Context
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined American Express Services Europe Limited (Amex) £90,000 for sending more than four million marketing e-mails to customers who did not want to receive them.
Key points to note
The ICO began investigating when it received complaints from Amex customers who were getting marketing e-mails despite having opted out from them. Amex had rejected its customers’ complaints saying the emails were servicing emails and not marketing.
- During the investigation the ICO found that Amex had sent over 50 million ‘servicing’ e-mails to its customers.
- The ICO revealed that for nearly 12 months, between 1 June 2018 and 21 May 2019, over 4 million of those e-mails were marketing e-mails, designed to encourage customers to make purchases on their cards which would benefit Amex financially.
- The ICO said that this is a clear example of a company getting it wrong and now facing the reputational consequences of that error.
- The ICO’s view was that the e-mails in question all clearly contained marketing material, as they sought to persuade and encourage customers to use their card to make purchases.
- Amex’s arguments, which included that customers would be disadvantaged if they weren’t aware of campaigns, and that the e-mails were a requirement of its Credit Agreements with customers, were groundless in the ICO’s opinion.
- ICO guidance clearly defines the difference between marketing and services emails. Service messages contain routine information such as changes to terms and conditions and payment plans or notice of service interruptions. Direct marketing is defined as any communication of advertising or marketing material directed at particular individuals.
Next actions
None – for information only.