Thread: Can Amex do an income & employment verification?

I recently opened a Zync Card with American Express about a month ago. Today I called Amex wanting to ask them a question about my account, and my call was "transferred" to the "Financial Dept." With this, they asked me a bunch of questions about my information that I had filled out on my application when I applied, information such as where I work, position, etc, and last of all my income. They then told me I need to Fax within 14 days of this call my last 3 paystubs to verify that the amount of income that I put on my application was legit or that they would close my account. Have they done this to anyone else?

The problem with this is that I recently started my new job in which is at a casino and when you start within your first 6 months there is a "probationary" period where you make 80% of your hourly wage, on top of that you start "on call." Therefore, I haven't made the requirements in which their seeking in my last 3 paystubs, calculating, annually, in which I put on my application. (I put how much I'd make off 40 hours a week and my full hourly pay + tips, made an educated guess, which won't start till after my probationary period)

I told the rep my situation which I explained the above and he said he understands and he'll try his best and also wants my last 3 bank statements and hes going to show his manager and call me with the results.

So I'm pretty sure, they will want to close my account with the information I would provide if I provided it considering the situation I'm in. What should I do? Close the account myself?

The rep mentioned I might want to close the account myself, I think, so it doesn't look bad with them that they closed it.

But I had a few questions:
1. Are they allowed to do this?
2. Why is there an approval process if they need to confirm the information anyway? I have NEVER heard of this before nor have anyone asked me for this information before, if you can pay your bill and you comply with terms of your account, why does your annual income matter??
3. Have they done this employment verification with anyone else? (They say they do it to new card owners, part of their policy, my brother hasn't got a call yet, and he opened his gold card a few days after me.)
4. What should I do in this situation?

I really like my card and I need some opinions with this situation, any opinions would be awesome. Thanks a lot.

When you signed the application you agreed to their terms and conditions. You also indicated that the information that you were providing was true.

Something apparently happened that caused your account to trigger one of their screening mechanisms. It could have been a number of different things; where you live, some type of purchase behavior, some overlay with an independent database, a random select, many others, but verification while a bit of a pain is not inappropriate (I'm told that 1/3 of all College aid FAFSA's now require submission of tax returns to verify the application). With the continued forward movement in technology and available info, more and more of this can be expected.

If it comes to closing the account, which it sounds as if not desirable from your perspective, as long as it is not a charge off or anything adverse, it really doen't matter whether you do it or they do it.

Working with the credit analyst constructively as it sound you are , should pay dividends. I hope this works out for you.

Alright thanks a lot for the confirmation! I spent 750 on my first cycle, maybe they thought that was a little much for my first one. But I think I'll just pay it off before the due date then close my account. Thanks again.

if you don't mind me asking what exactly went on in the initial conversation with amex? something must have triggered a review on your account. have you in the past, within a short period of time, apply for another amex card with different facts and figures on the application?

So your Zync card is already active and you are using it? Curious, if you have spent $750 already, what was your credit limit to begin with? Also, I am curious what you stated your income as? I would definitely work with the analyst to either keep your account intact as is or alternatively ask if you could have your credit limit lowered.

Originally Posted by NYC_Dweller

if you don't mind me asking what exactly went on in the initial conversation with amex? something must have triggered a review on your account. have you in the past, within a short period of time, apply for another amex card with different facts and figures on the application?

I forgot exactly how the convo went but I know he pretty much started asking me a ton of questions about my application that i filled out for that card when i applied as if I had lied or done something wrong. But I haven't done anything out of the ordinary so I'm not sure what triggered all of this to happen.*I also haven't applied for any other credit cards with them. The only thing I can think of that could trigger this is me spending $750 on my first statement and maybe they wern't sure if I'm able to pay for it. My statement ended on the 3rd and I haven't paid it in full yet, I will tomorrow though.

Originally Posted by prosper81

So your Zync card is already active and you are using it? *Curious, if you have spent $750 already, what was your credit limit to begin with? * Also, I am curious what you stated your income as? *I would definitely work with the analyst to either keep your account intact as is or alternatively ask if you could have your credit limit lowered.

Yes my zync card is already active and i have been using it until yesterday I guess, the guy told me they froze my account until I give them the info they asked for and if not received in 2 weeks they are closing my account.

I'm not to sure about my credit limit. The first day I received my card I called and asked and they told me I had no pre set limit, so I said to myself, ok I'm gonna spend as much as I want as long as I can pay it off in full at the end of the month. And I ended up with $750 at the end of the statement. Maybe they dont think I can pay that much compared to my income I put on the application which was 35k which is pretty accurate considering I'm only 21, and I actually make about 31k a year but i also get tips so I estimated around 35k.

They want me to at least prove 60% of that, which is around 21k but I can't even prove that because I just started my new job and I haven't got my full pay yet until after my probationary period, therefore i can't even prove 21k, I'm "on call" and only making currently 80% for a few months and haven't even got a check like I will be in a few months. So I'm kind of in a screwed up situation. I'm going to try my best and beg them to give me a chance and if I default well then close my account, I haven't even got a chance yet. And if that means lowering my credit limit or putting a cap that's fine. It'll be removed anyway after I prove myself I'm sure. Well good luck to me I guess.


Oh and thanks to the mod that renamed my thread title. I wasn't sure how to title it.

Originally Posted by Pete838

Just send them what you've got. If you can't prove 60% of what you claimed then you probably aren't a good risk for them. In the mean time, pay the $750 a few days before you send the pay stubs. That way when they do the review they aren't looking at an outstanding balance on a frozen account.

That's EXACTLY what I had in mind. I already paid my balance and in a few days I'm sending the pay stubs in. Good luck to me.

see this is my question as well.. i want the gold delta skymiles amex but i'm a part time student and my income goes like this...3.5k from pt job...3.5k from stock sell and 3k from parents to put for school...will this be enough income with my year of credit history and mid 700s fico score?

meant i'm a full time college student with a part time job...