In a world where corporate social responsibility is supposedly a key priority, American Express’s recent scandal around its credit card add-on products tells a starkly different story.
An investigation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has shed light on what appear to be misleading, exploitative practices embedded in products like the “Account Protector” and various identity protection services.
These services, marketed as vital tools for financial security, instead come across as calculated traps, preying on consumers’ need for safety during vulnerable times.
American Express’s actions raise crucial questions about corporate accountability, corporate greed, and the ever-widening chasm of wealth disparity perpetuated by neoliberal capitalism’s focus on shareholder profits above public welfare.
The Account Protector Program: Promises vs. Reality
Marketed as a safety net, American Express’s Account Protector was presented as a way for cardholders to secure themselves in times of personal crises, such as job loss, severe illness, or major life changes. On the surface, this program looked like an effort toward corporate responsibility. But digging deeper, the product’s structure reveals a gap between consumer expectations and the reality of what was offered.
Consumers were led to believe that this program would cover their minimum monthly payments during periods of hardship. However, instead of covering the full payment, the “benefit” often amounted to a mere 2.5% of the outstanding balance or a cap of $500—leaving many financially vulnerable individuals still responsible for a sizable portion of their payments during already difficult times.
Imagine a consumer facing job loss who expected help covering their obligations only to find themselves with a bill far larger than they’d planned for.
Such a stark discrepancy could worsen financial instability and deepen wealth inequality, adding to the economic fallout from deceptive corporate practices.
The monthly charges for this “protection” added another layer of corporate greed disguised as consumer care. Customers were automatically charged 0.85% of their balance every month, a fee that could quickly snowball.
This fee, regardless of whether customers actively used the protection, suggests a product designed less to serve consumers and more to maximize revenue streams for American Express. Terms around these charges were often buried in fine print, leaving many unaware of just how much this “protection” was costing them.
Flawed Identity Protection Services
American Express’s identity protection products—promoted as crucial shields against the ever-present threat of identity theft—presented their own set of hidden traps.
While the services promised essential features like credit monitoring and fraud alerts, full activation required extra steps. In an often-overlooked twist, customers who hadn’t completed these steps remained partially unprotected, yet they were still charged the full price of the service.
This lack of transparency hints at a deeper, perhaps intentional, design flaw that prioritizes corporate profits over consumer security.
Adding insult to injury, American Express often failed to provide legally mandated disclosures about free credit report availability—leaving consumers unaware of their rights to free reports. Such omissions underscore a pattern of corporate irresponsibility and illustrate how critical information is withheld, limiting consumers’ access to affordable protection and exacerbating financial insecurity.
For a company as powerful as American Express to obscure basic consumer rights reveals the dangers corporations pose to public welfare when they operate with minimal oversight.
An Erosion of Trust and Corporate Accountability
These practices not only imposed financial burdens on unsuspecting customers but also deeply eroded public trust in American Express.
What these consumers thought were wise investments in financial stability turned into unexpected, costly commitments that compromised their economic security rather than fortifying it. For many consumers, especially those already at a financial disadvantage, these practices worsened the very insecurities the products claimed to protect against, widening the wealth disparity that plagues today’s society.
At the heart of this issue lies a broader question: are large corporations like American Express, structured to maximize profits for shareholders, genuinely committed to the welfare of consumers? Can they ever change, given that many are incentivized to cause harm for profit?
Without robust, enforceable corporate accountability, such companies may well continue to prioritize shareholder gains over ethical obligations, leaving consumers to foot the bill in an era of unprecedented wealth inequality.
Neoliberal Capitalism and the Public’s Wellbeing
American Express’s case serves as yet another reminder of the dangers inherent in neoliberal capitalism—a system that incentivizes corporations to operate with minimal regulation and a primary focus on profit maximization.
The very existence of products like Account Protector and identity protection, designed in ways that often disadvantage consumers, reflects a disturbing pattern of corporate irresponsibility and unchecked power.
Consumers and advocates are left to wonder if American Express and corporations like it will ever put meaningful corporate ethics into practice. And without systemic change, how much longer will they be allowed to benefit from misleading consumers under the guise of support?
For advocates of social justice, it’s clear that stronger protections are needed to hold corporations accountable and to ensure the welfare of the public isn’t continually sacrificed at the altar of corporate profits.