Talk:American Express/Archive 1

Old discussions
The reference to Lehman Brothers at the very bottom of the article should probably be edited... as Lehman is now in bankruptcy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.49.227.16 (talk) 10:41, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

This article seems to be a bit-one sided, and even bordering on "glowing in it's praise" for an organisation that really isn't a very nice company. There's no mention of the way that it carefully structures its operations so as to escape banking and financial oversight in many countries, nor is their reputation for charging merchant fees that are typically double that of other card issuers (so contrary to American Express advertising, the most common phrase that cardholders hear at point of sale is "Oh... Do you have Mastercard or Visa?") mentioned. They also run a "report a noncompliant merchant" scheme, where cardholders are asked to "dob in" (Australian slang for report with malice) or "report" merchants that don't accept american express so that the company can turn the marketing heavies on to the "offending" retailer. These are just a few examples from my own direct experience, I'm sure there's plenty more 'dirt'. A section in this entry that tells the dark side and balances out the 'wholesome goodness' that is currently reported would be, in my view, more than appropriate. GB 24June2006
 * American Express is able to charge a premium on merchant fees because they provide a) higher-value customers and b) information from their closed-loop network that no other credit card company can provide. Charging a higher fee on merchant transactions has nothing to do with being "a nice company."  Also, merchants that supposedly accept Amex, but instead encourage their customers to use other cards deserve to be reported.  There are Amex cardholders that are fiercely loyal to the brand and don't want to be duped when a merchant tries to make them use a different card.  You seem to have bitter experiences with American Express, but that doesn't mean your personal beef should be included in the article. --Bittershell 18:44, 26 May 2007 (UTC)


 * As mentioned above, there is a rationale for charging a higher fee to the merchants up front. If you look at the breakdown of what merchants get charged by the banks and Visa/Mastercard, it actually adds up and the fees are very similar because Visa/Mastercard have been using banks as clearing houses, whereas American Express has had to use itself for that purpose.  I am surprised there is no mention of the lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice against Visa for antitrust violations for having colluded with the banks for years to keep American Express out of the bank-issued credit card business.  The piece only casually mentions that banks have started issuing AmEx cards.  But there is much more "dirt" there on what Visa/Mastercard have been doing for years to keep American Express out of the market.

Very biased towards the US market. In Europe AmEx cards are of little use and few places will accept them.

Also, in 1999 the company introduced a marketing triumph, Blue from American Express, a popular card among the young and techno-savvy with its multi-functional onboard chip. -- This is ridiculous marketing-speak.
 * Agreed, if there are no objections I will remove it --Jum4 15:17, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
 * No objections, have removed it.. --Jum4 12:48, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

"Also in 1999, the company introduced a marketing triumph, Blue from American Express, which quickly became a popular card among young adults". This is not much better, can anyone in the US confirm that this card is popular? Any references? As a young(ish) adult I don't know anyone who has an American Express card of any colour. At the very least some mention of the geograpical popularity of various cards should be included. Mtpaley 18:13, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

I Googled "American Express" and got 132,000,000 hits. Why is the link to the salad oil scandal worthy of inclusion when the other 131,999,997 aren't? I think this link should be deleted. It seems if the salad oil link should be anywhere, it should be on the salad oil page. --ButtonwoodTree 02:00, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

In addition, why does the third paragraph indicate that Chenault was preceded by Golub who was preceded by Robinson and then stop there? The company is over 150 years old. Were the CEO/Presidents before Robinson unworthy of mention? Anyone think it would make more sense to include just Chenault in the intro section and mention other CEOs either in the historical section, as appropriate, or in a new section entitled "Past CEOs" (or maybe in both places). --ButtonwoodTree 02:09, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

The article talks about their "Clear" card supporting ExpressPay; the next paragraph says "Also in 2005, American Express introduced ExpressPay...". It seems to me that this paragraph introducing ExpressPay should come first, and then "Also in 2005, American Express introduced Clear...". Does this make sense? Stevie-O (talk) 00:55, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

The article doesn't contain any discussion of MEMBERSHIP REWARDS... a major program and feature of AMEX. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.115.47.129 (talk) 19:10, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

"Höhepunkt der Ausfälle wohl frühestens Ende 2009"

 * http://www.handelsblatt.com/News/Unternehmen/Banken-Versicherungen/_pv/_p/200039/_t/ft/_b/1422208/default.aspx/american-express-machen-steigende-kreditausfaelle-zu-schaffen.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.40.193.11 (talk) 12:44, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

American Express Building at 46 Trinity Place
Article says, In 1880, American Express built a new warehouse behind the Broadway Building at 46 Trinity Place, between Exchange Alley and Rector Street. The designer is unknown, but it has a façade of brick arches that are redolent of pre-skyscraper New York. American Express has long been out of this building, but it still bears a terra cotta seal with the American Express Eagle. I work across the street from 46 Trinity Place, and the terra cotta seal does not bear an eagle but a bull dog's head. I will try to provide a photograph in a day or two. --Jdcrutch (talk) 18:18, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Types of Cards
I wonder if there should be a section on types of American Express Cards, and what they mean. It would be beneficial to people who are interested in applying for these cards.  miranda   17:39, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

American Express Cards - Another slant
I thought I had added this a week or so ago, but find not only no discussion, but no question, so I will put it again as I presume, had someone removed it, it would show in the history?

