Amex insisting on having my annual income and occupation

andyeyeam

I have been an American Express customer with their Nectar based card for 11 years. I use it a lot and  have religiously repaid in full monthy. Recently the mobile app started to ask for annual income and occupation on login which I ignored. Today that changed to not allowing me to login unless I provided those details. They say they have to ask to comply with the law. But why now? What changed? What is really going on here? I do not trust the motive. If anyone can help it would be most appreciated. Andy

Jami74

I applied for an Amex last week and had to fill in my income and occupation. They use that information to set limits and interest rates and I think if they lend you more money than you'd ever be able to pay back then they can get into trouble and there are laws in place to make sure they are not doing that. It's to protect themselves and the people who will spend more than they can afford. Unfortunately they don't know who those people might be so they ask everyone. Lots of people get into debt and then blame credit card companies for giving them too much credit. 

I'm intrigued to know what your income and occupation is that you don't want to share with the company that risks their money making it available to you.

andyeyeam

Sorry to disappoint but really nothing interesting here. If you read my post carefully you will see that I said I did not trust the motive. Before I share personal details I like to understand why. 

Asghar

andyeyeam said:

 What changed? What is really going on here? I do not trust the motive.

How dare the financial company that are lending you money, request that you keep them up to date with your occupation and income.

I would close down the account and go elsewhere.

andyeyeam

Thank you for your helpful comments

razord

Yeh, all your providers should be asking you for this information soon. Starling did for me earlier this week and AMEX tell me it's going to happen soon.

It's all to do with new Know Your Customer and Money Laundering regulations - they basically need to know your salary so they can flag if you're suddenly moving more money through your accounts.

jay1804

andyeyeam said:

I have been an American Express customer with their Nectar based card for 11 years. I use it a lot and  have religiously repaid in full monthy. Recently the mobile app started to ask for annual income and occupation on login which I ignored. Today that changed to not allowing me to login unless I provided those details. They say they have to ask to comply with the law. But why now? What changed? What is really going on here? I do not trust the motive. If anyone can help it would be most appreciated. Andy

I've recently seen the alert in the app, however I got a credit increase and provided my updated salary.

Amex just want to make sure the credit their giving you is affordable. Since you have your account for over a decade a lot can change. You should be happy Amex aren't doing what Barclaycard did a couple months back, slashing limits, then asking you to provide updated information, for an increase.

If you don't want to provide the details, I'm sure they will close your account for you.

The message incase anyone else wants to see it.

https://imgur.com/a/KLksncs

kaMelo

In recent times Barclaycard got hit with stonking fines for unaffordable lending practices with credit card customers. It's response was to review their customers credit limits, in some cases drastically reducing them or offering minimal limits to new customers unless they could provide income and expenditure details. I can only assume AmEx are following suit and whilst I haven't heard anything it would appear, looking at the link above, to be a new, upcoming regulatory requirement.

This is how the FCA expects financial institutions to behave, to be a responsible lender by ensuring all credit is affordable. Where doubts exists then they are expected to reduce available credit and/or refuse any new credit. The days of free and easy credit are over. First it was the payday loan companies, now it's credit cards, next will be the BNPL offerings. The doorstep lenders must be rubbing their hands with glee..
As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for, it may just come true.

born_again

andyeyeam said:

I have been an American Express customer with their Nectar based card for 11 years. I use it a lot and  have religiously repaid in full monthy. Recently the mobile app started to ask for annual income and occupation on login which I ignored. Today that changed to not allowing me to login unless I provided those details. They say they have to ask to comply with the law. But why now? What changed? What is really going on here? I do not trust the motive. If anyone can help it would be most appreciated. Andy

The motive is "Know Your Customer"

They do not want to be accused of "Unaffordable lending" like the pay day loan companies faced.

Their next step would be to restrict your account till the details are provided. After that it would be to terminate the account.

Rodders53

Why not call and talk to Amex and find out why?  Or write if you prefer.

Asking random strangers on the interweb isn't likely to get an answer "from the horse's mouth". just speculation (albeit informed speculation from some).

Jami74

andyeyeam said:

Sorry to disappoint but really nothing interesting here. If you read my post carefully you will see that I said I did not trust the motive. Before I share personal details I like to understand why. 

Oh I'm not really disappointed, lol.

I guess the motive is to reduce your limit if your earnings have gone down. 

I'm with you on not sharing personal details without understanding why, hence I've recently lost my Facebook account. I did not understand why I had to show them my passport to keep it. I only used it for the reminders to check my shed for missing cats and when to be wary of white vans so it's no big loss. If they were giving me nectar points though, I'd have given them what they wanted.