AmEx rates credit risk by where you live, shop

[EmptyTimCup]

ok this is a yr old, but 1st I had heard about it .....

AmEx rates credit risk by where you live, shop

Credit-card firm confirms members' mortgage lenders also may be a factor


By Mike Stuckey
Senior news editor
msnbc.com
updated 6:42 a.m. ET, Tues., Oct . 7, 2008


Mike Stuckey
Senior news editor
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As the global credit crunch reaches from Wall Street to Main Street, guilt by association has become a tool for evaluating the creditworthiness of American Express customers.

Among other criteria, cardholders are seeing limits reduced because of where they live, where they shop and who holds their mortgage.

“Absolutely unbelievable!” said Jesse Gilleland of suburban Washington, D.C., who says revisions of his American Express accounts and credit limits, at least partly for those reasons, could force him to close his once-thriving computer-consulting firm.

A letter sent to Gilleland by American Express, one of the nation’s largest credit-card issuers, includes these reasons why the spending limit on his Platinum Card was reduced:

* “Our credit experience with customers who have made purchases at establishments where you have recently used your card.”
* “Our analysis of the credit risk associated with customers who have residential loans from the creditor(s) indicated in your credit report.”

Credit-card experts and consumer advocates say that while such practices have been rumored for some time, this is the first time they’ve seen them cited as criteria for a credit limit reduction.

American Express spokeswoman Kim Forde confirmed that the company is analyzing its exposure to risk more closely as it reviews its cardholders’ credit profiles, including considerations it has always weighed — from payment history to credit bureau reports and income.

shop a lot @ value village, bit lots ... walmart have you credit lowered

[MMDad (Premo)]

Wirelessly posted (Change we can believe in!: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.7) 320x240; VZW; Motorola-Q9c; Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard)

Originally Posted by EmptyTimCup

ok this is a yr old, but 1st I had heard about it .....

shop a lot @ value village, bit lots ... walmart have you credit lowered

More likely liquor stores, casinos, and strip clubs.

[JollyRoger]

Originally Posted by MMDad

[

More likely liquor stores, casinos, and strip clubs.

Are you "The Church Lady" from SNL? "Who thought of that maybe satan"
I think guilt shows you spent to much at all three.

[bcp (Premo)]

I got rid of my AmEx.
All I use now is a visa.

[Lenny]

Maybe if you get your shortterm loans from "Louie, the knee breaker" it reflects poorly on your credit worthiness. If you have run away from Maryland, say, because you have been convicted of drunken driving infractions and have caused accidents, and the State wants to lock you up, that reflects on credit worthiness as well as worthiness to breathe.

[MMDad (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Lenny

Maybe if you get your shortterm loans from "Louie, the knee breaker" it reflects poorly on your credit worthiness. If you have run away from Maryland, say, because you have been convicted of drunken driving infractions and have caused accidents, and the State wants to lock you up, that reflects on credit worthiness as well as worthiness to breathe.

What if that same hypothetical person also left behind unpaid creditors? Think a few lawsuits might hurt his credit score?

[Lenny]

Originally Posted by MMDad

What if that same hypothetical person also left behind unpaid creditors? Think a few lawsuits might hurt his credit score?

It would be especially bad if he kept taunting those left behind by sending asinine e-mails, blog entries and forum scat.

[vraiblonde]

So what? Until AmEx becomes a government entity, they can discriminate based on whatever criteria they please.