Please note: this is a developing story. I will post updates in real time. This post is current as of 26 Jan 2020.

This AMEX military policy update happened very recently and we still have no official word from AMEX. Customer Service Reps at AMEX have not been consistent in their responses, so please take all of this information as rumor at this point.

Summary of Amex SCRA Denials:

• Starting in January 2020, users on FlyerTalk, Reddit, Doctor of Credit, and Military Money Manual have been posting that their AMEX SCRA requests have been denied due to the consumer opening the account AFTER active duty start date
• This is a correct interpretation of the SCRA law, but a BIG change in AMEX's SCRA policy that has been in place for over a decade
• No military servicemember or spouse who had fees waived previously has been charged an annual fee
• I believe (but have not confirmed) that AMEX will start implementing automatic Military Lending Act protections on “covered borrowers.” Covered borrowers means any person on active duty military service and their legal spouse. As part of this automatic MLA protections, annual fees will continue to be waived.
• I have reached out to AMEX for clarification on this new policy and will update as soon as I hear back.

It appears American Express has updated their Military annual fee waiver program as of January 2020. There are now two programs in place at American Express: Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and Military Lending Act (MLA).

For accounts opened after starting active duty military service, you want your account handled in accordance with the MLA. It appears this MAY be an automatic process. For accounts opened before going active duty, you want your account handled with SCRA.

Automatic AMEX Covered Borrower Status

I think the AMEX military fee waiver is going to become an automatic process that does not require any action on behalf of the servicemember. This is how Chase MLA works.

All of my (active duty US servicemember) and my wife’s (civilian military spouse) card agreements with AMEX state “You have been identified as a ‘Covered Borrower’ under Military Lending Act”.

I suspect what will happen or has happened is AMEX has transferred everyone receiving SCRA benefits to their MLA program and marked their accounts as “covered borrowers.” Going forward, anyone who open’s up a new AMEX account will have their SSNs run against the MLA database: https://mla.dmdc.osd.mil/mla/

If the credit applicant pops positive on the MLA database (i.e., they are a military SM or a military spouse), then that SSN will be identified as a “covered borrower” and your annual fees will be waived, just as it has been for the past 10+ years.

This is how Chase’s MLA program works currently, where you don’t need to ask for MLA benefits, they just automatically kick in for 99.9% of military applicants when you apply for the card.

For instance, my wife (mil spouse) received her MLA annual fee waiver letter for her last 2 Chase cards (Hyatt and CSR) before she received the cards in the mail.

AMEX MLA vs AMEX SCRA

Both AMEX MLA and AMEX SCRA suppress the following fees for military:

• Annual membership fees – basic and all additional cards on the account
• Account reinstatement fees
• Credit secure fees
• Membership Rewards Annual fees

Here is the MLA statement from the AMEX Cardmember agreement:

Military Lending Act – Federal law provides important protections to members of the Armed Forces and their dependents relating to extensions of consumer credit. In general, the cost of consumer credit to a member of the Armed Forces and his or her dependent may not exceed an annual percentage rate of 36 percent.

This rate must include, as applicable to the credit transaction or account: the costs associated with credit insurance premiums; fees for ancillary products sold in connection with the credit transaction; any application fee charged (other than certain application fees for specified credit transactions or accounts); and any participation fee (other than certain participation fees for a credit card account).

To listen to this statement, as well as a description of your payment obligation for this Account, call us at 855-531-0379. If you are a covered borrower, the Claims Resolution section of this Agreement will not apply to you in connection with this Account. Instead, the Claims Resolution for Covered Borrowers section will apply.

If you have any additional information or data points, please contact me or share it in the comments!

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