New Amex policy — payments must come from a bank account in your own name

[cheesecake]

Hi guys,

Have just received an email regarding changes to AMEX policy:

2. Payments to your Card Account (who can pay your Card statement)

We are making changes to who can pay your statement and consequences of third parties paying your statement. The following will be added to the Payments clause:

Payments to your American Express Card Account must come from a personal bank account in your name or if applicable, the name of an Additional Card Member. Payments can also be made from a joint bank account if you, the main Card Member, or an Additional Card Member are one of the signatories. We may require additional verification for any payment received from an unrecognised source and we reserve our rights to suspend or cancel any Card Account in breach of this requirement.


Currently, I use my personal card for my own business expenses and then send through the statement to my bookkeeper each month for the business related expenses, and we then do a BPAY payment from the business account to the card. Most of the expenses are Google/Meta ads and are pretty easy to reconcile.

With this new wording, it seems its against policy. Just wondering if BPAY payments show the payer as our business name or is it a generic name?

I'll need to chat with my accountant to see how to handle this going forward in the correct way, but if anyone has general advice on the best way to handle payments of business expenses that will be great.

 

[Comoman]

Hi guys,

Have just received an email regarding changes to AMEX policy:

2. Payments to your Card Account (who can pay your Card statement)

We are making changes to who can pay your statement and consequences of third parties paying your statement. The following will be added to the Payments clause:

Payments to your American Express Card Account must come from a personal bank account in your name or if applicable, the name of an Additional Card Member. Payments can also be made from a joint bank account if you, the main Card Member, or an Additional Card Member are one of the signatories. We may require additional verification for any payment received from an unrecognised source and we reserve our rights to suspend or cancel any Card Account in breach of this requirement.


Currently, I use my personal card for my own business expenses and then send through the statement to my bookkeeper each month for the business related expenses, and we then do a BPAY payment from the business account to the card. Most of the expenses are Google/Meta ads and are pretty easy to reconcile.

With this new wording, it seems its against policy. Just wondering if BPAY payments show the payer as our business name or is it a generic name?

I'll need to chat with my accountant to see how to handle this going forward in the correct way, but if anyone has general advice on the best way to handle payments of business expenses that will be great.

They've had this in the UK for a while. I made a payment using the Barclays app and paid from my company account instead of personal account by mistake. My card was blocked, I received a phone call with a please explain and had to show the company was mine and was just an error.

 

[Happy Dude]

Thankfully, payment from accounts in the name of an additional cardholder will save a fair amount of angst for the Happy Dudes.

 

[kpc]

Wow! Anti money laundering measure? Currently my AMEX Edge and Explorer are debited from my bank account so not an issue for me.

 

[SYD]

Hmm, need to check what’s in there for my new QBR card?

My existing Small Biz CC happily takes payments from my company bank acc and from various personal bank accounts to cover personal expenses on the card (and there’s often a lot more personal than company these days).

 

[one9]

I think Amex has always been more conservative than other banks on things like this as they don't have a full banking license. It is the same with overpaying your credit card account. The other banks don't care, but Amex blocks your card if you do it.

 

[Rayesfeg]

Wow! Anti money laundering measure?

Hmm, I don't think this has to do with Anti money laundering, you would see the other major banks doing the same if that was the case.
Not sure of the rationale for Amex putting in a restriction like this. The only thing I could potentially think of would be an anti-fraud measure, but even that is pretty far fetched.

 

[NM]

My guess (and that is all it is) is that Amex is trying to stop people using personal cards for business expenses. If the card account is paid in full or in part by a business then that would suggest that the expense is a business expense and not a personal expense. The best way around that would be to have the business "reimburse" the card owner by transferring the funds into the card holders account and then pay from that account.

 

[aplmac]

My guess (and that is all it is) is that Amex is trying to stop people using personal cards for business expenses. If the card account is paid in full or in part by a business then that would suggest that the expense is a business expense and not a personal expense. The best way around that would be to have the business "reimburse" the card owner by transferring the funds into the card holders account and then pay from that account.

That's probably the logic behind this - to separate Business and Personal usage so you don't deplete the AMEX FF points store by buying a warehouse full of goods on a Personal card.
Mind you, if I were AMEX I'd just be happy that someone WAS paying the bill!!

 

[Doctore1003]

If Amex didn’t want business expenses on personal credit cards, they would stipulate that in the T&Cs, like many banks do. But Amex don’t, and they’ve never cared!

 

[ChrisFlyer]

OP, can I ask what type of card product you hold - personal credit card, or personal charge card (like Platinum charge)?

 

[Brucetiki]

Why would/should Amex even care where the payment for your account comes from, as long as you payment.

Or is this just a cynical ploy from Amex to discourage people from paying their accounts.

 

[mrsterryn]

I pay all credit card bills out of my account . That includes a husband's cards

 

[kerfuffle]

Can you just use PayID instead? One of my favourite Amex features

 

[ThePW]

It might impact some people who bank transfer via third-party platforms to earn more rewards (for a fee). Granted, that will be a small minority.

 

[L2.]

Just wondering if BPAY payments show the payer as our business name or is it a generic name?

Unless AMEX has a special level of visibility that other businesses do not, the recipient of BPAY payments cannot see the name of the sender.

The exception to this is where an error correction is raised by the sender, usually for something like a fraudulent transaction or a mistake, in which case the notification that the recipient receives from their bank does state the name of the sender.

 

[Cossie]

I also got an email stating that if I used phone banking to make a payment, I would be transferred to an agent and have to speak with them, rather than it going through automatically.

 

[SydneySwan]

I pay all credit card bills out of my account . That includes a husband's cards

I do the same. Mrs SS has a different surname to me. Also her Amex and her main bank accounts are in different names (don't ask). Do Amex actually want us to be able to pay her bill?

 

[clifford]

FWIW, I received an email from Amex today too, and the thing that took my attention was "From 15 February 2027, you and any Additional Card Members will no longer have access to The Centurion Lounge located at Sydney and Melbourne International Airports. You can continue to use your complimentary two entries until 14 February 2027".