Centurion Card
| Categories | Luxury magazine |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Seasonal |
| Publisher | American Express |
| Year founded | 2004 |
The American Express Centurion Card, known informally as the Amex Black Card, is an invitation-only charge card issued by American Express to platinum card holders after they meet certain criteria. Cardholders are among the wealthiest individuals. There are three different issues of the Centurion Card: personal, business, and corporate.
In 1999, American Express introduced the Centurion Card to cater to the very wealthy. The card was initially available only to selected users of the company's Platinum Card. To become a Centurion cardholder, one must meet American Express eligibility criteria. Cardholders are required to pay an annual fee, and in some countries also an initiation fee. (In the United States, the initiation fee is $7,500 in addition to the $2,500 annual fee from each cardholder). In addition to a variety of exclusive benefits, the card itself is made of anodized titanium with the information and numbers laser etched into the metal. (It should be noted that in some markets the plastic version of the card is still issued, with or without the titanium card.) The plastic card and 2014 and earlier Centurion cards include embossed information on the card. The Centurion 2015 Card introduced laser etching. In some locations, such as Israel, EMV "chip" plastic cards which also include the ExpressPay contactless payment technology are issued. American Express created the card line amid rumors and urban legends in the 1980s that it produced an ultra-exclusive black card for elite users who could purchase anything with it.
On March 27, 2017, American Express Centurion Bank filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco against Mike Rothenberg, the CEO of Rothenberg Ventures. The complaint alleges a past due balance of $345,136.52 on his Centurion Card and a separate past due balance of $38.00 on a Platinum Card.
The Centurion Card is invitation-only after appropriate net worth, credit, and spending criteria are met. American Express does not publicly disclose the requirements necessary for getting or keeping a card, except that the cardholder needs to have a substantial net worth, as well as having been a Platinum card holder.
While the eligibility criteria are subject to speculation, most reliable sources agree that Centurion Card holders have historically spent US$250,000 or more per year on lower-level American Express cards, and have annual household incomes of around US$1.3 million and net worths of at least US$16 million.
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