This is a guest post by MilesTalk reader Ian L. Paterson – an entrepreneur and the CEO of a cybersecurity company based in New York and Victoria, BC. He gives away his best startup secrets at ianlpaterson.com
In this article
I’ve wanted a metal credit card for years.
There’s the beautiful magenta Amex card (Editor’s Note: The Plum Card from American Express) which rewards you for playing early. Those sleek Chase Sapphire cards. The once-in-a-lifetime carbon fiber yellow Amex from Pharrell’s charity dinner event…
None of them are available to Canadians.
Getting my hands on a stainless steel credit card has been an ongoing quest of mine for a while. In Canada, the only options for a metal card are for super high net-worth individuals, either with the Amex Centurion card or the RBC Private Banking Visa Infinite card. Neither option is available for someone who’s still grinding away in their career. #startuplife
The metal Amex Platinum card available to US customers just isn;’t an option here…
Can a Canadian Get a US Amex Card?
The idea of applying for, and getting, a US card has been around for a while, but the hassle of going through the process always seemed high. You needed to get an ITIN, which involved passport photocopies, calling the IRS, and a lot of other hoops to jump through.
For me, I actually had an old ITIN number from the early 2000s when I owned and operated a boutique photography studio. Back then, stock photography was all the rage, and I made literally tens of cents selling photos on platforms like iStock Photo, now owned by Getty.
As I’m finding myself spending a significant amount of time in the US as part of my career, I finally bit the bullet and went through the application process.
Here’s how that process went:
– I called American Express and asked for the global transfers team.
– I was told I needed to apply and get the card first, then talk to global transfers.
– I went through the application process with an agent on the phone. When asked for my social security number, I was told I could use it, my ITIN, or a passport number instead. Even though I had an old ITIN number, I couldn’t actually locate it, so I went with my passport number instead.
At first, I was rejected. I was told that while I had a credit file, I didn’t have a FICO Score. A call to Equifax – which itself was almost impossible without the SSN needed to talk to a live agent – confirmed that they couldn’t find anything on record other than the application for Amex.
Since I’d applied over the weekend, I had to wait until Monday to call back. Once I did, global transfer’s folks had no problem taking the denied application and pushing it through.
Right away I got the email alert confirming my accepted application. A couple of days later, this showed up:
The lessons I’ve learned from this experience are:
– The front line staff and new accounts department didn’t seem to know all the ins and outs of global transfer, and I had to make sure I was speaking with the right department.
– You don’t need an ITIN. A passport number will do.
– Whether or not it mattered, I have a very old credit file with Amex Canada and spend a lot on it each month
Ian L. Paterson is an entrepreneur and CEO of a cybersecurity company based in New York and Victoria, BC. He gives away his best startup secrets at ianlpaterson.com / Twitter: @ianlpaterson
Are you a Canadian that has been lusting after a US-only credit card?
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