Thread: Amex for the mundane purchases

I see on the American Express site that they encourage you (earn points) by using your Am Ex card for groceries, at Wal-Mart, etc. Is there a risk to your good standing with Amex in doing this given the credit risk models they use (Some credit card companies are wary when a customer charges groceries?)

I read about Amex profiling customers based on where they shopped and it seemed to blow up in their face pretty badly. I can't imagine they would openly continue to do that, and such a practice would be far too difficult to keep a secret. If they do, then I wouldn't happily cancel both of my cards.

It's hard to believe they would think profiling based on where people shop would do them much good. Walmart is mainstream. (Almost) everyone shops there. My guess is they were using the information for marketing rather than to make credit decisions. Can you imagine how quickly Walmart would sue AMEX if they started saying that Walmart shoppers were a credit risk? That would be defamation and would almost certainly cause billions in damages that Walmart could collect from Amex.

As a new Amex card carrier (about 8 months) I am amused by what they try to sell me. I signed up to receive their junk mail, at least for now. It's clear that they don't really have a good handle on the stuff I would be interested in because the solicitations are all over the map - extreme luxury cruises, fishing, home maintenance, you name it. Only the last one have anything to do with my actual interests. But I think they have come up with teh others based on things I've bought or places I've traveled to. Amex seems to waste an awful lot of money on ineffective marketing for other stuff.

They used to but no longer perform this practice.