topic Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017 in Credit Cards

Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

UncleB — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 04:08:48 GMT

I got a letter a few weeks ago from American Express with an update on some of the fine-print on my PRG, and honestly I didn't think too much of it. However my latest billing statement served as a reminder to go back and check things out, and I found something that might be notable to some people.

Historically, American Express charge cards (Green, Gold/PRG, Platinum, etc.) have had a "Please pay by" date rather than a due date. It's been common knowledge that you could safely ignore this 'suggestion' and as long as they got the payment before the new statement closed you would be fine.

Apparently that's changing January 2017.

The language from the letter states (among other things)...

Effective January 1, 2017 you must pay at least the Minimum Payment Due no later than the Payment Due Date to avoid a late payment fee. We are also removing from this section the sentence that reads "Each Statement also shows a Next Closing Date".

This is the "reminder" on my bill:

I'm actually OK with this as long as they will let us change the due date, since my current "Please Pay By" date is about a week before payday. In the past this wasn't a problem since there was some 'flexibility', but if the new "Payment Due Date" is the same this could restrict how and when I use my PRG.

I'm posting this here so that if anybody missed the notice they won't get hosed up in January if their payment date changes.

(Note that part of the letter was decicated to explaining a change to the MR program; apparently effective January 1, 2017 it will be possible to have a negative MR point balance in the event of a return or a clawback that is greater than your MR point balance. I always assumed this was the case before... apparently it wasn't, though.)

Edited to add: Disclaimer - I'm writing assuming that these changes aren't unique to me but are global, but there's always the chance they are rolling this out more slowly. There's also the slight chance I am singled out, but I don't think that is the case. If you're in doubt and this change would impact you, you might consider reaching out to an Amex CSR directly for clarification.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

Meanmchine — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 04:29:20 GMT

I finally got back into the Amex family on 11/3 when I was approved for the Green card. I received the card on 11/9, made my first purchase 11/16 and my first statement cut on 11/18. Talk about a fast turnaround. The Please Pay By date was 12/3. I called CS and asked them to please change my due date to the 7th of the month as like UncleB, this would coincide better with my paycheck also. I remember the rep was telling me it wasnt "due date" but for some reason, this was not registering with me. Anyways, the rep changed the payment date foor me.

I never would have noticed this without this post

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

UncleB — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 04:49:01 GMT

@Meanmchine wrote:
I finally got back into the Amex family on 11/3 when I was approved for the Green card. I received the card on 11/9, made my first purchase 11/16 and my first statement cut on 11/18. Talk about a fast turnaround. The Please Pay By date was 12/3. I called CS and asked them to please change my due date to the 7th of the month as like UncleB, this would coincide better with my paycheck also. I remember the rep was telling me it wasnt "due date" but for some reason, this was not registering with me. Anyways, the rep changed the payment date foor me.

I never would have noticed this without this post

My PRG has a "Please Pay By" date of the 30th, which doesn't work for me at all. Ideally I would have the date to be the middle of the month like it is for my BCP and Delta Gold; hopefully when January comes around I'll be able to get them to change it, assuming they don't change it anyway.

With my luck if I had them to change it now it would be changed to something equally inconvenient in January when it changes from a 'suggestion' to being 'mandatory', so I'm going to let the dust settle and see where it lands (or if it changes at all), then reach out to them. I'm very happy to hear they are able to change the 'Please Pay By' date... that's a good sign that they'll be equally able/willing to change the 'Payment Due Date' once it's assigned!

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 04:50:12 GMT

Thanks for the info Uncle B. Several months back I called Amex to see if I could change my payment date and was told about the flexibility of paying after the "pay by" date which is the 1st of the month for me and statement cut date of the 17th. The 1st has never worked for me, but since I share a bank account with BF I've been able to use that account to run the payment through, then do an external transfer the next week to replace the funds. Hope I'm able to change my due date as I hate having to do this.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

UncleB — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 04:53:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the info Uncle B. Several months back I called Amex to see if I could change my payment date and was told about the flexibility of paying after the "pay by" date which is the 1st of the month for me and statement cut date of the 17th. The 1st has never worked for me, but since I share a bank account with BF I've been able to use that account to run the payment through, then do an external transfer the next week to replace the funds. Hope I'm able to change my due date as I hate having to do this.

