Strategy to obtain US Amex

[pyusha]

My strategy for paying my ICC may help there - Citibank AU Global Currency Account denominated in USD, and a Revolut account. I have Revolut premium ($10/month) but if your bill is less than $9k USD then you can use the free account. Load your money to pay the bill onto Revolut, then use Revolut to convert it to USD (fee free) and then SWIFT it to your Citibank AU USD account, at which point you SWIFT it to Amex.

The reason for using Revolut is because Citi has a terrible exchange rate which is fine for like $10, but quickly loses you a lot of money as you increase the amount. The reason for using Citi is that Amex uses a "For Further Credit" account (the beneficiary is not the account holder) so you cannot use Transferwise, OFX, or any of those other providers - it must be a bank, and Citi allows you to hold the USD in USD until you need to send it, and send it free.

I tried OFX and Revolut/Citi methods. Both worked with crediting the amount to Amex US.
I was charged roughly AUD $4 for Revolut to Citi transfer. Upon checking with them was told the fees are determined by the intermediary bank. Citi AU USD to Amex over SWIFT was not charged anything. It was the quickest and took roughly 4 hours for the credit to Amex US.
OFX transfer was a bit slow, with no fees charged, and rate was quite good. Will be sticking with them for the next 9 transfers. They promised 10 free transactions.

 

[kyanar]

I tried OFX and Revolut/Citi methods. Both worked with crediting the amount to Amex US.
I was charged roughly AUD $4 for Revolut to Citi transfer. Upon checking with them was told the fees are determined by the intermediary bank. Citi AU USD to Amex over SWIFT was not charged anything. It was the quickest and took roughly 4 hours for the credit to Amex US.
OFX transfer was a bit slow, with no fees charged, and rate was quite good. Will be sticking with them for the next 9 transfers. They promised 10 free transactions.

Interesting - your SWIFT was to your Citi Australia USD Global Currency Account right (the USD account with SWIFT code CITIAU2X)? That's the method I use and have never been charged a fee.

 

[PPS_SYD]

I tried OFX and Revolut/Citi methods. Both worked with crediting the amount to Amex US.
I was charged roughly AUD $4 for Revolut to Citi transfer. Upon checking with them was told the fees are determined by the intermediary bank. Citi AU USD to Amex over SWIFT was not charged anything. It was the quickest and took roughly 4 hours for the credit to Amex US.
OFX transfer was a bit slow, with no fees charged, and rate was quite good. Will be sticking with them for the next 9 transfers. They promised 10 free transactions.

With Citi Global currency a/c, were you able to do the transfer through the Citi app?

 

[pyusha]

Interesting - your SWIFT was to your Citi Australia USD Global Currency Account right (the USD account with SWIFT code CITIAU2X)? That's the method I use and have never been charged a fee.

Yes, that's the one. Could be with the transaction amount, though not sure. My tester was a AUD $200.

 

[pyusha]

With Citi Global currency a/c, were you able to do the transfer through the Citi app?

I did through the Citi online website. Not sure of the app, but assume it to be the same

 

[Spazmos]

Citi AU USD to Amex over SWIFT was not charged anything. It was the quickest and took roughly 4 hours for the credit to Amex US.

Was that for your Aspire card, or your green card, or both? If that's the case it completely negates the benefit of having a US bank a/c as long as you are able to get USD some other way (paying bills with a US citibank a/c fow example is via electronic cheque which takes a few days to clear). Also roughly how much were you sending in each transaction?

 

[pyusha]

Did it for Aspire.
Transferred AUD $200 each on OFX and Revolut/Citi.

 

[PointsLife1]

Just paid my Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card today via XE but have signed up for the Citi Global Currency Account and look forward to paying the way @ pyusha has advised. My quick calculations using Transferwise to Citi compared to XE today on a $1600USD statement would save me approx. $20AUD.

Also in exciting news after paying my card since last November is I finally have been able to access my FICO score 744.


