Payment Pattern AMEX Likes Best?

[shark268]

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@DaveSignal wrote:

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@axledobe wrote:

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@DaveSignal wrote:

No one knows for sure.  But there have been a few reports of FR based on payment practices.  As long as you are living within your means, using the card as intended, and making payments on-time, you shouldn't be overly concerned.  But, if you are truely worried about FR or calling attention to yourself due to abnormal card use, then the best action, for peace of mind, should be to pay your card the same way that the majority of the world pays their credit cards, monthly.

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Dave- this makes me panic a bit but it is what it is for me at this point. If possible, can you elaborate on what you mean by payment practices?  Are you speaking of frequency, amount of payments or other?  Thank you, sir. 

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You should be fine, but think of it from the lender's point of view:  cardholder gets first amex.  cardholder puts more than the issued limit through the card in 1st month.  cardholder makes frequent multiple payments to extend spending abilites.  cardholder orders additional cards for authorized users.

They are probably thinking, "whoa, look at this account.  this could be risky, lets look into it a bit further," which is why they have pulled your CR 3 times since being issued the card.  They want to see what is going on with your other accounts.

Other members, even just in this thread, have reported multiple payments without issue.  And your account might continue without issue as well.  But you are definately calling attention to yourself.

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Nothing about that seems risky at all. It's a tiny limit and they WANT you to use it as much as possible and PIF. You are showing you are one of the more resposible, conscious users of the card by monitoring it carefully and using it. That limit is tiny compared to what most people run through their cards, the spending, payments and AU are all things they love. I got my first 2k BCE in november, probably payed it 5 times a month atleast since with my mom using it as AU. Since then I was approved for ED card at 4.5k and within the week bumped to 6k on my BCE card. 

[Chris679]

If you are using the card that much they are making a lot of money off of you. If you are paying these charges off right away then there is not much risk on their part. There is no logical reason for Amex to be upset over making lots of money with little risk. Don't let people scare you with stories of FR that were probably due to factors other than making too many payments. Think about that for a minute, too many payments?

[amakol]

Apparently we're supposed to take it easy on spending in the first months of a new Amex? LOL I charged a $2K flight as my first purchase the day after getting it and didn't stop from there.

When I had my PRG, I always let a statement report and then PIF a few days before the "please pay by date." I had heard that letting statements report added to a strong credit history by showing usage. Whether this is true or not, I'm not sure, but it seems to have worked well - never FR'ed, approved for a BCE and 3x CLI, and it's easy to just be told an amount to pay by a certain date.

[DaveSignal]

shark268 wrote:

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Nothing about that seems risky at all.

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It's risky because there is a high chance for fraud. 

[Pat94108]

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@Chris679 wrote:
If you are using the card that much they are making a lot of money off of you. If you are paying these charges off right away then there is not much risk on their part. There is no logical reason for Amex to be upset over making lots of money with little risk. Don't let people scare you with stories of FR that were probably due to factors other than making too many payments. Think about that for a minute, too many payments?

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Agree. People on this board are overdramatizing Amex FR. 

[shark268]

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@DaveSignal wrote:

@shark268 wrote:

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Nothing about that seems risky at all.

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It's risky because there is a high chance for fraud. 

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That left me chuckling quite a bit. High chance of fraud would be the exact opposite of what the OP is doing btw. 

OP - Carry on using your card however you want. You're thinking way to hard about this. 

[DaveSignal]

It seems there are two sides to this:  

people who don't think that any amex FR is something to worry about ever, as long as you aren't doing anything illegal or unethical.

people who have read about or experienced amex FR and think it might be beneficial to take some small basic precaution.

I guess either viewpoint could be valid since no one here actually works for the fraud department at Amex.

[shark268]

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@DaveSignal wrote:

It seems there are two sides to this:  

people who don't think that any amex FR is something to worry about ever, as long as you aren't doing anything illegal or unethical.

people who have read about or experienced amex FR and think it might be beneficial to take some small basic precaution.

I guess either viewpoint could be valid since no one here actually works for the fraud department at Amex.

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Sure, no one knows for sure anything. But we do know that, in general, credit card companies love to be payed and love to have their cards used as much as possible. Amex is a very smart company, they know when something is actually fishy, versus just a great customer. 

[Chris679]

Obviously more transactions equal more risk for fraud but I think if they were worried about that maybe they wouldn't have introduced a new card that specifically encourages and rewards lots if transactions. They also would not take the time to remind you that AU transactions count towards your 20 if they didn't want you to have AU on your account. The CSR did just that when I called to make sure a large transaction was going to clear this weekend. People need to stop walking on eggshells around Amex and use your card however you want, responsibly of course.

[shark268]

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@Chris679 wrote:
Obviously more transactions equal more risk for fraud - Not from the cardholders end though, just higher possibility of the card being stolen on the venders end, if fraud was going to be committed from the cardholder end it would be one large transaction and no payments but I think if they were worried about that maybe they wouldn't have introduced a new card that specifically encourages and rewards lots if transactions. They also would not take the time to remind you that AU transactions count towards your 20 if they didn't want you to have AU on your account. The CSR did just that when I called to make sure a large transaction was going to clear this weekend. People need to stop walking on eggshells around Amex and use your card however you want, responsibly of course.

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