Consumer complaint received 2017-05-09
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card
Sub-issue: Delay in processing application

Complaint:
I applied for a  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  credit card in   XX/XX/XXXX  (    Ref  #  XXXX  ).   American Express asked for an address verification letter with a specific format, that I sent. American Express kept rejecting my most recent address verification letter. In response to my previous complaint about why American Express did not accept my address verification letter, American Express mentioned that it was because they could not confirm the signature of verifying official and therefore could not accept the letter ( Amex response is attached ).
The issue is that American Express request for address verification is redundant and should not have happ  ened at the first place, and trying to re-confirm the verifying official signature is a redundant task within another redundant task. Such redundant paperwork does not contribute to security, account protection, integrity of business, or compliance by law and regulation.    American Express  asked me for an exactly similar address verification letter in   XX/XX/XXXX  and  XX/XX/XXXX  f or another credit card application  ( REF   XXXX   XXXX    ).    American Express  specifically mentioned in its request at the time that they will keep the address verification letter for their records. I faxed the address verification letter i n  XX/XX/XXXX . America  n Express  accepted my letter and approved my credit card application. The letter I sent back in  XX/XX/XXXX  had been signed by the same verifying official who signed the letter I sent for current application.   Considering the above mentioned course of incidents, there a re two p oints I would like  American Express to consider and address : 1 ) Why is American Express asking again for some information they already received very recently and supposed to have kept it in their records? Based on whatever concerns you have, you may want to verify an appli cants address once, but as long as the applicant keeps using the address you already verified it doesnt make sense to re-verify and re-verify and re-verify her already verified address for each and every application she submits. Address verification, even if necessary for account protection or other reasons should be done once and then used to facilitate further transactions.  American Express has altered a simple one-time address verification process with a non-sense, endless, and repetitive sa ga that has serves no reasonable purpose.    2 ) R epeatedly asking for address verification letter is redundant and unnecessary. Nevertheless I sen t American Express a new and redundant address verification letter as requested. But it seems American Express interest in repeated verification is an organizational culture which is not limited to address verification. Peoples signature should also be verified repeatedly by American Express. American Express mentions that they could not confirm the signature of verifying official. American Express fails to mention that verifying official is the same person who signed the letter which   American Express received and already confirmed back in  XX/XX/XXXX  .

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation