At the end of the year, World Card customers receive a summary of what they have spent arranged in categories to make reporting expenses easier and to facilitate organization at tax time. Centurion members are assigned a personal travel counselor who will plan itineraries and keep them posted on the weather in Prague. They receive complimentary international cell phones, private shopping hours at Saks and breaks on management fees for their investments. Of course, these privileges are reserved for a very few. Only 1 percent of American Express platinum customers have been offered Centurion membership, and only 1 percent of all American Express customers have a platinum card.
Card issuers can determine approximate income from credit reports.
Each card allows the user to carry a balance, but the interest, especially on the Centurion card, encourages paying off those whoppers each month. The company intends to maintain a low profile for Centurion. Unlike the big splash it made when its smart card, Blue , was introduced this fall, American Express is keeping Black in the dark. The Signature and World cards also are obscure compared with other products in the Visa and MasterCard lineup. Each has only a handful of U.S. issuers.