Corporate AMEX "charge card", personal liability

EHJK

Are charge cards and credit cards the same thing?
Company say that they can track costs better if all business expense is put on the Corporate charge card, but on the application form it states the liability is personal. So the company has some benefits to that but I don't as I still need to manage it, right? And of course delays in expense reimbursements could have an effect on me clearing the balance each month...unlikely but possible.

So, why is this thing labeled as a charge card? Does that mean no limit as such, or does it mean there is some agreement between AMEX and the company for issuing the cards?
As it is personal liability I assume it will be a direct hit on my credit file because they'll have to do a check; the company has 0 liability.

I don't understand why people would sign up to that instead of using their own CC?

Buzby

No - there is no s75 protection, it has to be pad in full each month and to protect AmEx from company failure they require a personal liability agreement.

Company purchases are exempt from s75 anyway but there really is no benefit for you. They get the benefits, but if t goes wrong - you get the pain (but not the credit file reporting each month).

pacontracting

Yes, you are personally liable.

A charge card is different to a credit card in that the full balance is payable each month. A lot of companies give these to their employees to allow them to charge for expenses.

The personal liability bit comes in as you, in theory, could go on a mad spending spree. Typically most corporations have an expenses policy that refund your corporate expenses to your personal bank account and you have a Direct Debit set up from your account to your charge card.

There is a risk that the company doesn't refund you in time but in reality, the company knows this and doesn't want to upset it's employees so prioritises this sort of thing - provided you do your expenses on time!

Unfortunately it's all part of the fun of being an employee.

planteria

yes, a chargecard has to be paid in full every month...whereas a creditcard can be part paid. it often best to use a creditcard as you would a chargecard, though.

i didn't know that chargecard purchases don't qualify for S75 protection.

planteria

fwiw i wouldn't be concerned about having a card from an employer for which i was also liable, as long as there were no real causes for concern about the company or their expenses policy.

BakerBoy

Wow, I can hardly believe companies are still doing this! In the nineties I was given one of these with no choice. Accounts department screwed up twice and it affected my credit rating.

EHJK

Okay, thanks everyone.
So the application process is no different than if I went onto the AMEX site and applied directly? i.e. the fact the company has a team that handles the AMEX applications without me personally talking to AMEX is just convenience?
Is a charge card subject to the same credit checks as a credit card then? It sounds like it is.
A charge card doesn't appear on your credit file then each month because you have no option but to clear it each month?

GingerBob_3

EHJK wrote: »

Okay, thanks everyone.
So the application process is no different than if I went onto the AMEX site and applied directly? i.e. the fact the company has a team that handles the AMEX applications without me personally talking to AMEX is just convenience?
Is a charge card subject to the same credit checks as a credit card then? It sounds like it is.
A charge card doesn't appear on your credit file then each month because you have no option but to clear it each month?

I guess a charge card is subject to the same checks, and your activities will be reported to the CRAs, against you, not the company.

My company tried to pull this stunt a few years back. We were all going to have corporate AMEX cards. How goood would that be. We sat through presentations from the AMEX rep, telling us what a great outfit they were. Then someone asked why you needed to fill in your own personal details to get this "company" card. Then it all came out. Although it was a corporate card you were personally liable and everything was reported to the CRAs against you. And, absolutely you could not use the card for anything other than company business (disciplinary offence if you did).

To me this all sounded crap. I never got one and carried on using a credit card of my own - one reserved purely for business expense. AMEX as it happened.

reclusive46

planteria wrote: »

i didn't know that chargecard purchases don't qualify for S75 protection.

On its personal charge cards they have the same cover as S75 contractually in their terms and conditions anyway.

phona

I have a corporate charge card.
The advantage to me over using my own CC is that my company's expenses system automatically shows all transactions on the Amex so I just check the boxes and send off the claim. With my own CC I'd have to type in several descriptions and values, not that it would take that long. I still have to send off original receipts.
The corporate card is very useful for my colleagues who have not lived in the UK for long and do not have credit cards.

The company pays my expenses, then I pay the Amex bill when it arrives. However, the Amex account does not appear on my credit files with Noddle or Equifax. I haven't seen my Experian report since I opened the account so not sure if it appears there.
I know I am personally liable, which is ok since the company pays within a week and I would be liable if I paid on a personal CC or debit card anyway.

As for personal transactions, my company's policy is that they are allowed on the corporate card. I have to go into the expenses system and mark them as personal, then pay them off as usual. That said, I have never done this and don't see why I would.

I have no idea about S75 protection.

zerog

phona wrote: »

I have a corporate charge card.
The advantage to me over using my own CC is that my company's expenses system automatically shows all transactions on the Amex so I just check the boxes and send off the claim. With my own CC I'd have to type in several descriptions and values, not that it would take that long. I still have to send off original receipts.
The corporate card is very useful for my colleagues who have not lived in the UK for long and do not have credit cards.

The company pays my expenses, then I pay the Amex bill when it arrives. However, the Amex account does not appear on my credit files with Noddle or Equifax. I haven't seen my Experian report since I opened the account so not sure if it appears there.
I know I am personally liable, which is ok since the company pays within a week and I would be liable if I paid on a personal CC or debit card anyway.

As for personal transactions, my company's policy is that they are allowed on the corporate card. I have to go into the expenses system and mark them as personal, then pay them off as usual. That said, I have never done this and don't see why I would.

Why can't the company pay Amex directly for expenses that are approved, if they already have this tick box system?

Then if you have any personal expenses you can pay them yourself.