American Express Supplementary Cardholders

SarkFarmer

Hi

I'd appreciate some advice regarding applying for an Amex account as a supplementary cardholder.

Myself and my husband were previously supplementary cardholders on an Amex chargecard account which the primary cardholder defaulted on and which was subsequently closed. As far as I'm aware the outstanding balance (which the the primary holder had incurred) was never settled. At the time we were living at a different address unconnected to our current address.

Some time last year my husband applied for an Amex Platinum chargecard in his own name. For whatever reason his application was unsuccessful, I suspect because of some late payments recorded on his credit file and also because he has high balances outstanding on some of his credit cards. We're both on the electoral roll, so that can't be the reason for it being declined.

A member of the family (living at our current address) has subsequently taken out an Amex Platinum chargecard and has offered to add us onto the account as supplementary cardholders.

My questions are:

If we take them up on their offer and apply to be supplementary cardholders on their account, will there be any link to us as supplementary cardholders on the previous, defaulted Amex account? As I say, the previous account was at an address uinconnected to our current one, but obviously our names and DOBs are the same.

Would the identical names and DOBs automatically link up, or would the fact that the new applications are at a different address make a difference? I'm not sure whether we would be required to send in proof of ID. I think we did with the previous account but we weren't on the electoral roll at the time and had no other accounts at that address. At our current address we have an established credit history so hopefully that would fulfil the eligibility criteria of being 18+ and a UK citizen.

I read somewhere on one of the forums that with Amex someone who has previously defaulted on an Amex account (as the primary account holder) will be rejected in future even for supplementary cards, but I'm not sure whether this might also apply to supplementary cardholders on a previous account.

Also, would my and my husband's credit rating with our existing accounts at our current address have any impact on our family member's Amex account if we apply as supplementary cardholders?

Bascially, I don't want to apply for the cards if there's any risk they'll be connected with the old account and potentially cause problems with my family member's new account.

Thanks so much for taking the time to help me with this. :j

creditcardhelp11

Please get a credit report from all three credit reference agencies for both you and your husband and make sure the information is correct. If you were only additonal card holders you are not legally responsible for the debt. However, AMex may have an internal system that checks the names but I very much doubt it as you did not default on the account. It shouldn't cause an issue but look at the T&Cs for an additional card holder all will be explained there.

JohalaReewi

SarkFarmer wrote: »

Hi
My questions are:

Also, would my and my husband's credit rating with our existing accounts at our current address have any impact on our family member's Amex account if we apply as supplementary cardholders?

Shouldn't do.

The Amex credit agreement is with your family member. If they add you as supplementary card holders, there will be no additional credit agreement between you and Amex, and no financial link will be recorded with the credit reference agencies. So your credit rating should not affect your family member's Amex account.

Amex might do an internal check on you both and possibly run an ID check but there is no real way to guess how that will turn out. At worst, you won't get a card.

w211

I am a supplementary card holder with my Dad's Barclaycard, there's nothing on my credit file about this, as already mentioned, he's responsible for the debt on the card.

Also if you're not already aware, one other supplementary card will be Platinum (which will also come with a Priority Pass), and the others (up to four), will be Gold/Green (you'll be able to choose)- though they will give similar benefits to the Platinum and are different from the normal Gold/Green.