Flying Yazata

Out of the art designs, it's the better looking one and also it's actually quite gender neutral in reality. The other one doesn't look anything, but cluttered geometric shapes to me.

TayEll

I just received my new classic black to replace my original refreshed card. Quality feels better, though still not quite like the pre-refresh unit. Weight is slightly more and I can echo the sentiments above about the tinny sound being gone when dropped. Overall an improvement I'd say.

Jay66

May I ask what version it says on the back? (xx/xx)

TayEll

05/20

joesdayjob

i REALLY want the new centurion card kehinde wiley version , current platinum card user . spent over 1m$ last 12 months member since 19 credit score 800+ today

filled out the centurion invite page and now waiting WISH they would tell me ANYTHING.... not sure what else i can do ? any suggestions to get in please let me know your experience of obtaining the centurion


thanks

SteveT

Is the above account personal or business?

joesdayjob

business

Flying Yazata

Truth to be to told, the AMEX Centurion membership base is just so overextended in the US and it's the market with most apparent zeal to obtain that card, just based on FlyerTalk, blog articles and YouTube videos about the card and how it's portrayed as something mysterious. Thus it's bleeding obvious that becoming a Centurion cardholder is most arduous in the States. Especially in terms of the personal card.

Speaking of which: I just wait with interest what happens when AMEX finally gets established/launched in the PRC, as any stock market foxes will know is in the works, first starting with card acceptance. Obviously there's also going to be a Centurion card available there, just like in Hong Kong SAR. That one might actually surpass the US one in terms of how unobtainable it is.

But back to the US! There's not a lot of shortcuts or tricks available, I'm afraid. But since you seem to be like you're almost desperate to get the card and asked for any guidance, I will mention the most obvious one: relocate.

I mean, any other market with the Centurion card would be leaps and bounds easier than the US for obtaining the card, since there's less interest for it. If anything, the Centurion card is a prime example of Adam Smith's principle of supply and demand. So the barrier for the card is pushed pretty high up in the US, thanks to demand. And even with a higher annual fee, not to mention the initiation fee.

joesdayjob

is anyone able to translate ?

Flying Yazata

Ah, you need a netizen one-liner. Gotcha, bud!

Move to Canada, m'kay?

WasKnown

Amex had its license in China approved in 2018 and has been operating in the country for quite a while. It doesn't matter for so many reasons:

1) Alipay / WeChat Pay
2) The rise of RMB-T (which might kill 1 tbh)
3) UnionPay
4) Very low transaction fees

For a firm as driven by discount revenue as Amex is, this is an uphill battle. If I were Amex, I would center my business on issuing cards to Chinese citizens for usage outside of China. However, covid has clearly changed the dynamic of Chinese tourism at least for the immediate future (although I suspect much longer). Furthermore, there are already massive restrictions on capital outflow for services like Alipay (which can already be found in many US retailers like Sephora) which would definitely cap any "large spenders".

Flying Yazata

Before going completely off-topic: indeed, then digital Renminbi may change the whole outlook for payment methods in the PRC. I wouldn't be surprised, if AliPay and WeChat Pay would get marginalised, which is probably anyway the intention of Beijing.

Some good points in there. I personally do however expect that eventually the Chinese consumer mindset and abundant number of wealthy individuals is likely to result in a Centurion card. But there's indeed many obstacles overall for AMEX to operate in the market.

WasKnown

Sorry, not trying to derail the thread either. Honestly, this is a very interesting topic to me given my experiences with the big fuerdai flex culture in China. Most of my super-rich Chinese friends don't know about the "Centurion" card but do vaguely know about the Amex Platinum and "Amex Black" cards. I agree that there is probably an opportunity for Amex to cash in on that specific niche and sell the card to these types of people.

Broadly speaking, fuerdais love something exclusive and prestigious that money seemingly can't buy. This is a country that once rallied behind the idea that Louis Vuitton is a "secretary's brand" and considers Harvard/Stanford/Yale to be the most prestigious brands as "money can't buy access to them".

In reality, money can obviously buy access to both Harvard and the Centurion. But that positioning alone is probably enough to sell the card at even 50K USD a year to many wealthy, young Chinese people.

With all of that being said, I don't expect Amex to find any financial success with the general Chinese population. There are too many headwinds. Failing those, the Chinese protectionist machine will step in. Better, smarter, and richer companies have tried and failed.

SteveT

For Business, you need more spend, like $5-10M. This is based on limited DP on this board and Reddit. Also, see if you can get an Acct Manager if you don't have one yet.

stimpy

Not sure if everyone has seen this, but the Centurion LIving program has been moved to next year due to COVID.