I added an external link to american-express-cards.org, because it is an open, unmediated (apart from bad language) forum dedicated solely to the free discussion of American Express cards. I see that the article here is somewhat of a 'glowing report', as someone else noted, and thought to even up the playing field a little, as at least 80% of the posts on it are not quite 'glowing.'

American Express did try to close the site down before it even began, but as yet have not succeeded. The link has been removed and I have been invited to discuss it here if I put it back. I realise that there is no promotional linking fillip for the site as the no follow tags (a great idea) give no help to it from an important link point of view, but I did think that this was a reason why I could add it with impunity.

This is a very powerful organization with no discussion of its practices on its own website and so my opinion is that it is an important external link, unless Wikipedia wishes to incorporate a free and open discussion of such subjects of its own. I have not put the link back, as I do not want to be doing things I shouldn't, but I do feel that those with more experience than I might discuss and act according to a) the rules and b) fair mindedness and either put it back or explain why it is not very pertinent. Thanks MaybeBoo (talk) 12:52, 28 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Sorry, but the link I put on your page explained why the link is ineligible for the EL section. The tenth item on the list of 'links normally to be avoided' reads: "Links to social networking sites (such as MySpace), chat or discussion forums/groups (such as Yahoo! Groups), USENET newsgroups or e-mail lists." Being a forum, the site falls under discussion forums/groups, and may not be linked. Carl.bunderson (talk) 18:36, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

No mention of insurance industry ties
This article completely ignores American Express's ownership of the Fireman's Fund Insurance Companies in the 1970s & 80s, a property & casualty insurer which for a number of years contributed 50% or more to the American Express bottom line. Due to insurance losses incurred after American Express under James Robinson III forced Fireman's Fund to increase market share at the expense of solid underwriting, Fireman's Fund was spun off as a public company. Eventually Allianz, the European insurance giant, bought Fireman's Fund in 1991. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.207.189.77 (talk) 15:45, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

Ignoring good standing; personal-life intrusion
In light of massive computerized credit-limit cuts and card cancelations, a discussion of their recent business practices seems warranted in the article. Bluntly, in their efforts to run from risk, the practices completely ignore an individual's record of good standing with the company and then begin to pry into personal aspects of the individual's life. As of this date there are a large number of clients expressing dissatisfaction upon receiving form letters with comments similar to these: "we can see you've been shopping at stores we don't like"; "we think you have too many credit cards"; "we think you owe (the world) too much money". Issues are raised regarding privacy as well as the automated judgments made by the company machines.Ykral (talk) 19:11, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Here is a recent link to a NYT article relating to the above issues:

"In some instances, if it didn’t like what it was seeing, the company has cut customer credit lines. It laid out this logic in letters that infuriated many of the cardholders who received them. “Other customers who have used their card at establishments where you recently shopped,” one of those letters said, “have a poor repayment history with American Express.”

"Kevin D. Johnson, a 29-year-old Atlanta resident who runs a marketing and communications firm, received a letter from American Express last October saying that his credit limit was being lowered. One reason was that other customers who had used their cards at places where he had shopped were late in paying their bills. The company couldn’t — or wouldn’t — tell him which charges had met with its disapproval."

"American Express wouldn’t have been the first company to try cordoning off certain industries. Last year, CompuCredit, a subprime lender, got in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission for failing to disclose that it could reduce customers’ credit lines for using their cards at various establishments."Ykral (talk) 08:27, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/31/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/31money.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=american%20express&st=cse

American Express has also generated further negative publicity for itself, including this article from LAT:

"What does AmEx want? That's a question American Express cardholders are asking more and more these days as the company turns the screws on long-standing customers and seems determined to show as many as possible the door." "...AmEx, which pocketed $3.4 billion in bailout cash from taxpayers, seems to have been especially successful at making customers feel unwelcome."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus29-2009apr29,0,2448933.column —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ykral (talk • contribs) 10:05, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

American Express NOT started in Buffalo
American Express was started in Albany, New York; not Buffalo.Camelbinky (talk) 01:14, 23 February 2009 (UTC)