Ok guys I have to ask this:

When the recovery finally takes hold and the world economy as a whole starts to take off again, do you think the cc companies are going to really start looking to expand their customer base that fast? I'm thinking they are going to be "gun shy" for awhile for the simple fact that they (cc companies) are going to want to see the economy "set in stone" as far as consistency and longevity before opening the coffers again.

I think AMEX has learned a hard lession behind this recession and will not let themselves be open to a large exposure again. Where the problem begins, in my opinion, is if they do follow that policy and it works, will everyone else fall into place behind them ?

The disadvantages outweigh the benefits of having an AMEX card.

wow that is freakin crazy!

There are a lot of people i know that love American Express but there is just as much the same amount of people i know who hate them and through their experiences i never had a desire to get one.It was a well known policy as a cardholder that you could be FR at any moment for any reason so what's happening with Amex is not surprising.American Express is a good card to have but you better be prepared to play by their rules which other cc companies seem to be are picking up too.

What's going to kill me is when everything boils down to recovery, they are going to look like fools. They may can check where we shop, where we live, and how well we use our other cards, but what they can not do by computer, is find out how much money we have stored, who are the real "Joneses" and who are the fake "Joneses!" That is the most judgmental bank I have ever seen. Paying customers (or should I say "Lowering" their debt by $300) to close their accounts is prejudice.

There is a credit law that says, "You can not deny a person a credit card because of their types of income," such as government assistance. So what is Amex judging paying customers by? Oh wait a minute they quote "High Risk Customers." What do they categorize as "High Risk?" Don't come replying with what we already know, which is, those who has abuse other creditors, have high balances, lates, c/o's, too many new accounts, or too many inq's because there are plenty of people here who did not fall into that category, and was cut short of their Amex card. What is the real did here?

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2009-02-23-amex-close-accounts_N.htm

Wondering what the criteria that is being used to do this? Now I would think this would be offered to your riskiest cardholders who are currently having issues making their payments or have a large debt with AMEX.

Just saw this on Foxbusiness.com too. These banks are acting weirder everyday. If it weren't so scary and even pathetic, it would be slightly entertaining.

What AMEX is basically doing is that they want some of their riskiest customers gone. But if the customer is already a risk, how are they going to pay off a large balance? Probably by doing a balance transfer to another creditor I would imagine.

I still like AMEX despite what others may say (and yes, that would change if/when they do something to me, but so far so good).

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2009-02-23-amex-close-accounts_N.htm

Wondering what the criteria that is being used to do this? Now I would think this would be offered to your riskiest cardholders who are currently having issues making their payments or have a large debt with AMEX.