US Treasury Department has been cracking whip on all banks, peer to peer transfers, etc... in aid of clamping down on money laundering. PayPal last year began requiring "verified" accounts (linked to a bank account), for anyone wanting to receive funds. https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/...enefits-FAQ734

Know your customer statues have been on books for years, and were beefed up via Patriot Act post 9/11/01. But IIRC Dodd-Frank and or subsequent legislation has upped the ante; as such all banks (and Amex is a bank), along with everyone else is doing more compliance work to cover their behinds I shouldn't wonder.

Internet has made it so easy to conduct business/financial transactions from anywhere to anywhere, but it has opened up huge avenues for fraud, money laundering and other crimes. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdin/pr...-2000000-fraud

Reaching out to have answers to direct queries creates a record. Someone could give lies in responses, but that isn't Amex's worry.