Possible to get an American Express card?

cheadle999

Hi does anyone how you go about getting an American Express card? I rang them up earlier and it seems the only way is to apply through a bank which is approved by them. The thing is they won't tell you which ones are on their approved list. I asked about BOI, AIB and Ulster bank and none of them are on it. If anybody could help me out that would be great.

CeilingFly

Not offered and very few retailers accept it due to the very high fees charged.

Amex do produce them directly for some corporate accounts but for individuals they would want to know there was high spending and also require a bank guarantee for about 25k

Dubliniensis

CeilingFly wrote: »

Not offered and very few retailers accept it due to the very high fees charged.

Amex do produce them directly for some corporate accounts but for individuals they would want to know there was high spending and also require a bank guarantee for about 25k

I got an Amex in 2010 without a guarantee - I just had to provide a few months bank statements. They seem to have changed their approval process since and they now insist on a relationship with specific private banks or else to have an Amex card already.

The acceptance of the card is actually pretty good in Ireland - off the top of my head it's accepted in Dunnes Stores, SuperValu, Boots, Marks & Spencers, Zara, Arnotts, Brown Thomas, TK Max, Debenhams. Pretty much all airlines (including Ryanair) accept it, along with 4 and 5-star hotels. Restaurants are hit and miss with more upmarket places likely to accept it.

CeilingFly

Dubliniensis wrote: »

I got an Amex in 2010 without a guarantee - I just had to provide a few months bank statements. They seem to have changed their approval process since and they now insist on a relationship with specific private banks or else to have an Amex card already.

Were they not partnering with bank of Ireland at that time?

Boi stopped working with amex at end of 2010.

Dubliniensis

CeilingFly wrote: »

Were they not partnering with bank of Ireland at that time?

Boi stopped working with amex at end of 2010.

BOI may have still been servicing the Amex blue card at the time but this was an application for a charge card to Amex in the UK.

When I applied, they looked for a bank reference, which was essentially a bank guarantee. Amex came back to me saying the reference was not sufficient to make a decision on my application and asked for bank statements and then approved the card.

Alun

When I lived in the Netherlands I had a gold Amex card, obtained directly from them, no bank involved at all. When I moved here I thought it would just be a matter of changing my address, but no way. I would have had to cancel the existing card and reapply via whichever bank would accept me, which as a new arrival in the country was none, and Amex themselves were no use at all in providing references or anything. Told them to shove it in the end.

coylemj

CeilingFly wrote: »

Not offered and very few retailers accept it due to the very high fees charged.

And even the ones that do accept it will often ask if you have any other plastic i.e. they only accept them as a last resort.

A US multinational sent one of their hotshots to London to run the UK operation, his wife went into Laura Ashley in Oxford St. to buy stuff to furnish their new London pad, flashed her (husband's) Amex gold card whereupon the sales assistant asked her if she had any other cards. It was a briefly a big story in the UK press and naturally Laura Ashley denied that it was store policy which everyone knew was BS - why would a sales assistant on minimum wage care whose card the customer uses?

Yggr of Asgard

American Express is no longer accepting new customers for their International Currency Card (which is for residents of countries in which they are not issuing cards directly) unless the customer is an existing Amex customer in a country or introduced by their bank.

So if you are an Irish Resident with no existing Amex card you will need to find a bank which introduces you to Amex and in Ireland that is not available for consumers.

Only option is to be a resident of a country in which they issue (and pass their local credit requirements) or have a good relationship with a private bank that introduces you.

Or if you really want one, you can apply for a basic account with Bank of Cyprus under EU directive and get their Amex Debit card ;-)

ED E

What's the benefit of obtaining one?

vector

ED E wrote: »

What's the benefit of obtaining one?

Why do AmEx have little interest in Ireland?

Is it due to a classic problem that happens in Ireland - whereby a foreign firm opens a "UK and Ireland Office/Territory" and bases it in the UK, and the UK office has little interest in Ireland?

Yggr of Asgard

American Express tailors their card offers to the conditions in the country they choose to offer cards.

While for example in the UK you can get real credit cards from Amex in Germany for example they are only Charge Cards (i.e. they need to be paid back in full once the bill is issued) and they are very hard to get and very tightly managed.

The Irish market is very small and the cost to run a dedicated operation for the few card holders they might get is too costly, never mind the Stamp Duty they would need to collect for those plus the KYC requirements.

Years ago Amex (and diners club for example too) issued cards directly into the Irish market, but after a while that stopped and they transfered those business to the International Euro card (EMEA) which is serviced from the UK.

With the financial crisis they than did decide to even stop their International Euro card for new customers and require that you are an existing card holder in some country.

Amex cards have some nice advantages depending on the card level you have (lounge access, concierge) but generally due to the cost of acceptance businesses prefer some other card like Master/Visa.

Time

cheadle999 wrote: »

Hi does anyone how you go about getting an American Express card? I rang them up earlier and it seems the only way is to apply through a bank which is approved by them. The thing is they won't tell you which ones are on their approved list. I asked about BOI, AIB and Ulster bank and none of them are on it. If anybody could help me out that would be great.

I managed to get an Amex Gold Charge card a few months ago. At first, Amex told me they wouldn't disclose what banks they had relationships, when i told them I had accounts with BOI, AIB, PTSB, EBS, KBC and Ulster they said to speak to Ulster Bank. Unfortunately nobody in UB had a clue what to do.

Then i applied online using my Parcel Motel address, was instantly provisionally approved and just had to send them proof of address (my UB account is registered to PM) along with copy of my passport stamped by any UB branch and my most recent statement showing satisfactory income (printed off and stamped by the branch).

