Local American Express customers reassured after email alarm

Friday 14 July 2023

American Express has confirmed that there will be "no upcoming changes" for existing Channel Islands customers after an email saying that accounts not registered to a UK address could be closed sparked alarm.

Marked as 'important', the email was sent to American Express customers yesterday outlining changes in the bank's terms and conditions for accountholders.

One of the changes included in the email was that "your residential address for your account must be an address in the United Kingdom".

There was confusion amongst Channel Island customers who attempted to contact American Express customer services and received mixed messages from staff members.

On an online customer support chat, one islander was told that their "card account will be affected with these updates" whilst another was told that "only new card members moving forward will be affected".

Express contacted American Express, who issued a statement from a spokesperson which explained: "There are no upcoming changes for our existing Cardmembers living in the Crown Dependencies, who we will continue to support as usual."

The confusion follows a similar error which caused panic amongst Barclaycard users in April, resulting in the bank issuing an apology to customers across the Channel Islands.

Recipients were told that Barclaycard accounts without a UK residential address were being closed as the company was "no longer offering accounts to customers living outside of the UK".

However, following questions from Express, a Barclays spokesperson said: "We offer our sincere apologies to any of our Barclaycard customers resident in the Channel Islands that may have been incorrectly informed that their accounts would be closed.

"We can confirm all existing cardholders resident in Jersey and Guernsey will continue to be supported and there will be no change to the service they currently receive.”

Six months ago, the Jersey Consumer Council warned that credit-card companies are pulling out of Jersey because they cannot check customers’ details on a central register – and that the trend could spread to mortgages, loans and other financial services.