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American Express has sued Curt Cobain widow-turned-rocker-turned-actress Courtney Love for $352,059.67 in unpaid charges and fees on her Amex Gold, Centurion and Platinum Cards. Of course this isn't the first time that Ms. Love has been accused of skipping out on bills. A high-end rehab facility sued her over a $181,000 unpaid bill for a stay in 2005 -- although later events would seem to suggest that Love didn't derive much value from that stint in detox. There have also been tax liens and a lawsuit from management and accounting firm London & Co. accusing her of failing to pay...

NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - American Express Co (AXP.N) Chief Executive Kenneth Chenault said a new law that would impose sweeping limits on credit card issuers will likely hurt his company and reduce the flow of credit to consumers. Chenault said the legislation will be "more negative than positive" for American Express, because it will make it more difficult for the credit card and travel services company to set rates based on the risk its customers pose. Chenault said: "My concern is from the standpoint of credit being available, to particularly consumers who need it."

As part of the newest cost-cutting plan, American Express also plans to scale back investment spending and make further cuts to operating costs, including professional services and travel. "While we have remained solidly profitable at a time when some parts of the card industry were incurring substantial losses, we continue to be very cautious about the economic outlook and are therefore moving forward with additional reengineering efforts to help further reduce our operating costs," said Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and chief executive officer in a release. The 4,000 layoffs will result in a restructuring charge of about $180 million to...

If you haven't had the credit limit cut on your credit card recently, count yourself lucky. Risk-averse card issuers are getting slash happy. And while many cardholders gripe that such cuts slice razor-close to their balance amounts, for an unfortunate few the cuts go far deeper: below what they currently owe. Under different circumstances, David Chaplin-Loebell wouldn't have minded that American Express cut his unlimited credit line to just $5,000. Except that when AmEx reduced his line in October, he had an outstanding balance of $10,000. "I found out by having a business purchase declined," he says. Repeated calls to...

If you have an American Express card, beware: your card could be put on hold at any moment, even if you think you've made all your payments on time. That means, you won't be able to charge anything on your Amex card. That's exactly what happened to Cathy Jones, a businesswoman with three Amex charge cards. She got a call from Amex last week saying her cards were now on hold, while the company did a financial investigation to make sure she could pay her bills. Jones was baffled. She's been an Amex cardholder since 1989 and can't remember being...

It used to be that credit-card companies lured customers with cash rewards. Now American Express Co. is paying to get rid of them. The card issuer is offering selected customers a $300 AmEx prepaid gift card if they pay off their balances and close their accounts. The unusual move underscores how quickly conditions have deteriorated in the credit-card market. The current economic morass was provoked by spiking mortgage defaults. But as the economic crisis widens and unemployment climbs, there is growing concern that credit-card defaults will soar into the stratosphere as well. "This is a huge paradigm shift," says Curtis...

Well, this sure is a different kind of deal. Instead of paying you a bonus to join, New York-based American Express will give you a $300 American Express prepaid card if you agree to say goodbye. American Express says that it is making this "deal" so that customers can "simplify" their finances. Sure. The offer, which isn't available to everyone, requires a 14-digit RSVP code. Customers are receiving this offer via U.S. Postal and email. Let's get something straight here. If you receive this offer, American Express is telling you something: please leave. Note also that in order to get...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American Express Co (NYSE:AXP), battered by mounting credit card losses, is offering $300 to a limited number of U.S. card holders who pay off their balances and close their accounts, the company said on Monday. "We sent the offer out to a select number of card members," said Molly Faust, a company spokeswoman. "We are looking at different ways that we can manage credit risk based on the costumers overall credit profile." The company did not say how many card holders would receive the offer and did not disclose the total of their card balances. Card...

You probably know that credit card companies have been scrutinizing every charge on your account in recent years, searching for purchases that thieves may have made. Turns out, though, that some of the companies have been suspicious of you, too. In recent months, American Express has gone far beyond simply checking your credit score and making sure you pay on time. The company has been looking at home prices in your area, the type of mortgage lender you're using and whether small-business card customers work in an industry under siege. It has also been looking at how you spend your...

Here's the latest reason to hate credit card companies: Shop at Wal-Mart, obviously a sign of financial distress, and your credit limit gets lowered. Hallelujah! This is from American Express, which has now decided to hunker down and simply lie about their habit of doing this. Compare and contrast the following news accounts. When Kevin Johnson returned from his honeymoon last year he got a letter from Amex saying, “Other customers who have used their card at establishments where you recently shopped have a poor repayment history with American Express.” Here's what they told the Atlanta Journal Constitution about this...

