Not upheld: alleged misleading advice regarding credit limit reallocation on credit card product switch complaint against American Express Services Europe Limited (AESEL)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A complained that AESEL provided misleading advice when he switched from an American Express Vitality Cashback Card (£21,000 limit) to a British Airways Avios card. Mr A expected his credit limit to be reallocated to the new card, but it was approved with only a £2,000 limit, leaving him with fragmented credit across two accounts. AESEL's agent had advised that credit limit reduction to £3,000 was necessary for application approval and that reallocation could not be guaranteed. The ombudsman reviewed call recordings and found no evidence of misrepresentation or broken promises, concluding that the agent provided clear and correct advice with appropriate warnings about the lack of guarantee regarding credit limit reallocation.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman reviewed all call recordings and found that the AESEL agent did not promise that Mr A's credit limit would be reallocated. In January 2025, the agent advised that reallocation could be considered after one month if the application was successful. In July 2025, when Mr A repeated his request to transfer his existing credit limit, the agent explicitly stated he could not guarantee this and explained that the new card's credit limit would only be decided after application approval. The agent provided clear warnings that there was no guarantee of credit limit reallocation.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website