Original article: AMEX | You Can Now Choose Expedited Shipping for Self-Service Replacement Cards Online (USPS or Next Day)

Note: the expedited shipping option for replacement cards may have quietly rolled out 2-3 months ago, but since nobody seems to be talking about it, I figured I’d write a quick post.

Background

Recently, a family member needed to transfer points from their primary card. To transfer MR points, you need to link the account first. Linking an airline or hotel account requires verifying the CVV from the front/back of the card, but the card had already been lost, so the only option was to replace it.

Replacing the Card

AMEX makes replacement cards pretty easy to handle, and the process is almost entirely self-service. In most cases, unless you need the card mailed outside the U.S. (for example, to China), you do not need to call.

  • Path: Account Service -> Card Management -> Replace a Card.

You can replace either primary cards or authorized user cards. You can choose a replacement that keeps the same card number, or choose a new card number instead (for example, if the card was lost or compromised). Either way, the front/back CVV will change after replacement.

After that, you’ll notice that you can now choose expedited shipping.

The options are USPS standard mail and next-day delivery.

To verify whether this had been rolled out broadly, I checked both a no-annual-fee card and an authorized user card I hold under someone else’s account, and both had the expedited shipping option. In the past, the system decided on its own whether you qualified for next-day delivery. If you were a VIP heavy spender, customer service would often automatically give you next-day shipping. Otherwise, you had to call or use chat and ask a representative to select next-day shipping for you. Being able to choose it yourself during the replacement process is a very nice improvement.

Viewing the Card Number After Replacement

Based on experience, after requesting a replacement card, you usually need to wait until the card has shipped before you can use View Instant Number. For more on this, see my earlier post on US Credit Card 101 (this article was also specifically cited by TPG and DOC):

Soon after the replacement request goes through, you may notice a new View Card Number option in your account. The card information shown under View Card Number includes the same card number, while the CVV is temporary and remains valid for a period of time, theoretically until you activate the physical card. In reality, though, AMEX physical cards can generally be used without activation anyway, even though you should still “pretend” to activate them. So that cutoff does not really work that way in practice; the temporary card information actually expires only when its own time limit runs out.

  • Path: Account Service -> Card Management -> View Card Number.

In my experience, it becomes viewable once the card has shipped, but this varies by person. Some people need to wait 2-3 days, and some cannot view it until they physically receive the card.

One important caveat: temporary card information cannot be used to add the card to a mobile wallet or to link airline/hotel accounts for point transfers. Those actions require the physical card’s information.

Other Notes

AMEX also has another type of replacement: a forced replacement initiated unilaterally by AMEX. And when that happens, they often replace the whole “family” of cards together. I ran into this recently after disputing a $399 charge and uploading a lot of evidence through one of their “tool links.” For details, see:

AMEX apparently thought my card number was at risk and automatically changed the card numbers for the entire “household.” On the homepage banner, it first showed the dispute situation, totaling $132,000, and then it replaced the card number on the primary card plus all authorized user cards under the account. I was pretty shocked. That customer service trigger finger must have been really shaky.

Unfortunately, that $132,000 never posted in the end. Talk about a shaky hand.