@ArisGreek wrote:
Rockin'! Thanks, Fused.
I should have been more clear. Your Zync card is not factoring in FICO revolving util calculations with EQ and EX. TU might be a diffrent story, tho. The TU score at this site is an older version, TU 98, and it DOES factor Amex cards in FICO revolving util calculations. The newer score version, TU 04, doesn't not factor Amex cards in FICO revolving util calculations. So, depending on which TU version a lender uses, Amex charge cards might factor in TU FICO revolving util calculations
@fused wrote:On EX reports, all Amex charge cards should report the folowing:
Account type: Credit Card - Revolving Terms
Terms: 1 month
Do you see this?
Glad you mentioned the "Terms: 1 month" part, because I always forget this.
Here's how my closed Gold card looks on EX. The "Terms: 1 Month" ("months??") is right under Type:
@ArisGreek wrote:I've tried paying it the day before and 2 days before statement is scheduled to cut and it still seem to reports a balance even though no payment is due...It seems so weird :-/ I really can't figure it out. Maybe I should just call and ask.
Well, the other odd thing that American Express does (although they're starting to change on some cards) is that they report the balance on your statement, but they don't send it in until four weeks later; in other words, 2-3 days before the next statement hits. In effect, this makes the balance displayed on your reports almost a month behind. It will look something like this (all dates invented for example's sake):
10/15 statement: $50 balance due
... <--time passes
(reports keep showing 9/15 balance, whatever that was)
11/12-ish: reports update to show $50 balance
11/15 statement: $100 balance due
...
(reports keep showing 10/15's $50 balance)
12/13-ish: reports update to show $100
12/15 statement: $0 due
...
(reports keep showing 11/15's $100 balance)
1/12-ish: reports update to show $0
1/15 statement: $500 due
...
(reports keep showing 12/15's $0 balance)
2/12-ish: reports update to show $500
2/15 statement: $0 due
(but your reports will continue to show $500 due for another four weeks or so)
This made me so crazy that American Express became the first card that I always paid before the statement date. 
@jnydc wrote:Is that a bad thing...will that look bad to future creditors that it appears you don't use your card?
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
@jnydc wrote:
When they are showing your "high balance" is that the highest reported to the credit agencies after the statement cuts..or the highest you have ever let your balance get even if you PIF before the statement cuts?
American Express reports the highest ever statement balance. Every other CC I've seen reports the highest balance as of any time during your billing cycle, even if you paid it off and it wound up reporting $0.
So my old AmEx Gold shows a highest balance of $64, even though it got way higher than that at times.
Eh, who knows???
Even if they notice it, there's a good chance that they're aware of this. It doesn't seem to have hurt me anywhere, with my whopping highest balance of $64. All my approvals since then have been for nice, big CL's, mostly because I like CU's!
What with so many instant approvals (and denials) these days, I doubt that very many lenders look at that.
If you ever find yourself seated across from a banker, sweating bullets as s/he examines your reports, you can mention AE's odd little quirk in this department. 