Your

SummaryPrint
Your FICO® Score as of August 16th, 2020
744

Your FICO® Score 8 based on Experian data is the same score used by American Express

 

[pyusha]

I'll give the credit to @kyanar who suggested this one.
Good one with the FICOA score. I'm guessing you don't have a SSN/ITIN.

 

[PPS_SYD]

I did through the Citi online website. Not sure of the app, but assume it to be the same

When transferring from Citi AU USD to Amex in US, which option did you select in the box 'Beneficiary Bank Fees'?

 

[pyusha]

When transferring from Citi AU USD to Amex in US, which option did you select in the box 'Beneficiary Bank Fees'?

"Payee account".

 

[Spazmos]

Did it for Aspire.
Transferred AUD $200 each on OFX and Revolut/Citi.

when adding a new payee in citibank, when it asks for a FEDWIRE code, did you use the ABA number or SWIFT code? or doesn't really matter? Also I thought @kyanar said to pick "my account" as Beneficiary Bank Fees?

 

[pyusha]

FedWire - 021000021
The message has got FEDWIRE-021000021. CardHolderName CardNumber

 

[PPS_SYD]

"Payee account" as suggested by @kyanar.

kyanar has suggested ‘My account’ in post #888. Payee a/c would mean Amex. Or am I not interpreting it correctly?

 

[pyusha]

kyanar has suggested ‘My account’ in post #888. Payee a/c would mean Amex. Or am I not interpreting it correctly?

You are right. I misread it and selected "payee account". But glad no fees were charged to me.
will fix my post.

 

[pyusha]

when adding a new payee in citibank, when it asks for a FEDWIRE code, did you use the ABA number or SWIFT code? or doesn't really matter? Also I thought @kyanar said to pick "my account" as Beneficiary Bank Fees?

Appologies. I misread and had selected "payee account". Have edited my earlier post

 

[Spazmos]

Appologies. I misread and had selected "payee account". Have edited my earlier post

All good, I'm just trying to make sure we are doing exactly the same. Because it is strange that when I tried last year not the full amount was transferred to AMEX. So what happened is I sent $293USD from my citi global currency account, but only $268USD is credited to my AMEX account. Citibank did not charge any fees so I assume it was the intermediary bank taking $25USD. Hence why I stuck with TorFX ($20) until I got my US citibank account. But who knows, maybe they have changed their fee policies since then... I will make a payment today and see what happens. Very keen to see if this is a working method now as this was how I originally intended to pay off my AMEX back in post #199!!!

 

[blacksultan]

Just paid my Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card today via XE but have signed up for the Citi Global Currency Account and look forward to paying the way @ pyusha has advised. My quick calculations using Transferwise to Citi compared to XE today on a $1600USD statement would save me approx. $20AUD.

Also in exciting news after paying my card since last November is I finally have been able to access my FICO score 744.


Your

SummaryPrint
Your FICO® Score as of August 16th, 2020
744

Your FICO® Score 8 based on Experian data is the same score used by American Express

Is your FICO score available through amex portal? Does it usually take this long ? Is it avaialble even if you have a Non -US address? thanks!

 

[pyusha]

All good, I'm just trying to make sure we are doing exactly the same. Because it is strange that when I tried last year not the full amount was transferred to AMEX. So what happened is I sent $293USD from my citi global currency account, but only $268USD is credited to my AMEX account. Citibank did not charge any fees so I assume it was the intermediary bank taking $25USD. Hence why I stuck with TorFX ($20) until I got my US citibank account. But who knows, maybe they have changed their fee policies since then... I will make a payment today and see what happens. Very keen to see if this is a working method now as this was how I originally intended to pay off my AMEX back in post #199!!!

Clarifying a few things. It was suggested to use "My Account" while I selected "Payee Account". Though "Payee Account" worked in the end, with no fees charged.
Revolut charged close to A$3.9 to transfer A$200. I have no idea if that amount is fixed or a percentage.

 

[LordGarlic]

Does anyone know if I use the Hilton aspire card to pay my BAS, will it meet the requirements of the initial spend of USD$4K to get the signup points. Just for your info, My BAS will exceed the usd $4K figure.