American Express pulls its cards from Curve just 36 hours after it allowed users to put money on its app
- Curve announced Tuesday evening that Amex had suspended its functionality
- Just one day after it allowed customers to load money onto Curve’s app
- Curve said Amex gave ‘no good reason’ and called the move ‘discriminatory’
American Express has pulled its card from Curve’s app just 36 hours after it went live, leaving cardholders in the lurch.
Curve unveiled on Monday a move that would allow Amex customers to use their card in places that do not usually accept it, by adding their cards to its smartphone app.
The move proved popular and the article has been one of the most read on This is Money this week.
However, on Tuesday evening, Curve announced that Amex had unexpectedly suspended its relationship with the company.
Just 36 hours after it announced users could use Amex via Curve’s smartphone app, the US credit card provider said it was pulling it. The link is still live but a warning says it is suspended
In an official statement, Curve said: ‘Last Monday morning, Curve announced the addition of American Express support for users of our platform in an open Beta test.
‘The announcement was made based on a merchant agreement we had with American Express to accept Amex card payments into our e-wallet.
‘American Express decided to terminate this agreement on Tuesday evening.
‘We regret that American Express has deemed it necessary to take this action and we do not agree with their decision.
‘However, Curve customers can rest assured that they can still spend any funds they may have already topped up in their existing Amex Wallets.
‘While there may be a delay in replying, we will endeavour to respond to all our customers who have contacted us for support.’
On Curve’s website, the Amex link is still live but a warning banner states: ‘Amex functionality is suspended for reasons beyond our control.’
A spokesperson for Amex called the rollout a ‘limited beta test’.
It added: ‘We enabled a small number of card members to load funds onto an e-wallet using their Amex Card in the Curve app.
‘Following this beta test we informed Curve that we would not participate in the further roll out of the Curve e-wallet.’
Curve, first launched in 2016, offers a smartphone app that that lets you attach several different bank and credit cards to a single Curve debit card.
Amex has some of the most lucrative rewards and cashback credit cards on the market.
Being able to earn points where customers previously wouldn’t have been able to use their cards at all, would have helped cardholders maximise spending.
This is Money has contacted American Express for further comment.
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