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How Bad Will It Get for American Express?

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Re: How Bad Will It Get for American Express?

#51

Post by mastre_ »

Not a fan of elitism, however one good effect AMEX has on people who use their charge cards is to make them be more responsible with their spending habits. Credit cards make their money by charging interest on revolving credit, which steers people toward being less responsible with their spending.

Ironically, I think the people who would stand to benefit the most from a charge card, those just getting started i.e. in college, probably don't qualify for a charge-only AMEX, whereas the credit card companies aggressively pray on them.

Re: How Bad Will It Get for American Express?

#52

Post by dodders »

magic_beans wrote: post #8
eggoa wrote: post #5

For something as fungible as credit card transactions, it's hard to understand how a "brand" could be truly valuable. (Or is the grocery store cashier secretly really impressed when I produce my Amex Blue?)

I've live in New York and I've literally never been to a single bar or grocery store that accepts American Express. Anyone know why this is?

IIRC, Aqua Santa in Williamsburg used to only accept AMEX. Think they take other cards now though.

Re: How Bad Will It Get for American Express?

#54

Post by d2ncal »

I've been an AMEX user since 2002. I have a MasterCard also, and use it where AMEX is not accepted. However, I prefer using AMEX because:

1. It has a rock solid dispute system. I've disputed charges where the merchant didn't deliver on promise and AMEX took really good care of it. Same thing with a Visa card didn't go very well. You can do everything off the AMEX website and over email. With others, you have to call them and deal with lousy customer support.

2. They have a really good website and overall user experience. Its a pleasure to go to the website to see the charges, or to get a well laid out annual spending report. Their mobile app is also the best as compared to others.

3. They have stellar customer service. I rarely need to call them, but when I do, the wait times are in seconds.

4. They support mobile payments - Its the first one to be on Samsung Pay and I happen to have a Note 5.

FWIW, I just have the "American Express Blue Cashback" card, which no annual fees.

Re: How Bad Will It Get for American Express?

#55

Post by jsprogrammer »

branchless wrote: post #31
Sanddancer wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amex charges higher fees per-transaction. Because they're a charge card, they make their money off the transaction fees, and not off the interest rates a card accrues. Conversely, this means they have to charge more on the front-end to maintain profitability.

Yep - great to see them in trouble. Most small businesses hate them as they take from their bottom line. IIRC amex also tried to stop retailers letting customers know just how much they charge per transaction and wouldn't let shops offer different prices to counter-balance Amex greed. Overall they sound thoroughly nasty and I cheer their demise. ps whenever I can I use cash at an independent business so they keep the…

Is there a bank or credit issuer who doesn't act substantially the same?

Re: How Bad Will It Get for American Express?

#56

Post by infinite_beam »

magic_beans wrote: post #8
eggoa wrote: post #5

For something as fungible as credit card transactions, it's hard to understand how a "brand" could be truly valuable. (Or is the grocery store cashier secretly really impressed when I produce my Amex Blue?)

I've live in New York and I've literally never been to a single bar or grocery store that accepts American Express. Anyone know why this is?

I live in New York and have been to a lot of bars and grocery stores that accept American Express.

Re: How Bad Will It Get for American Express?

#58

Post by redblacktree »

davidw wrote: post #36
brewdad wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. Before AMEX, Costco had an exclusive deal with Discover. That's the definition of inconvenience. This new deal will result in a Costco branded Visa but Costco will be accepting ANY Visa card. For the vast majority of consumers this is much more convenient. FWIW, AMEX has been doing the hard sell trying to get me to switch to a new card. So far, I haven't seen any offers worth my time. It's a shame really.…

Yeah, when we moved back to the states, I signed up with Costco. Only I couldn't pay for it with any of the cards that I had. So I also had to sign up for their Amex card. Quite a bit of paperwork and hassle...

There's always cash.

Re: How Bad Will It Get for American Express?

#59

Post by exw »

d2ncal wrote: post #54

I've been an AMEX user since 2002. I have a MasterCard also, and use it where AMEX is not accepted. However, I prefer using AMEX because: 1. It has a rock solid dispute system. I've disputed charges where the merchant didn't deliver on promise and AMEX took really good care of it. Same thing with a Visa card didn't go very well. You can do everything off the AMEX website and over email. With others, you have to call…

> Same thing with a Visa card didn't go very well

I agree with the overall sentiment of your post, but unlike Amex, Visa does not issue credit cards, and relies on banks ("Issuing Banks") to deal with disputes. So if you had a bad experience with your Visa card, you should consider switching to a different issuer, vs. just assuming that all banks that issue Visa cards will act the same.

Re: How Bad Will It Get for American Express?

#60

Post by brianclements »

d2ncal wrote: post #54

I've been an AMEX user since 2002. I have a MasterCard also, and use it where AMEX is not accepted. However, I prefer using AMEX because: 1. It has a rock solid dispute system. I've disputed charges where the merchant didn't deliver on promise and AMEX took really good care of it. Same thing with a Visa card didn't go very well. You can do everything off the AMEX website and over email. With others, you have to call…

Your experience point by point matches my own, the customer service feels exactly how it should. The premium product I need from Amex isn't the lounges and the prestige, just a credit card company that has my back and isn't trying to avoid me when I need to contact them.

Let me also note that since Amex has become a commercial bank, they offer a FDIC insured savings account[1] at an extremely competitive .9% APY. That was the highest I could find a couple years ago when I started looking. That product too, to me, feels very premium.

[1]https://personalsavings.americanexpress.com

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