You have a betting account with a bookmaker and you are feeling comfortable enough with your betting activities to consider making some more money from it. You sign up with the bookmaker to make a straight-up or take-back bet on the favorite or the underdog in upcoming sporting events. You check in with the bookmaker to see what happens and whether or not you should continue betting on that game. Your bookmaker representative replies to you, “We’re sorry, but since you placed the bet with American Express, we have to close your betting account.” You ask why and he replies, “Because we are not allowed to accept bets from accounts associated with American Express. It’s company policy.” You are taken aback and reply, “But I don’t use American Express for my everyday transactions. This is a corporate account.” The representative smiles and explains, “Well, you could, but if you did, we couldn’t accept your bet. It doesn’t matter what you use the account for. We can’t accept bets from corporate accounts.” You ask to speak to a manager and once again, the representative replies, “I’m sorry, sir, but I cannot put you on hold while I transfer you to a manager.”
This happened to me a few weeks ago. I don’t use American Express for my everyday transactions either and, as a result, my account with the company was flagged. I had no idea that this was an issue, until I received the notice from American Express that my account had been closed. When I called the company to sort out this issue, they told me that it was a ban that had been implemented due to the pandemic and that they were not aware of it being lifted. They also told me that there was nothing they could do about it and that I would have to re-establish my account and start from square one.
Why a Bookmaker Would Close Your Account
What does American Express want from you? They don’t need your money; you’re just an investment for them in generating more revenue from betting. Essentially, they want to make money off your gambling activity, whether you’re aware of it or not. To do this, they must keep certain accounts open and active at all times, so that when a bookmaker does close an account, American Express can step in, open a new one, and continue the activity as if nothing happened. This is how the bookmakers stay in business.
If you really think about it, this makes sense. It’s not like bookmakers establish long-term business relationships with their customers, the majority of whom they’ll never see again. They are more than willing to cut ties with anyone at any time, for any reason. They have an inhouse policy that allows them to do this and, as a result, they have an abundance of customer accounts that they can close without undue stress or inconvenience. It’s not like they have a wife or family to care for; they’re not going to let somebody else carry the responsibility of looking after their “accounts” either.
If you’re curious as to why American Express closes the accounts of those involved in illegal activities, check out this article from forbes.com. It contains a warning about the dangers of using American Express and other financial institutions with your wager. You might also want to consider depositing your bets with a different bookmaker.