In my experience:
- Business accounts assign a unique number to each card. Any issuer, any network: Amex, MasterCard or VISA.
- Personal accounts issued by American Express assign a unique number to each card.
- Personal accounts issued by other US based banks, even if Amex-network, typically assign the name number to all cards on the same account.
However, if a card is swiped the issuer can determine which card was used, even if the embossed number is the same, and there should be no problem with cards being used in different shops, cities or countries simultaneously.
so interesting to see this post from 12 yrs ago. wow.
good to see someone like MIA knows what theyre talking about.
altho adding AUs is discussed often, i never see the finer details like card number / online access / management etc.
for anyone like me discovering this post, FYI:
amex + barclays + cap1 (personal) - all different accnt numbers. this is ideal.
but all other personal bank cards give same copy info as the primary user. i hate this so much. bofa citi WF USB discover etc all do this.
at least all business cards have different numbers. i have not seen any bank issue employee cards w/ same info as primary. that would be stupid.
also, amex def has the best online support for AU management w/ settings. cap1 is not bad either. not sure which one is the most terrible tho. chase and USB kinda suck.