In a previous article on this site, Is The Credit Card Industry Redlining? I wrote about actions by American Express where customer’s credit limits were lowered based upon where they shopped.
In a New York Times article, “American Express Kept a (Very) Watchful Eye on Charges” writer, Ron Lieber reports on his interview with Susan Korchak, a representative of American Express.
As previously reported, some American Express customers began to receive letters advising that their credit limits were being reduced due to the fact that: “[o]ther customers who have used their card at establishments where you recently shopped, have a poor repayment history with American Express.”
In Mr. Lieber’s article, Ms. Korchak states that “[t]he letters were wrong to imply we were looking at specific merchants…”
The New York Times article also reports that American Express now denies that there ever was a list of questionable establishments.
Mr. Lieber correctly asks about the language contained in the American Express letters to cardholders, and is told that it was all just a “big misunderstanding.”
It is, of course, unlikely that there was a “misunderstanding.” American Express simply made the mistake of putting in writing what it, and probably other credit card companies are doing: Redlining!
Mr. Lieber’s article is recommended reading.
