Consumer complaint received 2024-04-29
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Trouble using your card — Credit card company won't increase or decrease your credit limit
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY (GA)

Since opening my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX with American Express, there have been multiple limits placed on my account although I was approved for no preset limit charge card. The first time a limit was placed on my account was XX/XX/XXXX. My account went from no preset limit to {$4700.00}. I contacted customer service and was told this limit was placed because my account was new and I made a large purchase. This limit remained on my account until XX/XX/XXXX when it was removed. During this time and since I opened this account I have made all my payments on time and in full. 

On XX/XX/XXXX my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX payment was due. On this day at around XXXX, I received an email stating that another limit was being placed on my account in the amount of {$2800.00}, which is below my pay overtime limit. I contacted customer service and was told that American Express pulled my credit report on XX/XX/XXXX to perform a review on my account and because of the information on this report, my overall American Express accounts, and my new XXXX score, it was decided to place a limit on my account. The representative stated that I was thousands of dollars over my allowed credit limit and that American Express looked down about information like that on reports. I then questioned him to explain further because I am not over my limit on the XXXX credit cards that I have and the combined amount of all my cards plus my American Express charge cards were all under {$10000.00}. He then made reference to a account I am no longer an authorized user on that has a limit of more than {$27000.00} that he factored in to the reason for a limit being placed on my account by American Express. When I spoke to a XXXX about what the representative told me about my account, he confirmed. I was then told by him to call back on XX/XX/XXXX to follow up on a removal of this limit. 

I did not authorize American Express to access my consumers credit report nor was there a legitimate reason for American Express to perform such action. The account in question has been paid in full since opening. The balance of my account at the time the limit was placed on my account was a little over {$2800.00}, and my pay over time limit is {$4500.00} for this account. I did not request any new line of credit for this account, nor was my account delinquent nor in collection status. It is also illegal for any financial institution to make credit decisions based on accounts that I am not the primary or joint owner of. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, authorized user accounts can not be factored into ones credit history nor used when making credit decisions. These acts by American Express did not constitute any legitimate purpose allowed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 

When I contacted American Express as instructed on XX/XX/XXXX, I was told that I needed to submit an appeal to the decision made on my account. I was asked to provide XXXX prior bank statements and give information about my finances. I did this and was told it will take XXXX business days to review. The very next morning, yesterday, I was sent another email about another limit being placed on my XXXX XXXX. This limit was for {$1000.00} which is below my current balance of {$1700.00} and my pay over time balance of {$6000.00}. When I contacted customer service I was told the exact same thing I was told about my other account. I am now anticipating changes to be made to my business account for the same exact reason. 

As of today, I have paid {$1000.00} in XXXX annual member fees for both aforementioned accounts combined. I have paid my account on time, and there are no current collections nor delinquencies on these accounts. The XXXX bank statements that were requested and supplied to American Express has been rejected although they asked that I provide then to prove my income on my accounts that have been open and in good standing for over a year.