Released: October 07, 2008

AmEx rates credit risk by where you live, shop

Source: Mike Stuckey, MSNBC

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.”

Read Full Article: AmEx rates credit risk by where you live, shop