American Express Corporate Card

[littleroc02us]

I just stumbled across a discussion regarding a person's use of American Express Corporate Card. I don't know if you've read there agreement that you sign, but when you work for a company that requires you to take out a American Express Corporate Card it goes in your name and it goes on your credit report. So think about this, you get this card it has your name on it, you purchase something related to company travel or expenses, you submit an expense form to your company and they are suppose to reimburse you. Now think about that for a minute. What happens if they don't pay you in time, you have to cover the payment or you are liable for late fees and the such. What happens if they don't reimburse you for months and you go into collections or your company files bankruptcy and fall apart. You are on the flip for the bill and the collectors will come after you because you are the primary owner on the credit card. What a frick'n joke! I would never work for a company that forces me to take a credit card out in my name and they pay me back. Not gonna happen.

Read their agreement especially the Liability section:

https://secure.cmax.americanexpress.com/Internet/US/Corporate/AtWork/Files/Forms/CorpCard_Cardmember_Agreement.pdf

[KiwiJo09]

That's why you either don't use the card, or you don't buy anything that you aren't able to pay for yourself.

[littleroc02us]

That's why you either don't use the card, or you don't buy anything that you aren't able to pay for yourself.

YOu wouldn't have a choice if that's what the employer hires you to travel with. The point was that if you work for a company that requires you use this when you travel and they will reimburse you, that's where this whole things a crime!

[cypher1]

How is that any different from doing an expense report with your own personal CC or debit card for corporate travel or certification/training fees? I'm just saying where I work,thats what I do. But I pay it all in full with my other personal monthly bills, regardless when i'm being re-imbursed. I know I'll get my money back, usually by the next pay period after I submit forms for approval, but I understand the risks that sometimes it could (hasn't yet) take longer. I still don't see it as a crime, but that's just me.

[jpg7n16]

cypher, I was going to post almost the identical thing you beat me to it.

My brother actually prefers that the company lets him buy and reimburses him. He gets all the rewards points credited to his card. Itemizes and details his expenses, gets reimbursed on his paycheck and pays the whole thing off. He gets all the benefits and none of the cost.

He's an auditor so he racks up travel and hotel points like nobodies business!


If your company is unable to reimburse you for 1 week of travel expenses, you've got bigger problems than a card being in your name.

[littleroc02us]

There is always a chance that the company goes out of business and cannot pay their bills, guess what, you'd be stuck with it because you signed up for it in your name. I think a good company should give you a credit card to use, what's the difference? Either way they are suppose to pay the bill, plus they should trust you as an employee enough otherwise why hire you? I worked for Qwest in 2001 and they gave us a gas card for use and the company took care of the bill. I won't ever work for a company that requires me to get a credit card. Unethical IMO.

[Slug]

cypher, I was going to post almost the identical thing you beat me to it.

My brother actually prefers that the company lets him buy and reimburses him. He gets all the rewards points credited to his card. Itemizes and details his expenses, gets reimbursed on his paycheck and pays the whole thing off. He gets all the benefits and none of the cost.

He's an auditor so he racks up travel and hotel points like nobodies business!


If your company is unable to reimburse you for 1 week of travel expenses, you've got bigger problems than a card being in your name.

litter, I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but I have to completely disagree here.

I make so much $ this way. Example: In 10 days my new billing cycle will begin. On that day I'll sign up myself and 2 other employees at a cost of $4,500. I will charge it to my Schwab VISA which pays 2% on all purchases. So that's $90 outright in my pocket. I'll submit my expense report the same day. These cycle in about 2 weeks. So, I'll get a check for the full $4,500 and deposit it then make $ on the float between that date and the date I have to pay the credit card bill. Not much in this interest rate environment, but I'll take what I can get.

Is there risk? Sure, but my company is very healthy. Basically, I'm a payday loan lender to my company. In return for these short-term loans, I get exorbitant returns.

Also, I recognize that the incentives here are all wrong. I'm actually incentivized to spend more. If I were unethical, this would be highly exploitable. But it is what it is and successful people find a way to make work work for them.

[littleroc02us]

Actually I haven't had a bad experience with American Excess Corporate Cards, I've never used one. I just read their agreement that states you are liable if they company doesn't pay and it will effect your credit. I'm actually shocked that people on this "Savings Advice" forum are all for this idea. Putting yourself at risk. It seems as though we have a lot of risky posters on this site.

[Slug]

I'm making a short-term loan to a major corporation. To my sensibility this is pretty low risk.

[kork13]

haha this is an issue the military has been struggling through for at least a decade or so... It's the exact same scenario, except that if you behave, the travel card doesn't show up on your credit report--it only shows up if you screw it up. How's that for a fair deal?

I had the exact same problem you described happen to me. I was on a long-term temporary duty assignment last year, and ended up charging over $20k through the course of the TDY. At one point I was almost 3 months overdue on over $9k because I still hadn't been reimbursed despite multiple attempts at filing for it. Devil of a mess, it was... Only by calling the CC company almost weekly was I able to keep it off my credit report.

