Where you shop?!?  So if I am a responsible card holder I should stop shopping at Wal-Mart or Target or anywhere like that because other people who shop there might not be as responsible?! That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.  It's also such snobbery to say that people who have good credit should only shop where other people who have good credit shop.  There are all kinds of people shopping at high-end stores with horrible credit and horrible spending habits.  How are you supposed to know?!  

"A holistic look at someone's overall credit profile?"  What the heck does that mean?  Do they also consider increasing someone's credit line who shops at stores that a good customer (such as Mr. Johnson) shops?  Does AMEX really think that customers with a good credit history are going to stand for being evaluated based on someone else's credit hisotry?  The day a letter like that comes in the mail here is the day I close my account.  While I know that is likely to affect my overall credit score for a period of time, I will recover.  I think I will start looking for CC at my local S&L or CU.  They seem to appreciate customers who pay their bills on time and do not go over their credit limit, regardless of where they actually shop.

Looking back, I realize my father and my grand father were absolutely correct.  I am hence paying off all my cards asap.    And I am going cash, and therefore the folks who have invented the FICO scoring system of controlled discrimination and their fellow bed partners, the credit issuing companies, will not have a hold on me or my family.   Really, when one thinks about it, what do I really need a credit card for?  

Oh sure, they are handy, but now they may as well be issued by "Tony Soprano" as this is exactly how they treat their customers.   BRING THEM TO THEIR KNEES!  CASH ONLY!  A fundamental change in our way of consuming is the only way we are going to get the decent reforms needed.  Our congress is a disgrace, and have wasted years while looking the other way as all this has gone on.     Call your card holder and threaten them with an FTC complaint and listen to the laughter on the other end as they explain they have a room full of lawyers doing nothing but waiting for just such action.     This American has had it!

This is horrible. Its like jailing a whole neighbor hood because one person who lived there committed a crime.  The 'holistic look' comment got me too. I wonder if that is just with personal credit cards. What are they doing with small businesses? Lowering their credit limit because they use UPS (example only).  This ends up hurting the stores whose customers pay with Amex too? I mean if all the Amex customers who shop at BJ's have their credit limits lowered, they have less buying power, they don't buy as much, and BJ's gets a piece of a smaller pie. I am really irritated every time I hear of something absurd happening at a company which received TARP money!

You know what I think.... Everyone should try their best not to use their credit cards! If you lived within your means, you wouldn't need the credit limit. Then again, we wouldn't have any of these problems if we could just live off of the money we made, and not the money we borrowed!

American Express is the worse credit card company on the planet. They act all snobby and high class trying to attract broke people that want to look cool. What a joke, they make payday lenders look good!

maybe the best solution is to boycott american express . All you people out there, this company has benefited from us a lot through the years. If this is the way they are going to treat us, maybe we should put them out of business!

Some 6 years ago, I cleared all outstandings, borrowed a scissor from the clerk and cut my AMEX Gold Card in half when they started charging without my knowledge fees for membership of the points awarded on air travelled. Am I glad I did that. I now only have one credit card for business travelling and debt free. All credit cards are great temptation to spend unnecessarily and credit cards companies drains you with exorbitant interest and exotic fees until there is no more blood in your financial viens. There is actually no need for a credit card but if you do, control over it is crucial for your financial health.

American Express was and still is intended for white collar professionals. Not blue collar like cops, laborers, etc. In fact, you are supposed to pay your balance every month, if you do not, the merchant has to eat the cost. That is why they are more stringent.

So, it makes sense that they do this.

I hope they do cut all the blue collar and lower class people out. They are great with me-I spent 8k plus a month, always repay and never denied.

Go get yourself a credit union credit card more suitable to your level if you don't like it!

"Our analysis of the credit risk associated with customers who have residential loans from the creditor(s) indicated in your credit report."

So not only will they ding you for where you shop, but also if other people who used your mortgage lender aren't up to speed on their payments.

Here's my problem with this -- mortgage loans are bought and sold from creditors all the time.  Our first mortgage loan on our house was with one creditor who sold it to another who sold it to another.  We refinanced our loan several years ago with another creditor and restructured to a shorter term note with a lower interest rate.  This new loan was, in turn, sold to another creditor.  In ten years in this house, we have had five different companies holding the note on our house.  Only two of them were of our choice.  And the company who holds the note currently has recently made the headlines as needing help because they can't manage themselves properly.  It is particularly frustrating because we have never been late on a house payment, and we have worked hard to get the note paid off early, but now our credit score could get zinged.

I don't know about where I shop, but I had several really great letters from American Express saying that I wasn't paying "enough" and I had my credit limit cut in half and my interest rate raised.  I had four American Express accounts - two that I paid off every month and two that carried balances of about $1500 - 2000.  I paid over $1000 on those accounts in October of 2008 - I'm still not sure I understand what not "paying enough" is.  I do think that it could be because I stayed in Las Vegas (on business) at a couple of lower priced casino hotels and wondered if that had something to do with it.  And to John Doe professional - I am a professional and have excellent credit so I really don't think that is a factor in their decision.  The bottom line is that I closed all four of my accounts and do not intend to reopen them any time soon.  By the way - My husband and I have been cardholders for almost twenty years.