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In my recent post “Planning my Amex Offers portfolio,” I described my plans of ensuring that I had at least one of each type of Amex card (Membership Rewards vs. Other; Personal vs. Business) and that I would add a handful of authorized users cards to each of these so that I’d be well positioned for Amex Offers.
In response, a number of readers declared that adding a bunch of authorized users would lead to Amex shutting down accounts (presumably by way of an Amex Financial Review which, in turn, could lead to accounts being shut down).
The last thing I want is for readers to get shut down by Amex due to things I’ve written. And, of course, I don’t want to get shut down myself. I had never before heard of Amex shutting down accounts due to adding authorized users. And, of course, I wouldn’t have planned to do so (nor written about it!) if I thought that was likely.
I followed up by Googling for examples of financial reviews or shutdowns caused by adding authorized users. I found quite a few blogs and forum posts where people declared that adding many authorized users was a financial review trigger, but it was harder to find examples in which it actually happened.
The best example I could find was posted in 2010 (found here on Dan’s Deals Forums):
Woohooo! The wife got FR’d today.
From speaking to others who got FR’d recently, it is quite clear that adding additional cardholders is one of the triggers. We had recently added some to take advantage of the 1k spg point promo. Some friends who did the same also got FR’d.
Even though the above data point is old, when combined with the collective advice of many who caution against this, I believe it is wise to take their advice.
I know people who have dozens of authorized user cards and have never had any problems with American Express, but just because they haven’t been reviewed yet does not mean that they won’t be. It is also likely that a combination of factors are taken into account. It’s possible, for example, that those who were reviewed due to adding many users were new Amex account holders. And maybe those who have done so without trouble have been account holders for many years. That’s just one made-up example of a secondary factor that could influence the risk of adding authorized users.
Safe Path
The safest way to proceed is to assume that adding many authorized users to your Amex accounts may lead to a financial review. If you want to avoid a financial review, then the safest approach is to only add “real” authorized users who may actually use the card. And, it may help to add just one or two at a time instead of adding many at once.
As a side note, while searching for evidence of shutdowns, I found a number of people who seem to have been reviewed because their authorized user spent far more on the card then the primary user. That’s another thing to watch out for.
Dan’s Deals Forum has a wiki (found here) with more information about Amex Financial Reviews, including a long list of probable triggers.
New Plans
I’ve updated my original post with a warning about this. And with my own plans, I will proceed forward cautiously.
I still intend to add a consumer Membership Rewards card to my portfolio of Amex cards, and I still want the new Blue Business Plus card. And I’d like to add a handful of authorized users cards to each. But, I’ll go slow. I’ll add one authorized user to each card, wait a couple of months, then add another.
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[…] Be careful about adding too many authorized users with American Express. It has lead to some financial reviews in the past. […]
Just to add my two cents these are multinational companies? .What’s the concern other than profits there’s a thin line between customers and owners neither exist without the other? FR or not .thanks
[…] week there was talk here at Frequent Miler about Amex Financial Review, but did you know that Chase has their own version of FR? Doctor of Credit brings us a guest post […]
I have five credit and four charge all with four to five AUs, Me!
Last month I tried to add my daughter (age 16) to my old Amex Blue Cash as an authorized user. I already had three (husband and two older daughters). I applied online and was surprised when I received a message that it was under review. About a week later I received a letter turning her down as an authorized user because I had reached the limit of 3 on my card. I then added her to my Hilton Surpass instead (I did this online and had no problems this time–but she was only the 3rd AU on this card). I had not heard of an AU limit before. I wonder if this is new. Has anyone else run into this 3-AU limit?
Yep. My BC has that limit. My wife’s BC doesn’t though.
Got the FR a few years ago by adding 1 or 2 (real) AU’s to multiple (3-5) AMEX accounts in order to take advantage of the lucrative Small Business Thanksgiving cash back promo. FR was resolved in my favor within a week or so, but I would caution people to add AU’s slowly. Having AU’s (real or otherwise) on your accounts isn’t an issue, adding too many at once may be.
I was FR’d for adding too many AUs back in 2013. I think the trigger wasn’t adding the AUs itself, but it was the fact that I added them by calling a special line that would expedite them via next day shipping. They actually closed all my accounts because they didn’t like that I was using every AU for Amex Offers (via four square at the time).
I wasn’t banned though and managed to reapply for everything I wanted. I now have 4 credit cards and 6 charge cards and many, many AUs on each. I typically just add myself again as an AU repeatedly. Frontline reps who have noticed this seem to think it’s fine. The new 99 AU limit on platinum cards also leads me to think Amex is less concerned about excessive AUs.
One other interesting note on a FR: if they do close your accounts, it seems to reset the once per lifetime rule. I was able to get the bonus on a couple of cards in the last year where I should not have been eligible, having had the account within the last 4-5 years already. I’ve read a few other similar data points that seem to support this.
That is pretty cool that you got an additional benefit from their “time out” on your accounts. I only add one authorized user as my spouse, but there might come a day five years out where I brush up against the once per lifetime rule.
Although with two of us applying for cards and not doing MS, we likely won’t be there for a very long while.