I'm in almost the exact same situation.

I'm hoping that once they change from a 'Please" date to a "Due" date that they will automatically push it out a little bit... it makes sense, anyway. If not I'll be reaching out to a CSR to see if they can 'fix' it for me.

In a way it will be better, since it always felt 'weird' paying after the "Please" date, even though I knew it was really OK.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 05:08:26 GMT

I'm still confused. So instead of the "please pay by" which you could skip as long as you paid before the next statement closing. They are now making an actual firm payment due date? Just like those on a regular credit card.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

UncleB — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 05:33:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm still confused. So instead of the "please pay by" which you could skip as long as you paid before the next statement closing. They are now making an actual firm payment due date? Just like those on a regular credit card.

In summary that's exactly what my letter states. It even acknowledges that previously you could make the payment by the next closing date, but that's changing in January 2017.

They are also changing the late fee from 2.99% to a flat-amount like their revolving cards. It will be $27 for the first time you're late, then $38 if you're late again within six months.

This will be an adjustment, but as long as we're aware of it it can be easily worked around. I got a letter several weeks ago detailing the changes (which I put to the side) but then there was a reminder on my last bill, which prompted me to go back and read more carefully.

Assuming I'm not being singled out (?) and that they aren't doing a gradual roll-out, nobody will be able to say that they weren't warned (by Amex, I mean... since they are putting notices on the billing statement as well).

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 05:20:48 GMT

I agree that their policy has seemed contradictory to making sure payment is made by due date. My Platinum and BCP are my go to cards and the majority of my spend goes through those two cards and I don't want to do anything that negatively impacts my relationship with Amex. Happy Thanksgiving Uncle B.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

UncleB — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 05:27:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I agree that their policy has seemed contradictory to making sure payment is made by due date. My Platinum and BCP are my go to cards and the majority of my spend goes through those two cards and I don't want to do anything that negatively impacts my relationship with Amex. Happy Thanksgiving Uncle B.

Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!

Something I haven't considered is if they make the statement closing date the new "Due Date"... that would actually keep the status-quo, but just clarify the language so that it would be clear when the payment is "really" due.

That scenario would be ideal, but until we know more it's just speculation. (Pooka, are you around??)

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 08:05:43 GMT

Thanks for the info. I didn't know it says that on the statement or there is a difference to the "Please Pay By" and "Payment Due Date". I never really paid any attention to them since I'm on paperless statements and pay multiple times a month so it'll be zero balance by closing date.

I did, however, went back to all of my statement on my 6 AMEX accounts.

1. All credit cards (Hilton HHonors Surpass, SPG Preferred, AMEX Delta Platinum and AMEX Delta Reserve) have Payment Due Date on them.

2. Business Platinum Card - Payment Due Date already went into effect with November statement.

3. Personal Platinum Card - will most likely take effect with January due date.

Thanks for the heads up. I may have to look closer to see if I can change my due dates on them.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 16:59:37 GMT

That's too bad I was kind of abusing them on prg. Pseudo grace period was working great for me. As a charge card I was just blindly giving them payment every two weeks and it always worked out.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

SouthJamaica — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 17:07:15 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
I got a letter a few weeks ago from American Express with an update on some of the fine-print on my PRG, and honestly I didn't think too much of it. However my latest billing statement served as a reminder to go back and check things out, and I found something that might be notable to some people.

Historically, American Express charge cards (Green, Gold/PRG, Platinum, etc.) have had a "Please pay by" date rather than a due date. It's been common knowledge that you could safely ignore this 'suggestion' and as long as they got the payment before the new statement closed you would be fine.

Apparently that's changing January 2017.