Credit line reductions, account repricing, and other steps that card issuers are taking to control risk could soon start causing their customers to do something many homeowners did this year: walk away from their obligations. In the past month current and former industry executives and observers have raised concerns that prevalent risk management tactics may spur such behavior — even among customers who still have the capacity to pay. For example, some observers said aggressive repricing could lead to a spike in "bust-outs" — when cardholders decide to run up as large a balance as possible before abandoning the account....

American Express, the nation’s last big independent credit card company, said late Monday that it would transform into a bank holding company to strengthen its position in the market turmoil. Federal Reserve banking regulators said they approved its application because of the “unusual and exigent circumstances” roiling financial markets and the company’s interest in tapping up to $3.8 billion in government money. As a full-fledged bank, American Express would gain greater access to the Treasury Department’s bailout plan for banks, a move that might allow it to lend more freely and perhaps acquire a larger deposit-taking institution. American Express customers...

Further evidence of the economic contraction: American Express -- the largest U.S. credit card company by purchases -- said today it will cut 7,000 jobs and take up to a $290 million charge related to the cuts in a move designed to save $1.8 billion next year. Earlier this year, Amex announced a "re-engineering" plan designed to cut costs as consumers cut back on their credit-fueled spending. The job cuts represent 10 percent of the company's global workforce. The company also has frozen hiring and will cut back on marketing, it said in a statement. “The re-engineering program we announced...

US Senate agrees visa free travel for Polish tourists The US Senate has passed an amendment to a bill on immigration reform which paves the way for Polish tourists to travel to the States without visas for a trial period of two years. Report by Michal Kubicki 18.05.06 Polish officials and men-in-the-street have welcomed the news as a step in the right direction. The visa issue has long been a point of contention in Polish-American relations with Poles having to apply for visas before traveling to America and having to pay for an application, even if they are eventually refused...

Wiring an old hotel for wireless Internet access can easily cost more than $1 million in construction and cabling costs, and that doesn't even factor in the lost revenue when rooms are unavailable due to the work. But some hotels have found a way around that problem using power line communications, or PLC, products, from TELKONET Inc. The company's technology, also known as "broadband over power line," is installed in the basement of a building and connects to its existing electrical system. To get wired broadband access, guests simply plug a modem into any electrical outlet. "It did not make...

Excerpt - American Express, Converse, Gap and Giorgio Armani are joining with Bono, the rock star, to sell products under a new brand, called “Red”, which will dedicate some of its revenues to fight Aids in Africa. The effort will include the creation of an AmexCo Red credit card that will be marketed first in the UK, targeting an estimated 1.5m British “conscience consumers” who are seen as more likely to buy products associated with a social benefit. AmexCo believes this figure will rise to 4m within three years. Other Red products available this spring will include Converse sports shoes...

As fireworks boomed across nearby New Delhi and families lit candles and incense and prayed late into the evening, thousands of call-center agents reported to work at a gleaming office tower here. Donning headsets and fake American names, they placed and fielded phone calls to and from the United States, collecting bills, selling products and raising credit limits. For a few minutes each shift, though, the workers hurried outside to take part in their own celebration * * * In India, call centers are part of a burgeoning industry known as "business process outsourcing," or BPO -- a new world...

Robert De Niro and American Express are being criticized for a new 30-second TV ad airing in the U.S. and the U.K. which includes shots of the now barren site of the World Trade Center. In the ad, directed by Martin Scorsese, De Niro walks through New York, referring to "My East .. my West Side." When he arrives at Ground Zero, he remarks, "My heartbreak." (The spot's tagline is: "My life. My card.") Brand Republic, an online publication covering advertising and marketing, said that the spot is drawing flak for exploiting the 9/11 tragedy.

Pretend princess An toinette Millard is showing some real gall: She's suing American Express for $2 million for allowing her to go on a nearly $1 million shopping spree she couldn't afford at some of the city's priciest stores. Millard's filing says she "was suffering from anorexia, depression, panic attacks, [and] head tumors," and the credit-card giant "knew or should have known that [she] was acting impulsively and irrationally." That argument hasn't moved American Express, which got a court order this week to freeze her assets.