Comments on: My Experience With Amex’s Financial Review

By: Choxin

Choxin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:51:18 +0000

I too got hit with the finical review. Never late, 780 credit, 2 – 5k a month paid in full every month. When they called me for the financial review, I thought it was a fraudulent call. I could barely understand the idiot on the other line. I was told that I had 5 days to fill out and fax an IRS 4506t form. Yeah, I’ll get right on it. I went home, paid my balance online then called and cancelled my card before they did. It worked out for me because it reports on my credit as closed by consumer. If they would have cancelled me it would report as closed by issuer and adversely affected my credit. I think everyone should avoid doing business with Amex. They suck!

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:41:51 +0000

How does one “fail” a financial review? Aside of not providing them with the 4506T, can they get your tax information and decide they don’t want you, or do they just use it to verify you indeed have income? My issue is when I filled out their application, they asked for “Household income”, which I included my income and my (non-applicant) spouse. When they asked me to send in the 4506T, I was clear with them that my income on the tax transcript won’t match what I entered because they are only getting my income. I offered to provide my wife’s income information as well but they told me since she wasn’t on the card, they didn’t need it. I offered to provide bank statements as well as YTD paystubs (which they apparently don’t accept).

So my question is this:

How do they differentiate what you put on the application versus what the tax transcript says about you if they don’t match?

Do they simply “update” their information (as they claim to do).

Has anybody ever done a FR to find their accounts adversely affected as for the outcome (even after providing the information)?

When they get the tax transcript, what would cause them to “not like what they see”?

I am just seeing a lot of confusing stuff related to the AMEX Financial Review.

By: Hud

Hud — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:19:54 +0000

I have had a VISA card for over 20 years and four months ago I decided to get an AMEX card from Costco. BIG mistake. First they lowered my limit after I did a balance transfer and then they cancelled my card after I complained about it. When I tried to resolve this issue, it was like a SNL skit because I was transferred to six different customer service idiots. My credit is perfect and this was uncall for.

Stay with VISA!!!!

By: L. Burroughs

L. Burroughs — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:59:08 +0000

This happened to me today, same story as above…. i have never defauted or paid late. Spend around and pay off 5 to 10 k a month on my platinum business card….. I just don’t know what to do. Amex has the right to reduce credit, but tax returns and more for no reason….. i don’t understand. AMEX has literally ruined my life and credit. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM

By: L.Willis

L.Willis — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 09:10:51 +0000

I think it is time for us, the customers of AMEX to shut it down. If any of us had a spouse that treated us like AMEX does, we would see them in divorce court and renew our life.
I say, everyone should pay the minimum payments, forcing AMEX to dry up and go down, and then deal with resolving our debt with the government or whoever takes them over. It would be better than what we have now. The way AMEX is lowering our limits AND raising our rates, the damages are done. No one is going to recover from this soon,at least the way the “FICO game” is currently designed. If you are not having any complaints with AMEX, just wait, you will or you currently have issues that you are not aware of. An AMEX customer service person told me, AMEX is making changes across the board. They do not want to get sued for discrimination. So listen up ladies and gentlemen, it is time to act as a group and control who we do business with and how we should be treated. I say this with a bit of humor, but I am dead serious about minimum payments. If you pay more, it enables AMEX to raise your interest rate higher and less of your payment goes on the principal anyway. AMEX has already requested the government to take them over like a couple of the brokerage firms. We, the AMEX customers, would get a better and more reasonable resolution when that happens. The less money AMEX gets each month, the sooner they are out of our lives as the current company. Think about it.

By: Funny about Money

Funny about Money — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:57:21 +0000

There’s a limit. What’s between you and the tax man is between you and the tax man. Federal law exists to protect your privacy.

If I get a call like this from AMEX, American Express will instantly lose a customer. There is not a CHANCE I would give them access to my income tax statements! The fact that I’ve done business with them for centuries is beside the point. They have no right to ask you for private information of that nature. If you have never defaulted on a bill, then they should continue to do business with you. If you have made a late payment or missed a payment, then they should cancel your card. That’s easy.

Most vendors will take cash or checks. Many would prefer to do so, especially where American Express is concerned, since that company zings them with very high transaction fees. Because of this, more retailers accept Visa and MasterCard than will take American Express. The only serious problem dropping AMEX would cause is that it complicate buying gasoline at Costco, the cheapest in town–while you were shopping in the store, you’d have to buy a cash card to cover your purchase at the pump.

I’d be sorry to lose the cash back from AMEX, but given a choice between that and letting them shove a probe up my rear end, the cash back would be go, right now.

Matter of fact, the more I contemplate what you’re telling us, the more I feel inclined to start using cash again. You’re right: credit card companies gather enough information about us to deduce every detail of our personal lives. Who needs that?