topic Re: NPSL Amex Cards in Credit Cards

NPSL Amex Cards

CostantinoA — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 06:28:53 GMT

Hello Everyone:

I was wondering if someone had an educated guess what the "CL" is on this card. I know it can vary. Is there a way to estimate what the range could be. I do not want to go to make a purcahse and it declines. I just recieved the card in the mail today. I charged $500.00 on it and paid it off with in a hour of charging it. I have other Amex Cards as well but not too high limits as they are new as well.

Thank you,

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 06:25:54 GMT

Call and ask.

@CostantinoA wrote:
Hello Everyone:

I was wondering if someone had an educated guess what the "CL" is on this card. I know it can vary. Is there a way to estimate what the range could be. I do not want to go to make a purcahse and it declines. I just recieved the card in the mail today. I charged $500.00 on it and paid it off with in a hour of charging it. I have other Amex Cards as well but not too high limits!

Thank you,

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

Discover2016 — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 06:26:40 GMT

@CostantinoA wrote:
Hello Everyone:

I was wondering if someone had an educated guess what the "CL" is on this card. I know it can vary. Is there a way to estimate what the range could be. I do not want to go to make a purcahse and it declines. I just recieved the card in the mail today. I charged $500.00 on it and paid it off with in a hour of charging it. I have other Amex Cards as well but not too high limits!

Thank you,

It's really hard to estimate, the Amex charge cards internal limits are based on payment history, income and credit history. With good usage and perfect payment history the limit does go up over time.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

CostantinoA — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 06:27:39 GMT

I don't think there is a set limit considering it is a No Pre Set Limit Card.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

Discover2016 — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 06:31:36 GMT

@CostantinoA wrote:
I don't think there is a set limit considering it is a No Pre Set Limit Card.

Oh there is a limit, and Amex will adjust it according to changes in your credit report. For example, if your overall utilization rises to high levels, Amex will reduce the internal limit on the card or even place a hard limit on the card.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

UncleB — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 07:12:15 GMT

@Discover2016 wrote:
@CostantinoA wrote:
I don't think there is a set limit considering it is a No Pre Set Limit Card.
Oh there is a limit, and Amex will adjust it according to changes in your credit report. For example, if your overall utilization rises to high levels, Amex will reduce the internal limit on the card or even place a hard limit on the card.

Before I make a large purchase, I tend to go online and use their tool to check my 'spending power'... it will tell you if at that moment that dollar amount would be approved.

I've done this with my Amex revolvers as well, since the tool also makes the Amex computer aware to be expecting a purchase of that dollar amount. A member on here who is an Amex CSR mentioned this once in a thread, and I've done this several times on my revolvers instead of calling, and so far it's worked like a charm. (Of course, it might not have been required to begin with, either... in any case, I was covered).

Note that the tool is to see if a single purchase will be approved... in other words, if you check on a $5k purchase and the tool says you're good, that does not mean that five $1k purchases would be approved as well. Note also that it can be used to see if purchases above your credit limit on revolving cards would be approved (many times they will be).

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 07:24:18 GMT

I know it doesn't mean unlimited spending but it would be nice if Amex gave each customer a ball park they can spend around.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

UncleB — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 07:28:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I know it doesn't mean unlimited spending but it would be nice if Amex gave each customer a ball park they can spend around.

FWIW, with my current NPSL card and the one I had back in the '90s, I found that I was/am able to charge much more than I could ever pay back in a month, so my chance of being denied for the amount being too high is very remote.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 07:36:45 GMT

There is also the flip side of the single purchase approved limit.

I was rejected for a multi-thousand charge. I tried it again over the next couple days broken up to a few $1000 charges. Over the next 3 days I've charged up more than the single multi-thousand charge was going to be.

So they can reject you for higher than your internal limit as well as for single large purchase amounts.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

NRB525 — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 13:00:26 GMT

@CostantinoA wrote:
I don't think there is a set limit considering it is a No Pre Set Limit Card.

You are correct, that is what "No Pre Set Spending Limit" means.

It is a Dynamic Spending Limit. Meaning that the "spending limit" will be reduced and deny a charge when they decide you've charged enough. This can change from moment to moment, depending on your recent charging activity.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

NRB525 — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 13:05:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I know it doesn't mean unlimited spending but it would be nice if Amex gave each customer a ball park they can spend around.

The two biggest factors are whether you are paying your charge card bill every month, and your recent spending patterns, the amount you typically charge on the card each month. That builds your ballpark that you can consistently charge at, since it is an indicaion of what you are able to pay each month. Want a larger charge ability? Use the AMEX charge card more consistently (to the exclusion of other credit cards) and PIF every month. Your ability to charge on the charge card will rise with that charge / payment pattern.

