Timing for Amex AutoPay to report $0 balance?

[Anonymous]

Setting up AutoPay with Amex is a little different than some of my other creditors in that they don't let you select a calendar date, but rather the number of days after closing that the payment will be made.  My goal is to always have my Amex card report a $0 balance.  Near as I can figure, setting up AutoPay for 23 days after closing seems to be the best way to achieve this.  Anyone have experience with this? 

My closing date is on the 19th.  My payment due date is the 14th.  By setting AutoPay for 23 days after closing my payment (total current balance) will be made 2-3 days before the payment due date, so the 11th or 12th depending on if it's a 31 day month or not.  That gives the payment 2-3 days to process/post.

Is my thought process here correct, or am I missing something?

[HeavenOhio]

Are you sure that your closing date is always the same? Mine fluctuates by about two days. My statement has closed on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of the month.

[Anonymous]

I think that mine may have gone +/- 1 day as well, depending I believe on the day of the week it falls on.  I would think that using the time table that I illustrated though would still accomplish the same thing.

One thing I do like with Amex is that with AutoPay they allow you to pay your complete current balance.  Most other creditors that I've tried to set it up with like Capital One, Citi, etc. only give you the option to pay your minimum payment, your last statement balance, or a set dollar amount.  None of these options allow someone to report a $0 balance on their account for sure.  Paying the statement balance is sort of pointless in my view.  Sure, it lets you avoid paying interest, but you have weeks that pass where additional charges may be running up your new balance.  Chances are with this method that you'll wind up reporting a balance and one that could be significant depending on how your spend pattern goes.  So far, Amex is the only one of my creditors that AutoPay seems to make sense with considering my goal is to have cards report a $0 balance.  I have not set it up with Chase yet, so I'm not sure what their options are; I'll look into them later today.