Credit Card Help

American Express Will Help You Pay off Your Credit Card

American Express has come up with a smart solution to help its customers pay off their credit card balances. At a time when other major issuers are just closing their cardholders' accounts to reduce the rate of defaults, New-York based American Express has offered to pay some of its customers $300 each to pay off and close their card accounts.

This is not a disinterested aid, of course. What American Express is trying to do is become the first-priority company to get paid back by their card customers. The strategy is a good one to increase their likelihood of getting paid, because when a customer owes debts to multiple lenders, they will generally first choose to pay off the company that offers some kind of a reward for doing so.

So, how do cardholders receive the $300 reward? Well, American Express first sends the offer to their card customer who receives it via U.S. Mail and e-mail. In this offer, American Express asks them to pay off their entire card balance and cancel their card by April, 30, 2009. In return for doing so, the card holder gets a $300 gift card as a bonus.

What if a card holder fails to pay off the card by the date due? In this case you won't receive the gift card, but American Express will close your account and you'll still owe any balance remaining. That's the deal, and it is evidently only helpful for cardholders who have enough cash set aside to pay their balances in full within the time allotted. Nevertheless, American Express offers this "help" program to cardholders under the slogan "we want to help you simplify your finances".

Furthermore, not everyone is eligible for this "credit card help" offered by American Express. Although we're not privy to the company's actual selection basis, we presume that only less profitable customers will receive this offer. Most likely American Express wants to replace the cardholders who carry balances and therefore pose a default risk with cardholders who use their card more actively and pay balances in full each month.

This assumption may explain why American Express still offers some of its best credit cards, such as its Blue and Platinum cards, at a time when it apparently wants many of its accounts closed! With credit card application websites still offering Amex Blue and Platinum cards, you'll find it easier than ever to apply for one of them. Of course, Amex is now rather more selective about its future customers and only grants approval to applicants with good to excellent credit histories and high incomes.

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Doug Nicholas

Doug Nicholas, a financial consultant by profession with a Masters degree in International Business from Brown University, is also an ardent writer. Though he has a full time job at one of the companies listed on Wall Street, he does manage to squeeze in time to follow his passion. He puts his ideas to words in his articles related to finance and business.