topic Re: Will using the 0% period with Amex spook them? in Credit Cards

Will using the 0% period with Amex spook them?

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 13:03:05 GMT

I've racked up 6k on my AmEx EDP so far in two months. I've also spent 3k (last two months) on my Platinum which I just PIF within days of the statement cutting. But I've paid the minimum on the EDP. All of these are purchases and no balance transfers.
I have more than enough in the bank to pay down immediately if need be but I wanna use the 0% period.

My available income is $70k on the application but in reality this year it could be closer to $90k but I won't know til I do my taxes since I'm self employed.

Will this be a problem, if they need an FR there isn't a problem. Although my tax return for last year is lower last year since I had a ton of foreign income before I moved to the USA.

Re: Will using the 0% period with Amex spook them?

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 13:19:30 GMT

I see a lot of people leaving balances on Amex, esp with 0 APR. your fine.

Re: Will using the 0% period with Amex spook them?

takeshi74 — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 13:24:54 GMT

Not in and of itself but keep the usual risk factors in mind such as revolving utilization. People repeat the "AmEx hates balances" meme but that's a gross oversimplication. If they didn't want anyone using 0% offers they wouldn't make the offers. I received my CLI's while carrying balances on my AmEx cards during the 0% offer period. I just made sure that they never exceeded 30% and, IIRC, they were much lower than that.

It's not just usage of the card that has an impact but everything in your credit profile.

Re: Will using the 0% period with Amex spook them?

Mattopotamus — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 13:35:47 GMT

^ This. If they "hated" balances they would only offer charge cards and definitly would not offer 0% 15 month

Re: Will using the 0% period with Amex spook them?

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 13:40:32 GMT

There shouldn't be any issues carrying a balance and taking advantage of the 0% APR, but I would suggest paying more than the minimum if you can.

Re: Will using the 0% period with Amex spook them?

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:30:33 GMT

I'd bet a million dollars I don't have that Amex cares significantly less about carrying a balance than they do about just paying the minimum.

Re: Will using the 0% period with Amex spook them?

kdm31091 — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:54:13 GMT

Everyone needs to stop stressing about amex.

They dont offer 0 percent just for fun. Its so you can utilize it.

They wont be "spooked" unless you rack up a huge balance and pay minimums. Thats the problem. Its not about carrying a balance. Its about being risky and minimum payments are considered risky. Everyday balance carrying and reasonable payments are absolutely fine.

Re: Will using the 0% period with Amex spook them?

MTSN — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 16:11:24 GMT

I agree with the others that the zero percent is there so you can use it. You definitely need to pay more than the minimums however, and the way I do it is take whatever the balance is and divide it by however many months are left in the zero percent period and make that your minimum. I recently ran up a pretty huge balance on my Amex during the zero percent period for renovations since it was the cheapest money available, and even though I was using a high percentage of the total credit line, they awarded me and CLI on another Amex I also have during that same period. I assume they saw I was paying about 5x the minimum and saw my patterns of always paying things off outside a 0% interest period and deemed it safe behavior. So don't worry about a balance as long as you're still paying significantly on it.

Re: Will using the 0% period with Amex spook them?

Anonymous — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 22:35:09 GMT

I have about $1500 on a $2500 0% BCE, and not worried about them taking action. I'm paying about 4x the minimum.

I'd rather keep the money in savings earning interest. If Amex decides to reduce my CL, then I'm reasonably sure I could just call them, negotiate a deal to pay the balance down/off completely and have them reinstate the CL.