American Express, usually abbreviated as Amex, is an American multinational corporation that specializes in payment card services. Its headquarters are at 200 Vesey Street in Battery Park City in New York. American Express started its operations in 1850 and is among the Dow Jones Industrial Average components. There are various products that the company provides, which include credit cards, savings, and CD accounts. But does American express have secured credit cards?
We will be checking whether American Express offers secured credit cards. Credit cards allow you to borrow finances from your card issuer. Credit cards are among the most used payment cards in the world. Others include debit cards, prepaid cards, and gift cards. The only difference between credit cards and the others is that you do not need to have finances in your account to use them.
A secured credit card is among the two types of credit cards that you can get from various financial companies. The card requires you to deposit money to act as security for the card. Since the card is usually issued to people with no credit history or those who have a bad credit history, the issuer must ensure that there is a way to recover their finances if you fail to honor your promise to repay your debt at the end of the billing cycle.
How do I open an American Express account?
Before using the American Express services, you need to create an account online. Usually, people open American Express accounts to register cards offered by the company. To create an online account, you should go to American Express register page. Also, if you want to link a card to your existing online profile, you will need to visit the platform’s website and get started.
Furthermore, if you are an Additional Card Member and need to set up your online account, you need the Basic Card Member’s date of birth plus your details. The registration allows you to access your card details only. Once you visit the registration portal, you will need to enter the 15-digit card number and the four-digit card ID, then hit confirm.
What services does American Express offer?
There are various services that one can get from the company. They include the following.
i) Finance
You can get financial services from AmEx. The following are the financial services you can get from the company.
ii) Savings account
AmEx offers high yield savings accounts to keep your finances for future use. The account requires no minimum balances whatsoever. Again, the account has no fees and allows you to receive 24/7 customer support. The high-interest savings accounts help you to save more for whatever you save. It is a FDIC-insured savings account, and thus you can be sure that your finances will be safe all the time. You can earn up to 0.65% APY.
iii) Certificates of Deposit (CDs)
You can open a Certificate of Deposit (CD) and earn up to 2.40% APY. You only need to choose from various CD terms that can go up to 5 years for a guaranteed return.
iv) Insurance
You can enjoy insurance services through the Card Insurance Benefit Center. You can visit the insurance center to do various things, including the following.
- Check your cover & know about your Card Insurance Benefits
- Download your Insurance Certificate
- Search for legitimate Medical providers
- Understand the claim process
- Claim online
v) Travel
AmEx offers traveling services, including securing you nice hotels when you travel to places. You can get a $200 Hotel Credit in statement credits every year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings via American Express Travel. That is possible if you pay with your personal Platinum Card®. You can explore various hotels when you visit the AmEx travel page.
Apart from the above services, there are various products that you can get from the company. They include the following.
- Credit Cards
- Business Credit Cards
- Corporate Programs
- Prepaid Cards
- Gift Cards
Does American Express have secured credit cards?
You might be looking for a secured credit card for rebuilding credit to build your scores from scratch or a bad credit point. Even though various financial companies offer secured credit cards, American Express is not one of them.
At American Express, the only credit cards you can get are the unsecured ones. These do not require a security deposit to get them, as your scores are the determining factors. As I mentioned earlier, secured credit cards require you to deposit specific amounts of money in your account. The amount you deposit acts as your security deposit for the amount you borrow.
Who offers secured credit cards?
Since American Express does not offer secured credit cards, you might be interested in knowing who offers secured credit cards around to get one. The following are some of the secured credit cards you can get today.
i) Citi® Secured Mastercard®
The card has no welcome bonus but does not require you to pay any annual fees. If you are new to credit, you can consider getting the card. It charges a regular APR of 23.24% (Variable).
ii) Discover it® Secured Credit Card
The card charges no annual fees whatsoever. It has a Regular APR of 23.24%, which is Variable. Since it is a secured credit card, you can get it for use if you are new to credit.
iii) Navy FCU nRewards® Secured Credit Card
If you have credit scores of 0-649, you can get the card to grow your scores. It does not require you to pay annual fees and has a Regular APR of 18% variable. You can earn 1X points per dollar spent.
iv) US Bank Cash+® Visa® Secured Card
The card does not require you to pay annual fees, and you can get the card if you have poor or no credit. The Regular APR is a 26.74% variable.
v) First Progress Platinum Select Mastercard®
The card allows you to apply for it if you have no scores or have bad credit. It has a Regular APR of 14.24% (Variable). It has an annual fee of $39. Unfortunately, the card has no welcome bonus.
We also have unsecured credit cards for bad credit, apart from secured credit cards. The issuers of such cards allow instant credit card approval for bad credit with no deposit. You can use the cards to build your scores too.
Which are the American Express unsecured credit cards?
Since AmEx only issues unsecured credit cards, you must know them to see if you can apply for any of them.
i) The Platinum Card®
The card charges an annual fee of $695. When applying for the card, you can choose your design to get what pleases your heart. You can earn 100,000 Membership Rewards Points as soon as you start using the card. The bonus only applies when you spend around $6,000 on your purchases on your card in your first six months of card membership. Also, the card allows you to access 10+ Centurion® Lounges and 1,300+ airport lounges.
ii) American Express® Gold Card
The card charges an annual fee of $250 when you begin using your card. With the card, you can earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® Points when you spend at least $4,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first six months of Card Membership. You can get 4X points at restaurants worldwide whereby you can get 16.74% to 23.74% variable APR on qualifying charges. You can check if you qualify within 30 seconds.
iii) Blue Cash Preferred® Card
The card offers a 0% promotional period for 12 months for purchases only, not balance transfers. The card allows you to pay an annual $0 intro annual fee for the first year. After that, you can then pay $95 every year. The card allows you to earn $300 cashback after spending $3,000 in purchases in the first six months of Card Membership.
The cashback comes in the form of statement credits. The card also gives you a 6% cashback at U.S. supermarkets, a 6% cashback on select U.S. streaming subscriptions, and a 3% cashback on transit purchases.
iv) Amex EveryDay® Credit Card
The card has no annual fees whatsoever. You can earn 10,000 Membership Rewards® Points when you use your new card to make $2,000 in purchases during the first six months of Card Membership. You can earn 2X points at U.S. supermarkets and up to $6K in purchases. You can check if you qualify in 30 seconds.
Does American Express allow balance transfers?
Balance transfer credit cards are the ones that allow you to move your existing debt from another card to its account. The main aim of doing balance transfers is to easily help you repay your debts. However, you cannot do an American Express credit card balance transfer since the service does not support that.
The only offer you can get using your card is the 0% promotional period for 12 months for purchases only but not balance transfers. You can use the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express and Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express to get the offer.
How many credit scores do you need for an American Express credit card?
As I said earlier, American Express credit cards are unsecured ones. That means you require credit scores to get them. Credit scores are a numerical expression that shows your creditworthiness. The more your scores, the more your potential to pay loans and lines of credit. That means financial companies can easily approve your applications. The American Express credit score requirement ranges from 700 and above. That means you should have good-excellent credit scores.
Bottom line
American Express, usually abbreviated as AmEx, is an American multinational corporation that specializes in payment card services. Its headquarters are at 200 Vesey Street in Battery Park City in New York City. Also, there are other products that you can get from the service provider, including savings and CD accounts. The savings accounts are high-yielding since you can get an APY of up to 0.65%. AmEx credit cards are usually the unsecured ones.