Of course, it goes without saying that you must have the cash flow to pay for all this, but that is why big spenders like the charge card; they tend to have the big cash flow, or corporate cash flow, to support the spend rate.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

takeshi74 — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:52:41 GMT

@CostantinoA wrote:
NPSL Amex Cards

Don't conflate NPSL and charge card. There are NPSL credit cards as well and AmEx issues those too.

@CostantinoA wrote:
I was wondering if someone had an educated guess what the "CL" is on this card. I know it can vary. Is there a way to estimate what the range could be.

Call and ask. Or try the Check Spending Power tool. Just be very careful with the latter.

We can't tell you where AmEx is drawing the line with you. We're not AmEx. We don't have access to their specific criteria. We don't have access to your credit profile either. A guess would be just completely random from us. I can try to guess from looking at what little there is to work with in your signature...

38 Credit Cards $36,350 CL (2% UT), 2 Charge Card NPL, 2 Auto Loans, 1 Student Loan (Deferred), 5 Installment Loans 17 VISA/MC, 4 Amex, 2 Discover, 17 Store, Chapter 7 BK (Discharged 2-2008) EQ FICO 8 547 Positive 23, Negatives 6, Inquires 40, AAoA 1Y1M EX FICO 8 631 Positive 60, Negatives 18, Inquires 90, AAoA 3Y7M TU FICO 8 634 Positive 57, Negatives 9, Inquires 77, AAoA 1Y0M Rebuilding Since 03-2015, Gardening Since 8-2016

$36K across 38 cards is an average limit of ~$950 which is pretty low. That indicates concerns with your credit profile to me. The BK would explain part of that. You don't list out details regarding your other negatives but they certainly play a role as well and your FICO 8's also reflect that. If you've been "gardening since 8/2016" then you probably have some new accounts. How many? Creditors consider all this stuff. Best I can guess is that you're going to have low limits with AmEx (you already know this) but how low with your charge card isn't something I can't tell you. The charge card may allow for a bit more than your revolvers with AmEx.

@CostantinoA wrote:
I have other Amex Cards as well but not too high limits as they are new as well.

It is not the age of the card that determines limit. My newest AmEx card, for example, started with a $25K limit.

Your credit profile and your income are the primary factors that determine these things with any creditor. Your purchase history also plays a part with your AmEx charge card but with only a $500 purchase you don't have much of that. If your AmEx card limits are low that's probably not a good sign but, again, you'd have to contact then to verify. Don't be afraid to call and ask.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

CostantinoA — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 03:19:16 GMT

@takeshi74 wrote:
@CostantinoA wrote:
NPSL Amex Cards
Don't conflate NPSL and charge card. There are NPSL credit cards as well and AmEx issues those too.

@CostantinoA wrote:
I was wondering if someone had an educated guess what the "CL" is on this card. I know it can vary. Is there a way to estimate what the range could be.
Call and ask. Or try the Check Spending Power tool. Just be very careful with the latter.

We can't tell you where AmEx is drawing the line with you. We're not AmEx. We don't have access to their specific criteria. We don't have access to your credit profile either. A guess would be just completely random from us. I can try to guess from looking at what little there is to work with in your signature...
38 Credit Cards $36,350 CL (2% UT), 2 Charge Card NPL, 2 Auto Loans, 1 Student Loan (Deferred), 5 Installment Loans 17 VISA/MC, 4 Amex, 2 Discover, 17 Store, Chapter 7 BK (Discharged 2-2008) EQ FICO 8 547 Positive 23, Negatives 6, Inquires 40, AAoA 1Y1M EX FICO 8 631 Positive 60, Negatives 18, Inquires 90, AAoA 3Y7M TU FICO 8 634 Positive 57, Negatives 9, Inquires 77, AAoA 1Y0M Rebuilding Since 03-2015, Gardening Since 8-2016
$36K across 38 cards is an average limit of ~$950 which is pretty low. That indicates concerns with your credit profile to me. The BK would explain part of that. You don't list out details regarding your other negatives but they certainly play a role as well and your FICO 8's also reflect that. If you've been "gardening since 8/2016" then you probably have some new accounts. How many? Creditors consider all this stuff. Best I can guess is that you're going to have low limits with AmEx (you already know this) but how low with your charge card isn't something I can't tell you. The charge card may allow for a bit more than your revolvers with AmEx.

@CostantinoA wrote:
I have other Amex Cards as well but not too high limits as they are new as well.
It is not the age of the card that determines limit. My newest AmEx card, for example, started with a $25K limit.