[jpg7n16]

There is always a chance that the company goes out of business and cannot pay their bills, guess what, you'd be stuck with it because you signed up for it in your name.

I'm actually shocked that people on this "Savings Advice" forum are all for this idea. Putting yourself at risk. It seems as though we have a lot of risky posters on this site.

This almost seems like 'well why should I wait 2 weeks for a paycheck?? what if the company goes bankrupt as is unable to pay me? Then I'd be out 2 weeks of my life and have nothing to show for it. How would I pay my bills? Seems pretty risky to me.'

Cause if you're afraid the company isn't able to reimburse you for a few hundred or thousand of expenses, why would you still work there? Isn't your paycheck a few hundred or thousand??

I think Slug summed it up well:

I'm making a short-term loan to a major corporation. To my sensibility this is pretty low risk.

[cypher1]

There is always a chance that the company goes out of business and cannot pay their bills, guess what, you'd be stuck with it because you signed up for it in your name. I think a good company should give you a credit card to use, what's the difference? Either way they are suppose to pay the bill, plus they should trust you as an employee enough otherwise why hire you? I worked for Qwest in 2001 and they gave us a gas card for use and the company took care of the bill. I won't ever work for a company that requires me to get a credit card. Unethical IMO.

Agree there's always a chance of the employer going out of business, same risk as anyone of us losing our jobs tomorrow. I just don't see how its unethical for them trusting you won't abuse their company card for personal matters. Although just recently I heard someone higher was let go for doing something like that. Only certain managers, directors and higher ups have corporate cards that i'm aware of, at my place of employment. Us little people stick with our personal CCs for any expense report.

litter, I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but I have to completely disagree here.

I make so much $ this way. Example: In 10 days my new billing cycle will begin. On that day I'll sign up myself and 2 other employees at a cost of $4,500. I will charge it to my Schwab VISA which pays 2% on all purchases. So that's $90 outright in my pocket. I'll submit my expense report the same day. These cycle in about 2 weeks. So, I'll get a check for the full $4,500 and deposit it then make $ on the float between that date and the date I have to pay the credit card bill. Not much in this interest rate environment, but I'll take what I can get.

Is there risk? Sure, but my company is very healthy. Basically, I'm a payday loan lender to my company. In return for these short-term loans, I get exorbitant returns.

Also, I recognize that the incentives here are all wrong. I'm actually incentivized to spend more. If I were unethical, this would be highly exploitable. But it is what it is and successful people find a way to make work work for them.

I was just going to say from an employer standpoint, I would be concerned for employees abusing or re-imbursing personal matters IE gas, flights, food, hotels on non-work related areas. I can imagine it'd be more of a higher liability or seen as more overhead for debt to that business name. But on the plus side, I can only imagine it's easier to manage charges from those those accounts down to the departments. Then again i'm no accountant.

[cypher1]

This almost seems like 'well why should I wait 2 weeks for a paycheck?? what if the company goes bankrupt as is unable to pay me? Then I'd be out 2 weeks of my life and have nothing to show for it. How would I pay my bills? Seems pretty risky to me.'

Cause if you're afraid the company isn't able to reimburse you for a few hundred or thousand of expenses, why would you still work there? Isn't your paycheck a few hundred or thousand??

I think Slug summed it up well:

Jpg now you beat me to responding to complete agreement. I could see definitely see large risk if someone used a personal debit card instead of CC, so direct funds are gone from checking. And you're stuck in a window waiting for money back.

[jpg7n16]

Jpg now you beat me to responding to complete agreement. I could see definitely see large risk if someone used a personal debit card instead of CC, so direct funds are gone from checking. And you're stuck in a window waiting for money back.

Isn't that what a proper EF is for? (this is an actual question, not rhetorical - I'm honestly curious)

I was really considering that if you did it, it would be on a personal CC. Mainly for the rewards points, or cashback bonuses, etc.

But if it was out of my account, I still would have no issues with it. I have a good cash buffer. Besides, I pay off my CC virtually every 2 weeks, reimbursed yet or not, so it'd come out of my account one way or another...

[cypher1]

Isn't that what a proper EF is for? (this is an actual question, not rhetorical - I'm honestly curious)

I was really considering that if you did it, it would be on a personal CC. Mainly for the rewards points, or cashback bonuses, etc.

But if it was out of my account, I still would have no issues with it. I have a good cash buffer. Besides, I pay off my CC virtually every 2 weeks, reimbursed yet or not, so it'd come out of my account one way or another...

LOL I'm in the similiar boat for cashflow. If that EF ? was for me, yes I have my 6mo EF set aside, while keeping a few thousand in short term saving tied to checking at credit union. For security/protection I prefer using CC for all bills whenever possible.

But then again, I don't expect everyone to have an EF or have access to large cashflow like others on here. Going back to personal CC/rewards reasons, a few years ago my co-worker purposely flew to further layovers on flights, to build up mileage. Our employer didn't mind since he was actually saving them on certain flights being cheaper. He traveled a lot for certain projects, and enjoyed upping his flyer miles, and didn't mind the extra time length overall. I wouldn't do that, but just a different perspective on benefits I suppose.