Amex now trying to find a new niche to get even younger people into massive amounts of debt. If anyone missed this segment you have to watch it, Ralph Andretta is VP and GM of card member services of AXP and he believes now is the time to tap the $600+ Billion in annual buying power 20 somethings represent. Its called the zync card and claims its not a credit card but a "CHARGE CARD", He has no idea what the delinquency rate is....... this guy is lying through his teeth, anyone who thinks this zync card is the newest innovative thing is quite foolish, american express has lost its true ways. Anyone and everyone can get an axp card now. Ralph claims its about being in financial control, RIGHTTTT!!! The reason why this economy is in such a mess is due to easy simple credit. Watch John Ulzheimer show how useless this card actually is and how it causes more harm than good. <object id="cnbcplayer" height="380" width="400" classid="clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" > <param name="type" value="application/x-shockwave-flash"/> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/> <param name="quality" value="best"/> <param name="scale" value="noscale" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"/> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"/> <param name="salign" value="lt"/> <param name="movie" value="http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/1355410984/code/cnbcplayershare"/> <embed name="cnbcplayer" PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" bgcolor="#000000" height="380" width="400" quality="best" wmode="transparent" scale="noscale" salign="lt" src="http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/1355410984/code/cnbcplayershare" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" /> </object>
Holy CRAP what a lying POS that AMEX guy is! LOL, we didn't run a study on the potential delinquency rates, sure you didn't lying POS. Good for the brit who called him out as a liar. His spew is about as fake as his dyed hair.
Yea im glad he called him out like that, one of the biggest credit card companies in the world and he hasn't a clue what the delinquency rates are.
There is no line of revolving credit extended hence it is a charge card. Payment in full every month. Same applies for the Black, Titanium, Centurion card, whatevery you want to call it.
My creditcard is a charge card, automatically paid off every month. Weird how America runs behind on this. Seems like Americans are truly addicted to credit.
I think there is a good chance that Amex and the other CC co are looking to get people in debt trouble. I have to imagine that they do not want to destroy their customers though. Probably just get their hooks into them and keep them forever paying, just below ruin. However, like the gun lovers say "credit cards don't create massive debt, people do" If there just were not so many people making bad choices the problem would not exist. I remember countless times tearing up and trashing all the credit apps I got when I turned 18. I knew at that age that the last thing I needed was a CC. And let me tell you I was one of the most irresponsible, immature, wild and crazy 18 year olds out there. Now that I am a little older and I had need for a CC no one from Amex has ever taken my card out of my pocket and swiped it for me.
Care to explain how someone can get into a "massive amount" of debt with a charge card? Do you even have the faintest idea of how they work? Or the fact that a 20-something with no credit history is going to need a co-signer with a good credit rating, most likely their parents, to backstop them? Which is exactly why there's no way they could even begin to come up with a delinquency rate for this thing. The hook is the co-signer's credit rating, which is going to get hammered if the card balance isn't paid off each month. As for the second fella. He wasn't trashing the card, even said it's nice to have. What he was trying to get across was that a charge card will not do a damned thing to build your credit rating. The fact that he has a credit 101 course that he gives might give a slight hint as to his angle in this. Overall, if you can't get a credit card then a charge card like this is a MUCH better alternative to a debit card if only for the lack of overdraft fees. For a bit more insight you should check out the most recent Frontline that talks about consumer credit, the card industry and the bigger problem associated with debit cards.
^this. same for the gold amex I have. This won't get more people into debt - it will make more people be responsible. The only have 30 days to pay off the FULL amount - no rolling over to next month or your credit is fucked.
Not true. I got my first credit card when I was 20 (5 years ago). I put $1000 on a BOA secured card. That money is used as collateral in case I can't pay it off. Less than a year later, I got my $1000 back with interest and the card automatically switched to a regular unsecured card with a much higher limit. Today, my FICO score is 810. Never had a co-signer. I see absolutely no point in using these charge cards and I don't understand why AMEX is still in business.