Consumer complaint received 2024-03-16 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card — Application denied
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: PA

Complaint narrative:
American Express never acknowledge receipt of my correspondence the rejection of my credit application. I have enclosed them herein for your review. While I appreciate your denial offer, I must decline it. I am not accepting the denial of the credit I applied for through my application, which serves as security. I applied for your card, and therefore, I assert that you can not deny me credit. I provided you with an instrument, a security ( the application ), from which you derived profit. The application functions as a promissory note, undergoing securitization as a receivable and subsequently sold to third parties on the XXXX XXXX This fact is explicitly outlined in your XXXX, XXXX and Prospectus forms, accessible on both the American Express website and the SEC.GOV website. 
I provided you with something valuable, and therefore, I can not be denied. Any denial would result in unjust enrichment since I gave you a valuable asset, a security. You are obligated to either return the equity or return the security ( the application ) along with all derived proceeds. It's understood that returning the security ( the application ) is not feasible, as you have already securitized it and are profiting from it. 
Please be aware that by signing the application with American Express, I became an investor in your company. According to the Electronic Fund Transfer Act of XXXX, you have already securitized my application and can not return it to me. Because the application has already been securitized, there was no equity returned to me for providing my security application. 
When I signed up for your services, I provided you with a security interest, which is a commitment of the United States. Therefore, the cash I should receive is valuable consideration for that security, and such consideration can not be minimal, effectively disguising a gift as a contract. I am both the Investor and the Donor of the application security, thereby possessing possessory and property rights over the security and any resulting proceeds. 
Have you securitized my application as a deposit substitute in your books and accounts receivable, incorporating it into a large batch of Asset Backed Securities to generate and market investment products to investors? This question is rhetorical ; it is evident that you have done so. Subsequently, you deposited the note/security/application into your trust, thereby accruing interest upon its transfer to the primary market until maturity. While you may retain the security, which I am aware you have sold and are actively trading, what I seek is valuable consideration for the security I entrusted to you. 
The Securities Exchange Act of XXXX ( 15 USC 78a ), which I know you adhere to as it is prominently featured in your XXXX, XXXX, and Prospectus forms, CLEARLY STATES that credit is only extended with securities as collateral. Since YOU CHOSE to accept and RETAIN my collateral ( the application ), it appears that you owe me something : AN ACCOUNT with American Express. Not just any account, but an open-ended account. 
In Section 5 of your most recent XXXX, you address Asset Securitizations. You state verbatim " We periodically securitize Card Member loans and receivables arising from our card businesses through the transfer of those assets to securitization trusts, American Express Credit Account Master Trust ( the Lending Trust ) and American Express Issuance Trust II ( the Charge Trust and together with the Lending Trust, the Trusts ). The Trusts then issue debt securities collateralized by the transferred assets to third-party investors. '' As outlined in the Prospectus, there is even a discussion regarding the transfer of our XXXX Percent certificates of Indebtedness securities into Book-Entry with the United States Treasury and subsequently depositing these securities into the depository name of the trust. In your XXXX form, you delve into describing the available-for-sale securities at fair value. Once again, I provided you with a security, yet I have received no benefit from it. Instead, you are treating it as a gift, which it certainly was not, and profiting from it by selling it on the open market. 

Furthermore, you state in the Prospectus that XXXX scores are based on independent, third-party information, the accuracy of which you can not verify. So, I must ask, why are you using my XXXX score in determining approval for my account? Not only does this potentially violate the Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act by discriminating against me, but you also acknowledge in your prospectus that you can not verify the accuracy of this information. 

Moreover, the security I provided you with through my application is not a gift ; it is an exchange. I am giving you one final opportunity, American Express, to rectify this situation. As the Investor, Agent, Principal, and Beneficiary, you should not deny me credit, PERIOD, as per 15 USC 1691a. 

I hereby revoke any and all implied security that may have been conveyed to American Express through contract or application. If you fail to comply and do not provide me with an open-ended card in exchange for the security ( application ) I provided, I will have no choice but to report you to the US Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) for securities fraud, the Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ) for Identity Theft, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (

FINRA ), FDIC, and the Attorney General ( Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York ) . UCC1-308 Without Prejudice.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation