Consumer complaint received 2025-09-27 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
I am filing a complaint against American Express concerning misleading marketing practices related to its Corporate Advantage program, specifically the Personal Card Annual Credit ( PCAC ) benefit. American Express advertises this benefit on its Corporate Advantage webpage, which instructs consumers with an American Express XXXX XXXX XXXX to enter their Corporate Card number in order to verify eligibility. I did so, and the page confirmed that my XXXX XXXX was eligible for the program. Based on that confirmation, I reasonably believed that if I applied for a new personal card, I would qualify for the annual statement credit. On XX/XX/year>, I opened a new American Express XXXX XXXX XXXX. However, after opening this new card, I was later informed that I am ineligible for the annual credit because I did not applythrough the link on that same Corporate Advantage webpage. This condition was not made clear to me at the time I applied. The webpage design strongly suggests that eligibility is determined by entering the XXXX XXXX number. I did not notice any other determining factor, and have confirmed from other sources that the belief is the same. After emailing American Express executive customer care contact, I received a response indicated that the additional requirement to use the same application link to be eligible for the credit is buried in the fine print, not highlighted during the eligibility check process, and is not disclosed in a clear or conspicuous way. In other words, the eligibility page creates the impression that entering your XXXX XXXX number confirms your eligibility for the benefit, when in fact there is an additional hidden requirement. This is misleading and constitutes the use oXXXX XXXXXXXX. The page explicitly requests that consumers enter their XXXX XXXX number to determine eligibility, which gives the impression that eligibility is fully established at that step. XXXX. The fact that a consumer must applythrough the same page linkin order to be eligible is not disclosed prominently during the verification process, and is only referenced in small print that was only pointed out to me on XXXX which I trule believe XXXX not have been there at the time I applied. XXXX relied on Amexs eligibility verification tool when deciding to apply for a personal card. Only after approval and contacting Amex was I informed that I would not receive the advertised benefit. In their response to my inquiry, American Express stated : Eligible Card Members must apply for a new Personal Card through the program XXXXand have an eligible, active Corporate Card. Additionally, the terms state Offer only available after entering an eligible Card number atwww.americanexpress.com/corporateadvantage. If a Card Member does not have the PCAC on their current Card, they would need to submit a new application for the Card through the noted PCAC application page to receive the annual statement credit.This response confirms my concern, American Express is conditioning eligibility on using a specific application link, but this requirement is not clearly disclosed to consumers in the way the webpage is designed. Consumers who reasonably believe they are eligible because the webpage confirms eligibility may apply through another standard channel and then be denied the benefit. As a matter of fact, my application was concluded over the phone due to issues during my online application. I believe this practice is unfair and deceptive. American Express is using a confusing process that leads consumers to misunderstand their eligibility and then denies the promised benefit. American Express then advises customers to close the recently opened account and reapply using this specific link, which is detrimental to a customer 's credit profile, and it's very unlikely any customer will do so. I explained this to the Amex rep who responded to my complaint today, XX/XX/year>, but their final response to me was that " we would have to agree to disagree. '' I respectfully request that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau investigate American Expresss use of misleading marketing and dark patterns in connection with the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and that appropriate corrective action be taken to ensure transparency and fairness.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation