Will carrying a balance reduce Amex CLI chances?

[unrlmth]

I recently applied for an Amex BCP and will be eligible for a CLI on it late September.

Will carrying a balance on their the BCP or another card affect my my CLI?  I have the cash to pay it off, but I want to take advantage of the 0% APR.

Will Amex care if it is not on their card?  Would they care if it was on their card as long as I am still making larger than min payments?  My overall utilization should still be pretty low, most likely less than 10%.

[bdhu2001]

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@unrlmth wrote:

I recently applied for an Amex BCP and will be eligible for a CLI on it late September.

Will carrying a balance on their the BCP or another card affect my my CLI?  I have the cash to pay it off, but I want to take advantage of the 0% APR.

Will Amex care if it is not on their card?  Would they care if it was on their card as long as I am still making larger than min payments?  My overall utilization should still be pretty low, most likely less than 10%.

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They count utilization by card and overall.  Utilization is a big part of your score, so it could matter. But you can never tell with the new model. BTW, AmEX does a soft pull so the information they use to determine whether or not to grant the CLI could be as much as 2 mos old.

[mongstradamus]

my overall Util was around 3% ,and i did have discover accidently reporting 29% and was still succesful in my cli, so ymmv 

[azguy13]

I have found that Amex treats me the best when I PIF each month. I was AA'd and my account was closed back in early 2010 due to carrying a balance and paying minimum payments for about 3 months after I moved across the country. That was my fault for paying the minimum while carrying a $7K balance though. I generally follow the rule of paying at least 3X the minimum payment, if I cannot PIF.

To get back to your original question though, in my experience, they treat me the best when I always PIF

[Irisa]

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@unrlmth wrote:

I recently applied for an Amex BCP and will be eligible for a CLI on it late September.

Will carrying a balance on their the BCP or another card affect my my CLI?  I have the cash to pay it off, but I want to take advantage of the 0% APR.

Will Amex care if it is not on their card?  Would they care if it was on their card as long as I am still making larger than min payments?  My overall utilization should still be pretty low, most likely less than 10%.

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I think you'll be fine as long as you pay more than the minimum and your utilization on other cards stays low. 

My question to you is, are you sure you're not eligible for a CLI until September?  If you recently applied your 61 days should be earlier than that. Sometime in August, maybe? 

[unrlmth]

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@Irisa wrote:

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@unrlmth wrote:

I recently applied for an Amex BCP and will be eligible for a CLI on it late September.

Will carrying a balance on their the BCP or another card affect my my CLI?  I have the cash to pay it off, but I want to take advantage of the 0% APR.

Will Amex care if it is not on their card?  Would they care if it was on their card as long as I am still making larger than min payments?  My overall utilization should still be pretty low, most likely less than 10%.

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I think you'll be fine as long as you pay more than the minimum and your utilization on other cards stays low. 

My question to you is, are you sure your CLI eligibility is in September?  If you recently applied your 61 days should be earlier than that. Sometime in August, maybe? 

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Yeah, since I had a CLI on my BCE a few moths ago I can't take advantage of the 61 day CLI.  And thanks for all of the tips.  I'm oing to PIF for all of my Amex cards at least until I try for the CLI.

[Gornet]

my balance was like 95% when i got my 3x cli! hope this helps!