Not able to pay AMEX

[Jmc70]

Hey all,

My fiance and I have run into an akward situation where we are unable to pay our AMEX Zync account - her position was eliminated back in August and was without a job for almost two months, needless to say that our "emergency fund" diminished quite rapidly.  We have had the card for almost a year and have never had an issue PIF.  We usually spend anywhere from $2 - 4k per month on it and never paid late.  The current balance is about $4800.  What would our options be - trying to ask opinions before calling AMEX and having a rep note the account.

Does AMEX have a program in place for events such as ours? - without negative reporting?

The card is in my name - I have great credit, no collections, no baddies, and would hate to have any negative info on my reports.

Please advise.

[bostonte]

Unless you're eligible for one of the extended payment options (Pay Over Time, Flex Pay, Extended Payment Option, Sign and Travel, it has lots of names) and the system allows you to move the charges to that -- no.

They won't get real nasty till 60 or even 90 days. I think they don't even report it late until 90.

But taking the 90 days would be a serious negative mark on your internal history with Amex, even if it never made it to one of your credit reports.

If you have great credit and no baddies (and still have your employment), why not apply for a low balance transfer offer and move the balance off of Amex before it's late?

[Jmc70]

Sounds like a great idea, however, over the past year, I (my credit only) have purchase a brand new home, leased two vehicles, and opened 5 new credit accounts.  I applied for a Citi Platinum Select card two months ago to transfer the 0% offers that are about to expire and was declined due to "too many recent inquires" and "too many new accounts".

I called AMEX anyways and they offered me 6 months @ 0% with no negative reporting - is this legit?

[Anonymous]

If AMEX said that, then you're good.

[Anonymous]

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@Jmc70 wrote:

Sounds like a great idea, however, over the past year, I (my credit only) have purchase a brand new home, leased two vehicles, and opened 5 new credit accounts.  I applied for a Citi Platinum Select card two months ago to transfer the 0% offers that are about to expire and was declined due to "too many recent inquires" and "too many new accounts".

@I called AMEX anyways and they offered me 6 months @ 0% with no negative reporting - is this legit?

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Yes, if you got that directly from AMEX (try to get it in writing, of course) then you should be fine.  Keep in mind, however, that they will keep this on record and could potentially hold it against you in the future (CLs, new apps, etc) even if they don't report anything negative.

[Jmc70]

I figured that they would keep this on file.

[Anonymous]

Also, you might want to consider whether or not you will be able to PIF in the 6 month period.  If you know you won't be able to, or even if you're a little unsure, I think it would be better to try a balance transfer even if you can't get a 0%.  AMEX might continue to be nice after that 6 month period, but you never know.

[Jmc70]

Our problem is that we buy whatever we want - money has never been an issue.  We would be able to pay the entire balance in 2 months.  Just trying to catch up from the income shortage while she was without work.  

I think we have learned our lesson here....

[Anonymous]

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@Jmc70 wrote:

Our problem is that we buy whatever we want - money has never been an issue.  We would be able to pay the entire balance in 2 months.  Just trying to catch up from the income shortage while she was without work.  

I think we have learned our lesson here....

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Then it seems like a good offer to accept.  I'm happy to see AMEX is willing to work with you on this!

[tengtengvn]

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@Jmc70 wrote:

Our problem is that we buy whatever we want - money has never been an issue.  We would be able to pay the entire balance in 2 months.  Just trying to catch up from the income shortage while she was without work.  

I think we have learned our lesson here....

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No long term saving?

You may consider the U.S. Bank Visa Platinum Card / 0% APR on balance transfers for six months.

That's better than AMEX's offer because you never know if it's going to trigger a finance review from them.