The language from the letter states (among other things)...
Effective January 1, 2017 you must pay at least the Minimum Payment Due no later than the Payment Due Date to avoid a late payment fee. We are also removing from this section the sentence that reads "Each Statement also shows a Next Closing Date".
This is the "reminder" on my bill:

I'm actually OK with this as long as they will let us change the due date, since my current "Please Pay By" date is about a week before payday. In the past this wasn't a problem since there was some 'flexibility', but if the new "Payment Due Date" is the same this could restrict how and when I use my PRG.

I'm posting this here so that if anybody missed the notice they won't get hosed up in January if their payment date changes.

(Note that part of the letter was decicated to explaining a change to the MR program; apparently effective January 1, 2017 it will be possible to have a negative MR point balance in the event of a return or a clawback that is greater than your MR point balance. I always assumed this was the case before... apparently it wasn't, though.)

Edited to add: Disclaimer - I'm writing assuming that these changes aren't unique to me but are global, but there's always the chance they are rolling this out more slowly. There's also the slight chance I am singled out, but I don't think that is the case. If you're in doubt and this change would impact you, you might consider reaching out to an Amex CSR directly for clarification.

Thanks for the info, Uncle B... I usually don't read that stuff, so I'm glad you pointed it out.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 18:25:18 GMT

We can change your due date once this goes into force to align with your preferences

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

Discover2016 — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 19:08:04 GMT

I also noticed that advisory on my last statement, maybe they are doing this because of the confusion that the please pay by date caused.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

UncleB — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 19:26:49 GMT

@Discover2016 wrote:
I also noticed that advisory on my last statement, maybe they are doing this because of the confusion that the please pay by date caused.

That's my thinking as well... and looking at it from that angle it's really not a negative. Personally, as long as I'm aware of the change I can work with it in any case.

Also, thanks for sharing that you noticed it on your last statement as well... I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one!

Sometimes it's nice to be 'special'... this isn't one of those times... LOL.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

UncleB — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 19:29:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
We can change your due date once this goes into force to align with your preferences

This ^^^ is music to my ears... in this case, there's no problem at all.

Thanks as always, Pooka... coming to the rescue once again!

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

driftless — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 14:40:46 GMT

My PRG statement cuts on ~ 25th and I have had a please pay by date of the 11th. I just paid my balance the other day and today I see that the please pay by date has been replaced by a due date. I used the chat module to talk to CSR asking that due date be changed to the 17th from the 11th. The CSR informed me that the please pay by date is still in effect through the end of the year and that she would change it effective in January.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

UncleB — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 14:53:05 GMT

@driftless wrote:
My PRG statement cuts on ~ 25th and I have had a please pay by date of the 11th. I just paid my balance the other day and today I see that the please pay by date has been replaced by a due date. I used the chat module to talk to CSR asking that due date be changed to the 17th from the 11th. The CSR informed me that the please pay by date is still in effect through the end of the year and that she would change it effective in January.

This is good to hear and goes along with what Pooka said above. Once we're into January I plan to reach out to them to have my own date changed as well.

With a "real" due date that is workable I'm actually quite OK with the change.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

NRB525 — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 18:57:12 GMT

Thanks for the info, although the January time period should see a change to the expected payment date.

Having a hard Payment Due date the same as what is Please Pay By right now, would not work. I'm guessing it pushes out to align with credit card cycle timing, just before the statement close date.

Re: Amex Charge Cards - Firm 'Due Date' Starting January 2017

UncleB — Sun, 27 Nov 2016 03:15:43 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
Thanks for the info, although the January time period should see a change to the expected payment date.
Having a hard Payment Due date the same as what is Please Pay By right now, would not work. I'm guessing it pushes out to align with credit card cycle timing, just before the statement close date.

I suspect this will be what happens as well (it makes perfect sense), but I'm pleased to hear that they'll be able to adjust it in any case. It will be nice to have my Amex cards with the same due date "officially" for the first time.