topic Amex pay over time question in Credit Cards

Amex pay over time question

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 16:03:45 GMT

When I got my AMEX PRG I must have selected pay over time by mistake when I applied for the card last week. Now I got a letter that says my limit is 35k on pay over time. Does this show up as a limit for my PRG? Do I have another account on my credit report for this? Is it too late to cancel this if it does? I just applied and got a AMEX Blue Cash everday and only got a 1k limit on the card. Could this be because of the pay as you go limit? I really don't want pay as you go of 35k. And certainly don't want an account on my credit report for it.

Re: Amex pay over time question

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 16:15:20 GMT

No damage has been done.

It will not report as another account, and will not appear at all unless you do charge $35K on your card.

The PRG account you have will report as normal, whether you choose to enroll in the "pay as you go" option or not. That is to say, as a charge card, without a limit reported.

The "pay as you go" program is set up to allow people to spend big once in a while, and to manage that expense (and allow Amex to charge you interest and give you higher minimum payments as a result). It isn't a harmful thing, and really has no effect at all unless you decide to use it and let the balance report for several months.

Your BCE approval seems normal for midline people, that is, people with limited Amex experience and/or who are not at the top end of the scoring field but still good enough to qualify. Amex is also sensitive to your reported income and assets, perhaps a little more than some other creditors, and so whatever you reported there must have fallen into that "$1000 opener" slot.

Re: Amex pay over time question

driftless — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 16:15:22 GMT

It won't show on your credit report unless you elect to use the pay over time. You don't have to use the pay over time. 35K is a pretty standard limit.

Re: Amex pay over time question

601flyguy — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 17:10:47 GMT

Mine shows 35k as well. It doesnt say that anywhere on my credit report though. Doesnt show a credit limit at all.

Re: Amex pay over time question

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 17:15:47 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
No damage has been done.
It will not report as another account, and will not appear at all unless you do charge $35K on your card.
The PRG account you have will report as normal, whether you choose to enroll in the "pay as you go" option or not. That is to say, as a charge card, without a limit reported.
The "pay as you go" program is set up to allow people to spend big once in a while, and to manage that expense (and allow Amex to charge you interest and give you higher minimum payments as a result). It isn't a harmful thing, and really has no effect at all unless you decide to use it and let the balance report for several months.

Your BCE approval seems normal for midline people, that is, people with limited Amex experience and/or who are not at the top end of the scoring field but still good enough to qualify. Amex is also sensitive to your reported income and assets, perhaps a little more than some other creditors, and so whatever you reported there must have fallen into that "$1000 opener" slot.

I reported 180k of income and 400k in assets.Which are both truthful. I also have had a corporate card with them for 8 years that I have always paid on time. Thanks for the information. I guess I was overreacting. I don't want to waste credit limits on something I will never use.

Re: Amex pay over time question

AverageJoesCredit — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 18:40:19 GMT

PIFT or get off the POT

Re: Amex pay over time question

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 09:34:01 GMT

I just applied and got a AMEX Blue Cash everday and only got a 1k limit on the card. Could this be because of the pay as you go limit?

My first BCE limit was $2k. I since then bumped to $3k 6 months later (I definitely low-balled that one), and ~6 months after that got an auto-bump to $6k, which I then manually bumped to $15k and got approved. So $2k -> $15k within a year.

I wouldn't worry about low initial balances. With my recent Platinum + PoT approval and personal loan to bump my non-revolving balance, I've gone from an Amex newbie to over $55k in credit in a little over a year.