SINGAPORE: American Express (Amex) has apologised for sending an erroneous message on Thursday informing members that their cards had been temporarily suspended.

Cardholders received an SMS in the morning that read: “As your total unsecured interest-bearing balance from all banks in Singapore exceeded 12 times your monthly income for three consecutive months, your card(s) has been temporarily suspended.”

Those who received the SMS were told to call 6880-1500 for more information, or to update their income.

A Google search indicated that the provided number was listed on an online portal set up by Amex to aid cardholders affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The number was not listed on its contact page. 

Apologising for the inconvenience, an Amex spokesman said the message had been sent out in error but did not specify the number of people who had received it.

“Rest assured this is not a scam nor a phishing attempt, and we are urgently looking into this issue.”

 - ann