The card arrived at my Parcel Motel a few days later. I'm going to apply for the ICC in a few weeks when I've been with them 10 months. Acceptance is not as bad as people would have you believe most Major retailers accept them and lots of shops who use Sage Pay as their card processor (check the logo on the terminal) will also accept them even if they say they don't.

Charles Babbage

Yggr of Asgard wrote: »

American Express is no longer accepting new customers for their International Currency Card (which is for residents of countries in which they are not issuing cards directly) unless the customer is an existing Amex customer in a country or introduced by their bank.

So if you are an Irish Resident with no existing Amex card you will need to find a bank which introduces you to Amex and in Ireland that is not available for consumers.

Might having been a customer for many years while Bank of Ireland handled their card be any use? Probably not, given Alun's comments above.

Then i applied online using my Parcel Motel address, was instantly provisionally approved and just had to send them proof of address (my UB account is registered to PM) along with copy of my passport stamped by any UB branch and my most recent statement showing satisfactory income (printed off and stamped by the branch)

Did you get a Euro or Sterling card? I have an address in NI, but no UB a/c there.

Time

Charles Babbage wrote: »

Did you get a Euro or Sterling card? I have an address in NI, but no UB a/c there.

I have a sterling card, which suits me better, you can’t get a Euro card until you’ve had a sterling one for at least 6 months anyway.

If you have a NI address and proof of address for it you're good to go. The UB account I have registered there is a Euro Account, not a Sterling one and they didn’t care.

philirl

Time wrote: »

I managed to get an Amex Gold Charge card a few months ago. At first, Amex told me they wouldn't disclose what banks they had relationships, when i told them I had accounts with BOI, AIB, PTSB, EBS, KBC and Ulster they said to speak to Ulster Bank. Unfortunately nobody in UB had a clue what to do.

Then i applied online using my Parcel Motel address, was instantly provisionally approved and just had to send them proof of address (my UB account is registered to PM) along with copy of my passport stamped by any UB branch and my most recent statement showing satisfactory income (printed off and stamped by the branch).

The card arrived at my Parcel Motel a few days later. I'm going to apply for the ICC in a few weeks when I've been with them 10 months. Acceptance is not as bad as people would have you believe most Major retailers accept them and lots of shops who use Sage Pay as their card processor (check the logo on the terminal) will also accept them even if they say they don't.

Can you explain a bit more your situation? You are Irish resident and you work here but you used UK address to apply for AMEX? Wasn't a bit strange for them to see UK living address and Irish bank/job? Thanks so much for help

Time

philirl wrote: »

Can you explain a bit more your situation? You are Irish resident and you work here but you used UK address to apply for AMEX? Wasn't a bit strange for them to see UK living address and Irish bank/job? Thanks so much for help

So i live and work in Ireland but i have Ulster bank Euro accounts in both Ireland and Northern Ireland. UB can refer you to Amex for an ICC Euro card (according to Amex) but nobody in UB seems to know to go about it.

So instead i used my Parcel Motel address as my home address (changing my UB account in NI to match it) applied and they asked for proof of ID and wanted to see sufficient income going into my account, this was what they seemed most interested in. Once they received that i was approved for a Gold Charge card, and i changed my address with them shortly afterwards.

I've since been issued with a few other cards from them and also now have the Euro card.

Time

Mr.S wrote: »

What’s the benefit of having an Amex card here? The rewards seem fairly poor considering the price of the cards.

They certainly don’t offer value for everyone. For me, the benefits and membership rewards I get, more than outweigh the cost of having the card.

Realistically after year one (which is free with a 20k sign up bonus and is good value for anyone) unless your putting 25k+ through it a year minimum for a gold card or 60k minimum on a platinum card then you’re wasting your time.

Pablo1802

Time wrote: »

So instead i used my Parcel Motel address as my home address (changing my UB account in NI to match it)

Unbelievable that AMEX has accepted your application with PM address.
This is not residential address and other companies are registered with the same postcode.
Did you know that €30 stamp duty applies to all charge and credit cards registered with Irish address?

Time

Pablo1802 wrote: »

Unbelievable that AMEX has accepted your application with PM address.
This is not residential address and other companies are registered with the same postcode.
Did you know that €30 stamp duty applies to all charge and credit cards registered with Irish address?

Well it’s unsecured debt so if they’re happy to accept it as an address then that’s up to them. I’m aware of the stamp duty on cards issued to Irish addresses, since I don’t have it registered to an Irish address the duty does not apply as per revenue - https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/stamp-duty/other-stamp-duty/financial-cards/general-information-on-all-cards.aspxit

Nonoperational

Looking at their website though they are nt giving ICC to anyone without a previous AMEX, it looks impossible in Ireland at this time.

Charles Babbage

Nonoperational wrote: »

Looking at their website though they are nt giving ICC to anyone without a previous AMEX, it looks impossible in Ireland at this time.

I had a blue AMEX card for years when BOI issued them. Has anyone in this situation had better success in getting one, or is this too long fago?

Nonoperational

I think it's essentially impossible unless you have a card as it stands.

Time

Nonoperational wrote: »

I think it's essentially impossible unless you have a card as it stands.

True, thats why i went the UK card route, its either that or if you're wealthy enough, get a private banking referral.

368100

BOI were the only bank to issue Amex years ago but have ceased so not available in irish market now.

As far as I know it was more cost effective to go with visa/mastercard and their acceptance worldwide increased significantly before BOI made the decision to ditch Amex

Nonoperational

I'd still love a proper premium card with points and rewards. I'd happily pay the 550 a year.