--- company: american-express title: American Express — how complaints actually go last_verified: 2026-10-12 --- ## In short American Express has led J.D. Power's credit card satisfaction ranking for seven years in a row, and most disputes start online or on the customer service line. If a dispute fails, put the billing error in writing and then file a CFPB complaint; in the 12 months to June 2026, 26.2% of Amex CFPB complaints closed with relief. Amex is a national bank, so the OCC is the next rung. Small business card holders should know about Amex's 2025 settlement over sales practices. Amex says it will never call you to ask for codes, passwords, card details or your PIN. ## How complaints actually go - A CFPB complaint goes to Amex for a response, generally within 15 days; a response after 15 days (or after 60 days if it asks for more time) is recorded as not timely. In the 12 months to June 2026, 136 of 11,629 Amex complaints (1.2%) were not timely. [CFPB complaint database search](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/search/api/v1/?company=AMERICAN%20EXPRESS%20COMPANY&date_received_min=2025-07-01&date_received_max=2026-06-30&size=0) - American Express National Bank is supervised by the OCC. The OCC asks you to try the bank first; it cannot act as your lawyer, get involved in matters that are in litigation, or seek monetary compensation for you. [OCC HelpWithMyBank: file a complaint](https://www.helpwithmybank.gov/file-a-complaint/index-file-a-complaint.html) - A written billing-error notice obliges Amex to acknowledge it within 30 days and resolve it within two complete billing cycles (no more than 90 days). The notice must be in writing and reach the billing-error address within 60 days after the statement with the error was sent. [CFPB: Regulation Z 1026.13](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/13/) ## What tends to work - A CFPB complaint after Amex's own channel fails: in the 12 months to June 2026, 3,049 of 11,629 complaints (26.2%) closed with monetary or non-monetary relief. [CFPB complaint database search](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/search/api/v1/?company=AMERICAN%20EXPRESS%20COMPANY&date_received_min=2025-07-01&date_received_max=2026-06-30&size=0) - Small business card holders who were told about rewards, fees or credit checks that did not match what happened can point to Amex's January 2025 resolution with the Justice Department and the Federal Reserve (about $230 million), which covered misrepresented card rewards and fees, credit checks run without consent, and false information entered on small business card applications from 2014 to 2021. [Payments Dive, January 16, 2025](https://www.paymentsdive.com/news/amex-federal-government-doj-allegations-credit-cards-small-business/737635/) ## Traps and fine print - If Amex decides a charge was not a billing error, you owe the amount and the interest and fees that built up during the dispute. You get at least 10 days to pay before Amex can report it as late. [CFPB: Regulation Z 1026.13](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/13/) - For an American Express savings account, provisional credit on a transfer error is not final. If Amex finds no error, it can take the credit back after it tells you the date and amount; it must honor your checks and payments to third parties for five business days after that notice. [CFPB: Regulation E 1005.11](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1005/11/) - "Trouble using the card" (583 complaints) and "advertising and marketing, including promotional offers" (502) are among Amex's ten most common CFPB complaint issues in the 12 months to June 2026. [CFPB complaint database search](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/search/api/v1/?company=AMERICAN%20EXPRESS%20COMPANY&date_received_min=2025-07-01&date_received_max=2026-06-30&size=0) ## By the numbers - CFPB complaints received July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 for "AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY": 11,629. Top products: credit card 5,436, credit reporting 2,929, debt collection 1,844, prepaid card 786, checking or savings 536. Top issues: incorrect information on a report 1,996, a purchase shown on a statement 1,818, negative or legal action taken or threatened 991, other features, terms or problems 915, the company's investigation into an existing problem 684. [CFPB complaint database search](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/search/api/v1/?company=AMERICAN%20EXPRESS%20COMPANY&date_received_min=2025-07-01&date_received_max=2026-06-30&size=0) - Of those 11,629 complaints, 8,580 (73.8%) closed with explanation, 1,829 (15.7%) with non-monetary relief and 1,220 (10.5%) with monetary relief. 11,493 (98.8%) were marked timely. Data retrieved 2026-10-12. [CFPB complaint database search](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/search/api/v1/?company=AMERICAN%20EXPRESS%20COMPANY&date_received_min=2025-07-01&date_received_max=2026-06-30&size=0) - Complaint data is not a statistical sample. The CFPB says companies sometimes select "Closed with explanation" even when the consumer got relief, and complaints returned as administrative responses are not published. [CFPB 2025 Consumer Response Annual Report](https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_2025-cr-annual-report_2026-03.pdf) - J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study: American Express ranked first among national issuers for the seventh year in a row, with 668 points out of 1,000; the average for all credit card customers was 613. [FF News, August 17, 2026](https://ffnews.com/news/financial-stress-deepens-divide-among-u-s-credit-card-customers-according-to-jd--43c68b30) [ABA Banking Journal](https://bankingjournal.aba.com/2026/08/survey-finds-satisfaction-gap-among-credit-card-holders/) ## Scams that target customers - Amex says it will never call you and ask for verification codes, logins and passwords, your card details or your PIN. [American Express: phishing and scam awareness](https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/security/phishing-scam-awareness/) - Do not click links in a suspected phishing email; forward it to spoof@americanexpress.com so Amex can act to close the phishing link, then delete it. [American Express: phishing email FAQ](https://www.americanexpress.com/us/customer-service/faq.security-and-fraud.fraud-phishing-email.html)