American Express
Financials
63
out of 100. Number 90 of 512, counting from the worst.
Where American Express does well
- Real opt-out on arbitration: you can reject the arbitration provision by mailing a written notice (P.O. Box 981556, El Paso, TX
- within 45 days of your first card purchase, with no effect on your card use or other benefits.
- Arbitration fee cap and a $5,000 minimum award plus reasonable attorneys' fees if the arbitrator rules in your favor for more than Amex's final settlement offer — a consumer-friendly incentive structure.
- Annual membership fee IS refundable if you close within 30 days of the statement closing date.
- The Online Privacy Statement commits to securely destroying or permanently de-identifying personal information when no longer needed and does not sell personal information to unaffiliated third parties; de-identified data sharing with business partners is disclosed rather than hidden.
If either side chooses arbitration, you lose the right to sue in court, have a jury trial, or join a class action.
The fine print
6 clauses and findings from the draft archive, dated 1 October 2026. The plain English comes first; the small print is the company's own words. None of these has been checked yet.
-
If either side chooses arbitration, you lose the right to sue in court, have a jury trial, or join a class action. This applies even to claims about Amex's advertisements or rewards programs, and the arbitration clause keeps binding you even after you close your account or your account is sold to someone else.
If arbitration is chosen by any party, neither you nor we will have the right to litigate that claim in court or have a jury trial on that claim. Further, you and we will not have the right to participate in a representative capacity or as a member of any class pertaining to any claim subject to arbitration. ... There will be no right or authority for any claims to be arbitrated on a class action basis or on bases involving claims brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public, other cardmembers or other persons similarly situated. ... This section will survive termination of your Account, voluntary payment of your Account balance, any legal proceeding to collect a debt, any bankruptcy and any sale of your Account (in the case of a sale, its terms will apply to the buyer of your Account).
US Cardmember Agreement (Bonvoy Amex, Part 2 of 2, Claims Resolution section, As of 09/30/2021)
-
Amex can sell your account and its debt to someone else at any time without even telling you; you get no reciprocal right. So the company that holds your debt can change hands silently.
We may sell, transfer or assign this Agreement and your Account. We may do so at any time without notifying you. You may not sell, assign or transfer your Account or any of your obligations under this Agreement.
US Cardmember Agreement (Bonvoy Amex, Part 2 of 2, 'Assigning the Agreement', As of 09/30/2021)
-
Amex reserves the right to change the agreement whenever its business environment shifts. Some changes get 45 days' notice, but only some; the first-year protection is limited. Separately: 'We have the right to add, modify or delete any benefit, service, or feature of your Account at our discretion' — so perks can disappear at any time.
We may change this Agreement, subject to applicable law. We may do this in response to the business, legal or competitive environment. ... Changes to some terms may require 45 days advance notice. ... We cannot change certain terms during the first year of your Cardmembership.
US Cardmember Agreement (Bonvoy Amex, Part 2 of 2, 'Changing the Agreement', As of 09/30/2021)
-
Credit reports pulled to assess your creditworthiness can also be used to market to you. Worse, Amex shares your information with affiliates to pitch you products — and admits it may be paid for doing so. Your financial data doubles as a marketing asset for the corporate family.
You agree that we will obtain credit reports about you, investigate your ability to pay, and obtain information about you from other sources including information to verify and reverify your employment and income. And you agree that we will use such information for any purposes (for example, marketing to you or evaluating you for a new account), subject to applicable law. ... We may share information about you with our affiliates so they can identify products that may interest you. We may be compensated for this information.
-
If you cancel your card, the annual fee is only refunded if you act within 30 days of the billing-statement closing date on which it first appeared. Miss that window and the fee is gone, even if you cancel a week later. (Related: 'Plans cannot be cancelled after they have been set up' — the Plan It installment feature is a one-way door.)
If an Annual Membership fee applies, we will refund this fee if you notify us that you are voluntarily closing your Account within 30 days of the Closing Date of the billing statement on which that fee appears. For cancellations after this 30 day period, the Annual Membership fee is nonrefundable.
US Cardmember Agreement (Bonvoy Amex, Part 2 of 2, 'Closing your Account', As of 09/30/2021)
-
By opening the account you pre-consent to robocalls and automated texts on your cell phone — even if those calls cost you money. Debt collectors and Amex's contractors get the same permission.
If we need to contact you to service your account or to collect amounts you owe, you authorize us (and our affiliates, agents and contractors, such as debt collection agencies and service providers) to contact you at any phone number or email address you provide... We may contact you using an automated dialer or prerecorded messages. We may contact you on a mobile, wireless or similar device, even if you are charged for it.
How these were found
Researched Oct 1, 2026. Documents actually read: (1) US Cardmember Agreement Part 1 of 2 'As of: 09/30/2021' for the Marriott Bonvoy Amex Card, issued by American Express National Bank, read in full via browser_open on the official americanexpress.com domain. It is ~5 years old (the publicly indexed US sample; core clauses like Claims Resolution are consistent across Amex's current US agreements, e.g. the current Business Platinum agreement uses the same 45-day rejection window, but its PDF timed out on fetch so it was not directly read). (2) American Express Network Online Privacy Statement (network.americanexpress.com/globalnetwork/v4/privacy/), read in full; note this covers Network apps/services and states it does NOT apply to americanexpress.com itself or apps with their own statement, so the main-site privacy statement was not separately verified. No mirrors used; no third-party copies. One fetch attempt (web.aexp-static.com Business Platinum PDF) failed with a timeout and was not retried per tool guidance.
These notes come from the original draft and are not independent verification.