AVOID Amex Self-Referral

At first I thought this could potentially be kept low-key and there would be a possibility of it surviving. But it has been blogged to death by most major bloggers….it’s almost like they all want this to die. I personally have avoided self-referral as much as possible and here is why you should too.

First, let me make something clear. Self-referral is not an intentional feature. It’s an oversight that occurred when American Expressed introduced a groundbreaking feature. Said feature can allow a users to generate referral links to multiple cards from a single card. Whenever you use self-referral you should proceed with the idea that there could be consequences for abusing this unintentional feature.

American Express has a history of punishing users for abusing glitches (claw back on repetitive use of Amex Offers comes to mind), leaked apps (remember 100k Platinum claw back?), and more. You also ought to remember the numerous frozen Membership Rewards cases. American Express is also a bank that isn’t hesitant to go back and make claw back from stuff that happened a year ago.

Now, to be fair self-referral isn’t prohibited by the terms and conditions…yet. However, the current terms and conditions make it pretty clear that abuse of referral program can lead to one forfeiting the referral bonus.

Program Violations – Bonus Forfeiture, Termination

• Any violation or abuse of this program may result in the forfeiture of the Referral Bonus and/or your termination or suspension from participation in this program.
• American Express reserves the right to limit, cancel, or revoke Referral or Welcome Bonuses if American Express determines, in its sole discretion, that you have violated these terms and conditions, or if we restrict or close your account pursuant to our Card Member Agreement with you.

The more self-referral is promoted the more people use it and eventually there will come a time when American Express will be forced to rethink their stance. I hope when that time comes American Express won’t implement its current terms and conditions too harshly or introduce far too strict terms and conditions.

For example, the terms and conditions for Chinese Member Get Member (MGM) program strickty prohibits self referral.

Self-referral will not be accepted for this MGM Program. The Referee must not currently hold an American Express Platinum Credit Card, and must successfully apply for an American Express Platinum Credit Card in order for the bonus to be awarded to the Referrer and Referee.

In fact the Chinese MGM also states

Should the referee cancel the card within 12 months upon card approval, fees equivalent to the referrer and referee bonus shall be charged to the referrer’s and referee’s card accounts respectively without prior notice.

Then there is the harsh  Australian T&C:

Only Friends & Family: You must only send referral messages to close friends and family.

 

You must not market or promote this offer through paid advertising channels or to the public at large (i.e. on public blog sites, search engines or in sponsored ads).

You cannot refer a friend who already has one of our cards or has held one in the last 18 months.

This program intends for you to invite only your interested personal friends, family and known acquaintances to take advantage of the Card Offers above utilizing the referral link and sharing tools we provide.

Obviously Amex US is different than Chinese or AU Amex but nevertheless it is interesting to see what is out there.  It won’t be long before something similar sneaks into T&C of referral program for US Amex.

Oh and those of you who’ve been saying something along the lines of “self-refer 2 and 3 Biz Green through BBP (for 15k referral bonus each) and BRG (for 20k referral bonus each) respectively”, well, here is something for from referral terms and conditions:

You cannot earn a Referral Bonus for an approved referral if the referred individual currently has the Card they applied for through your referral link.

Closing Thoughts

As many of you know I manage card stuff of my family members so I personally “self-refer” by using referral links within the family. It seems like the safer thing to do.

If that isn’t an option for you then go ahead and self-refer.