
Neither L.A. Fitness Nor American Express Care That Customer Was Overcharged Hundreds Of Dollars
By December 4, 2012
If you’ve signed enough contracts over the years, you’ve probably signed at least one where it was amended and initialed by the signers. But when one party refuses to acknowledge that those changes were ever made, you can end up getting royally screwed. [More]
American Express Tries To Sneak Forced Arbitration Clause On Users, Gives Until Feb. 15 To Opt Out
By October 19, 2012
It’s the hot new trend in business: Forcing customers into binding arbitration that take away their rights to sue as a group. The latest to latch onto this trend is American Express, which did its best to hide the clause on the final pages of their statements, but which is also giving them until Feb. 15, 2013 to opt out. [More]
Data Shows Bank Of America Is Also Bad At Dealing With Credit Card Complaints
By October 12, 2012
Earlier this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launched a complaint portal for people with credit card-related issues. Banks and card companies are not obliged to provide a happy ending to the complainant, but they are obliged to reply in a timely manner. And even with the bar lowered that much, Bank of America still manages to disappoint. [More]
American Express To Pay Out $85 Million To Customers For Variety Of Consumer Violations
By October 1, 2012
American Express is feeling the sting of an $112.5 million spanking from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, following an investigation that found that three subsidiaries of the credit card company had violated several consumer rights, from misleading ads to age discrimination to unlawful late fees. [More]
AmEx Denies Existence Of A Store Blacklist, Will Slash Your Credit Whenever They Want
By January 31, 2009
Despite sending customers letter saying otherwise, American Express now insists that it never blacklisted cardholders based on where they shopped. Those notes explaining that “other customers who have used their card at establishments where you recently shopped have a poor repayment history with American Express?” Whoops! Just a big misunderstanding! Not unlike the comment they gave to ABC explaining that “shopping patterns” were used as a “contributing factor” in slashing credit lines, a statement AmEx later retracted. So what’s really going on? Let’s explore…
