Global Transfer of Amex from U.S. to Canada for Credit Score

[Publius_Cornelius_Scipio]

I am providing our experiences as reference for some future settlers, as I've discovered so many fellows have no ideas or do not know details of this convenient program, Global Transfer of Amex. By utilizing this program, one could have a fairly high credit score within one month of landing. For instance, we got 701 after taking advantage of the program. There is no reason for you to build the credit score from ground zero if you choose to use this program.


Amex does global transfer for a lot of nations such as Italy and Canada. Please go check the complete list for yourself. My story is about transferring from the U.S. and Canada.

I feel the word transfer is very misleading at the very least. In reality, Amex would issue a new Canadian credit card based on the history of your old U.S. credit card. The two cards of the two nations do not necessarily have to be related to the same product family. I.e., Your U.S. card could be Amex every day but your new Canadian one could be Amex blue cash. Your old card would not be closed; you are simply getting a new card.

Procedure:

1. Go to the website of the Global transfer of Amex and start the process.
   • Go to the new nation's website. In my case, it is Canadian.
   • Remember, you are applying for a new card in the new nation. You are not indeed transferring a credit card to the new nation.
2. Finish the application online.
3. Amex would call you later, for Identity verification:
   • You have to bring two pieces of IDs to the headquarter of Amex Canada in the Greater Toronto Area in person
     • For the in-person option, tips:
       • there is no free parking for guests.
       • You will do the verification in a visiting room on the ground floor. Someone will come down for this. The waiting may be much longer than the promised. Don't trust too much about the 15 minutes promised by Amex.
   • or you can do the mail one.
4. After the verification is done, your card would be approved very quickly within a couple of days.
5. Amex would mail the card to your Canadian address and report accordingly to the Canadian credit agencies.
6. I can only tell you the reporting is done within a month because Borrowell pulls the score every month. Maybe the reporting is done much faster, but I do not know how fast exactly.
7. Once your reporting is done, your score would jump from 0 to a fairly high number. In our case, it is 701.

 

[Publius_Cornelius_Scipio]

Additional information:

• I cannot guarantee your score after the global transfer. The number seems to fluctuate greatly depending on factors obscure to me.
• If you really want to save the parking fee, you could.
  • There is a big U loop near the entrance of the Amex building.
  • Bring another person with you and let him/her stay in the car, parked by the curbside of the U loop, in case someone enforces against your parked car.
  • You go ahead and finish the verification. Estimation would be around 40 minutes.

 

[robkin]

I tried to do this but then because I had already opened up a bank account at VanCity, I all of a sudden had a credit history that was empty. Note that all I opened was a checking account so I could deposit my paycheck. They told me over the phone that they couldn’t use my US credit history now that I had a Canadian credit history. This meant I had to supply paystubs and they had to check with my bank and all sorts of extra nonsense. All a bit ridiculous.

 

[Copingwithlife]

I tried to do this but then because I had already opened up a bank account at VanCity, I all of a sudden had a credit history that was empty. Note that all I opened was a checking account so I could deposit my paycheck. They told me over the phone that they couldn’t use my US credit history now that I had a Canadian credit history. This meant I had to supply paystubs and they had to check with my bank and all sorts of extra nonsense. All a bit ridiculous.

Ridiculous that different countries use different metrics in determining credit scores ? Each country is different . You elected to move to a different country

 

[robkin]

Ridiculous that different countries use different metrics in determining credit scores ? Each country is different . You elected to move to a different country

No, ridiculous that American Express offers a program called global transfer where they use your old country’s credit card account to support opening a credit card in your new country — but if you open up a bank account first then they can’t do what they are promising. I applied for the credit card three days after opening the bank account. If I had done things in the reverse order (credit card first, then bank account) then I wouldn’t have had to supply any additional information given that I already have an Amex account for the last 20 years.

 

[MidoRafa]

No, ridiculous that American Express offers a program called global transfer where they use your old country’s credit card account to support opening a credit card in your new country — but if you open up a bank account first then they can’t do what they are promising. I applied for the credit card three days after opening the bank account. If I had done things in the reverse order (credit card first, then bank account) then I wouldn’t have had to supply any additional information given that I already have an Amex account for the last 20 years.

Yup. Can confirm (and relate) as something similar happened to me. Oh well.
If it's any consolation, Amex isn't as widely accepted in Canada as it is in the US, so you may be better off with one of the big banks' "Newcomers offers" for a Visa/Mastercard credit card.

 

[ctr]

I tried to do this but then because I had already opened up a bank account at VanCity, I all of a sudden had a credit history that was empty. Note that all I opened was a checking account so I could deposit my paycheck. They told me over the phone that they couldn’t use my US credit history now that I had a Canadian credit history. This meant I had to supply paystubs and they had to check with my bank and all sorts of extra nonsense. All a bit ridiculous.

I am looking at doing a global transfer to Canada too. I already have a credit profile in Canada. Were you approved after sending the paystubs? Did they actually call your bank to confirm paychecks were being deposited? What was the credit limit they gave you? How long did the whole process take?

 

[robkin]

I am looking at doing a global transfer to Canada too. I already have a credit profile in Canada. Were you approved after sending the paystubs? Did they actually call your bank to confirm paychecks were being deposited? What was the credit limit they gave you? How long did the whole process take?

Well they approved it, but they only gave me a $1000 CAD credit limit. Yes they did call my bank, since the bank actually called me to verify that they should be giving information about my bank account to a third party company. I think it took a month or so going since the application seemed to be going around in circles for awhile. They said global transfer doesn't apply if you have a Canadian credit history. But it's crazy since my US amex card has a $35k credit limit. But I guess I only need the canadian card for now to pay for the few web sites requiring a canadian billing address... my US cards still work for now and have 0% exchange rate.