Amex Returned Payment Error
 

Has anyone else had this experience?

Made an Amex request to pay my Gold card. ACH pulled from HSBC and posted. Next day, credited back to my account.

I received an email from AMEX saying insufficient funds (not true) and that they will reattempt. Called HSBC and they confirmed that I had sufficient funds, they authorized AMEX's pull and paid, and that AMEX was the one that returned the payment to my account.

Now I'm just worried there's a negative mark in my relationship with AMEX... because of AMEX's own system error...

I would call American Express and hear their side of the story with an open mind, because both companies are capable of making an error and blaming the other party. Payments can be returned for various reasons. I would ask American Express what evidence they have that it is NSF, You are right to be concerned, a returned payment could lead to account closure.

Any follow-up on this? I have heard that AMEX can be brutal on cardmembers for any payment issue, including closing the account, intensive audits, and/or confiscating membership miles.

For your own protection, you should obtain either an official email through the bank portal or from your local branch stating that for the entire period in question, there were sufficient funds available. Something like this can come back to haunt you down the road and trying to obtain documentation at a later date will be nearly impossible. Amex does not like to admit when they make a mistake and you do not want them blemishing your credit report.