Your credit profile and your income are the primary factors that determine these things with any creditor. Your purchase history also plays a part with your AmEx charge card but with only a $500 purchase you don't have much of that. If your AmEx card limits are low that's probably not a good sign but, again, you'd have to contact then to verify. Don't be afraid to call and ask.

Thank you for the reply. The 500 purchase was in the first day of having the card. I charged 500 and PIF right away. I have a bunch of low limit store cards. I am going to close those out. It is making my average low. My lowest limit is Bloomingdales $100 and my highest is Walmart at $3500.00 Everything else is in the middle. I have some prime cards though. I have 2 Amex, Discover, Citi and Wells Fargo cards. My biggest thing is the medical bills on my reports. All of them are 1 year plus years old and some are 5-6 years old. I also have a bunch of inquires from 3 auto loans. At the end of this year, most of my inquires will have dropped off or older than 1 year.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 04:00:26 GMT

I would just like to add to everything else that has been said regarding this. I assume your spending and PIF pattern across other Amex accounts also factors in to the NPSL.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 14:34:34 GMT

As a data point, at the time I opened the account for my PRG, I reported income of $30,000 (I have more available to me than this) and my only other cards were a Discover IT - $2000 limit at the time, as well as an AMEX ED - $4000 (both of those limits may have been less, can't recall).

Yet, AMEX has allowed me to reach very high outstanding balances - at one point, my balance was $11,000, Each time I approached around $10,000+ I would get an email notifying me that my charging may be suspended. Nevertheless, I have always PIF - and I find I am approved for $3000+ transactions.

I'd agree that the "Check Spending Power" Tool is very useful indeed, and if ever in doubt, use it to see if a transaction will go through.

It definitely, however, has to do with your spending history/patterns. My first purchase with the PRG was a new laptop that I had planned on acquiring - it was around $1000 and allowed me to reach the spend for the 50,000 MR pts, at the same time, I frequently make rather large transactions, and always make payments in the thousands (sometimes $800 here and there).

Concerning my ED, I once made a purchase online thinking that I was using my PRG but instead used the Everyday - AMEX allowed the charge to go through despite the fact that it placed me $2000 over limit. Not sure if that sort of thing is common with other cards, but if you have a good relationship with AMEX, they can be very accomodating. Of course - I had the charge refunded and then used the PRG as I had initially intended, but I was still surprised the charge went through.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

Creditaddict — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 15:02:37 GMT

Amex charge cards run "heavily" not exclusively on your average 6 month spend... and like the last poster if you give them your cell for text and email, they are pretty good (or the computer is pretty good) about spitting out an email that says CALL US ABOUT YOUR SPENDING but you don't need to call, you just need to log in and make a payment!

The bonus with Amex is if you make a payment, it might take Amex 2-3+ days to get that money, but the second you click payment, they will FULLY open an account back up like it's a zeo balance!

If you just got the card and you want to be able to use it heavily... USE it heavily in the beginning because they have not fully established an average for you yet so they may actually let you spend higher in the beginning to see where the two of you are comfortable with an internal limit... if you don't use it much in the beginning you will soon find that you actually probably have a lower internal limit then you started with!

We have run into this trouble a lot lately with our business plum... Our first month we put over $9k on it and 2nd month was over $7k but now fast forward a year and we can't get over $5500 without being cut off because our "6-month average" is now only $3600!

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

GroundPounder — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 17:49:23 GMT

I just activated my platinum card and was curious about the spending tool, so I tried $15,600.00 and it said it would approve.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

Creditaddict — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 17:54:27 GMT

When we activated our platinum $50k was approved... Fast forward 2 months and use of only$230 last month and test charge for $2500 was declined yesterday!!!

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 18:20:24 GMT

@Creditaddict wrote:
When we activated our platinum $50k was approved... Fast forward 2 months and use of only$230 last month and test charge for $2500 was declined yesterday!!!

Wow

I just got my Platinum card a couple of months ago. 1st month spent $600; last month $750. This month tuition is due, so I intend to spend $2700 for my last two classes as I will graduate in December. Good to have that information. I went on Amex's check spend power and it approved the transaction, so I'm okay, but its good to know this.

Re: NPSL Amex Cards

KSK1912 — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 19:18:36 GMT

Also one thing to remember is when you have a charge card and a revolving card with Amex, the balance on your revolving card(s) also effects what you can charge on your NPSL card(s). If my prg or green card balance goes high, then they will stop charging abilities on my revolving cards also, even if i have available limit on them. This may not be an issue for those who have high limits on their revolvers, and carry low balance, but in my case my 2 revolvers have only $1K limit each so it does become an issue sometimes. So i guess it is safe to say that Amex looks at your overall balance with them, across all cards, when determining to approve or decline a charge on an NPSL card.