American Express Membership Rewards - Easy way to get a credit/charge card with US billing address (I living in the UK)

Hi,

I want a credit or charge card (Amex or otherwise) with a US billing address.

I live in England and have no plans to move to the US, however, there are some online services (nothing sordid!) that I would like to use that require a US billing address.

I have a UK Centurion but I don't think Amex have anything that will let me show a US address? I have plenty of friends in the US who's address I could probably use but obviously no credit history so I am not sure how easy it would be to apply for a new card. Any suggestions for getting a card linked to a friends address or are there any companies that specialise in this sort of thing?

Phill

I live in Denmark and have an AmEx International Dollar Card (issued from the UK). Using my mother's U.S. address (I'm a U.S. citizen), I called AmEx in the U.S. and got a U.S. AmEx linked to her address with no problem. In fact, I got a U.S. Centurion immediately based on the fact that I had the UK-based Centurion. (You may not want to pay the U.S. Centurion fee, in which case, just request whatever U.S. based AmEx you want to have.)

I believe they checked my record with AmEx UK in order to approve me, not sure if they pulled a credit record in the U.S. since it would be very sparse (I haven't lived in the U.S. since 1987). However, I'm almost certain I needed to give them my social security number, so that might be a drawback for you.

I believe I explained to them that I wanted the U.S.-based card for my eventual repatriation to the U.S., since I've recently bought a second home in the U.S. and essentially have a residence there.

I suggest giving the AmEx customer service in the U.S. a call and tell them you are an existing AmEx UK customer who will be splitting your time between the U.S. and UK and you want a U.S.-based card with your U.S. address.

I've also gotten a couple of VISAs (Merrill Lynch is a good one) issued using my mother's address over the years with no problem (and little, if any, credit history), but again, I am quite sure they required my social security number.

Susan

I forgot to add that prior to my getting a U.S.-based AmEx, I did get an extra UK-based card issued in my own name, with a U.S. address attached to it. It was one of the supplemental cards that comes with our UK-based cards.

However, it did not always work with internet purchases because of the sensitive AVS settings that many websites use. Since the UK-based database has addresses in a different format from U.S. addresses, the zip code and postal code fields didn't match up correctly. Therefore, if a website used a very high-level AVS, it would reject the transaction.

You could try this option first and see if it works with the online purchases you wish to make. Just call AmEx UK and get a supplemental card issued with the U.S. address in your record. It will also work if the merchant is willing to phone AmEx to verify your card if it initially rejects, but I found this impossible with some online services.

I do a lot of business online, so have a bit of experience in this area.

Susan

Susan

Sorry to drift away from the original question, but you appear to know about a problem I am experiencing. I am an American, but also have a residence in the UK. American Express cheerfully established a UK account based on our US history, and I then converted this to an International Dollar Card which is administered in the UK and I use the UK billing address so that it should appear to merchants to be a UK card.

This has generally worked well, but two merchants, one in the UK and one in the US, have rejected the card online because the address does not match even though I have entered it exactly as it appears on the bill. In each instance American Express customer service indicates the charges were approved, and they seem unaware of any reason the address verification would fail.

It sounds as if you have encountered the same problem. Is there anyone you know at Amex in the UK I could talk to, or any method you have devised to work around the problem, aside from asking the merchant to call?

dennis

Hi,

I want a credit or charge card (Amex or otherwise) with a US billing address.

I live in England and have no plans to move to the US, however, there are some online services (nothing sordid!) that I would like to use that require a US billing address.

I have a UK Centurion but I don't think Amex have anything that will let me show a US address? I have plenty of friends in the US who's address I could probably use but obviously no credit history so I am not sure how easy it would be to apply for a new card. Any suggestions for getting a card linked to a friends address or are there any companies that specialise in this sort of thing?

Phill

The credit history is not a problem, if you are an existing card member, but your SS# is! When I moved to the US I called up the US Plat line and they assured me that it would be no problem to get any Amex card in the US, but I would need a social security number first. I tried to talk them into faxing in my visa, but they insisted that it is a federal requirement to link a SS# to all cards. Anyway, I told them that in the first couple of weeks I will be spending some k$, but nothing could be done. After my arrival and receipt of the SS# it was indeed a matter of days to get my card.
So the upshot is, you probably have no chance to get a US based card w/o a social security number. However, most purchases do not require a US-based card, even if the website claims that to be the case. I used my Germany based Amex card numerous times with airlines tickets, hotels, and merchandise. Just try your GB-based card, I bet you it will work with 95% of the webpages.

This has generally worked well, but two merchants, one in the UK and one in the US, have rejected the card online because the address does not match even though I have entered it exactly as it appears on the bill. In each instance American Express customer service indicates the charges were approved, and they seem unaware of any reason the address verification would fail.

It sounds as if you have encountered the same problem. Is there anyone you know at Amex in the UK I could talk to, or any method you have devised to work around the problem, aside from asking the merchant to call?

dennis

Hi Dennis,

You are experiencing the same frustration that I did, repeatedly, and I'm afraid I never resolved it. That was why I eventually got a U.S. based card.

I spoke on numerous occasions to customer service in the UK (no specific person) and they verified time and again that the billing address I was using was correct. But some online merchants still could not verify and refused to do the call-in thing, stating that it was not an option for them (usually because they used a third-party processor).

I did a bit of research on the whole AVS system at the time, and depending on how the merchant sets their verification, you may never be able to get a transaction through. Some set it just for postal code / zip code. This often presented a problem for me because my postal code (Denmark) was not actually entered by AmEx UK in the postal code field of their database, since the format didn't match a UK postal code! So they used a text field for my postal code and it could never match up. Others set AVS so strict that it matches the entire address. And there is even an AVS setting that rejects all non-U.S. addresses. So it really depends on the merchant.

AmEx was not very sympathetic or helpful. I even wrote a formal letter to them about it and never received a response. But in phone conversations, they stubbornly insisted that my billing address was exactly as it was on the statement and as I was reading it to them over the phone and they stated, as they've done with you, that there was no reason for it to fail or be rejected.

I'm afraid it is only going to continue to get worse, as merchants crack down on fraud and implement tighter controls on using cards (not that I blame them, but it can be frustrating). Even with my U.S.-based card, I have problems with some merchants who reject the card because it has a U.S. address and they can determine from my IP address that I'm physically sitting in Denmark when trying to execute the transaction!

Good luck finding a solution.

Susan

Is this an AMex only issue or do the same authorisation problems happen with Visa / Mastercard?

Is this an AMex only issue or do the same authorisation problems happen with Visa / Mastercard?

I've had a few issues with VISA/MC but not as much problem as with AmEx. However, all of my VISA/MC accounts are issued in the U.S., even those that I use my Danish address. Usually in the zip code field, they will use the code '00002' for foreign addresses, and as long as I enter that, it will go through. Sometimes I have trouble if the website only provides a dropdown menu for 'State' or has the state as a required field. I've never tried to use a VISA/MC that is issued outside of the U.S.

Susan

I live in Denmark and have an AmEx International Dollar Card (issued from the UK).

Do you have this card enrolled in the Membership Reward program?

If so, are these under the same conditions as the standard UK card?
For example:
for Euro-based cards the conversion for Flying Blue is 5 points = 4 miles
for Pound-based card the conversion for FB is 4 points = 5 miles
how about the USDollar-based cards?

International Dollar Card: 5 Membership Reward points - 4 Flying Blue points