AmEx rates credit risk by where you live, shop

Mike Stuckey Senior news editor • Profile • E-mail

As the global credit crunch reaches from Wall Street to Main Street, guilt by association has become a tool for evaluating the creditworthiness of American Express customers.

Among other criteria, cardholders are seeing limits reduced because of where they live, where they shop and who holds their mortgage.

“Absolutely unbelievable!” said Jesse Gilleland of suburban Washington, D.C., who says revisions of his American Express accounts and credit limits, at least partly for those reasons, could force him to close his once-thriving computer-consulting firm.

A letter sent to Gilleland by American Express, one of the nation’s largest credit-card issuers, includes these reasons why the spending limit on his Platinum Card was reduced:

• “Our credit experience with customers who have made purchases at establishments where you have recently used your card.”
• “Our analysis of the credit risk associated with customers who have residential loans from the creditor(s) indicated in your credit report.”

Credit-card experts and consumer advocates say that while such practices have been rumored for some time, this is the first time they’ve seen them cited as criteria for a credit limit reduction.

American Express spokeswoman Kim Forde confirmed that the company is analyzing its exposure to risk more closely as it reviews its cardholders’ credit profiles, including considerations it has always weighed — from payment history to credit bureau reports and income.

But, she said, “We are looking at some other factors, too, in light of the economy. We are looking at consumers holding subprime mortgages (and) those living in areas where there has been a greater deterioration in home prices.”

Asked about the letter to Gilleland, which cites shopping practices and merely obtaining a mortgage from a lender who also loans to other borrowers with "credit risk," Forde said, “You have to remember that this is one contributing factor. That’s not the sole reason, but it’s certainly data that we’re looking at.”

Limits revised for 20 percent each year
Forde said that in a typical year, American Express changes credit limits for about 20 percent of its cardholders. In recent years, about 80 percent of those members saw their limits raised while 20 percent saw them lowered, she said. Now, the ratio is about 50-50.

Limit reductions have pinched cardholders like Gilleland, who said he counted on three American Express accounts to fund startup and travel costs of his firm, based in Stafford, Va. Earlier this year, American Express shut two of the accounts and began lowering the limit on the third to match the balance as he paid it down. When he saw the letter outlining the reasons, he was stunned. He contacted msnbc.com in response to a solicitation asking small-business owners to talk about their challenges in the current financial crisis.

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