topic Re: Amex isn't happy with me... in Credit Cards

Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 15:06:38 GMT

I received an email this morning my Amex everday card went from $2000 to $1300...

I dont understand why so maybe a few of you can help me.

The card was at 52% and I've been paying $100 every month to lower it down except for this last month I only paid $50.

Which is still above the minimum payment of $35.

I'm also still in the 0% interest period..

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 15:09:33 GMT

How old is the card and what's your monthly spend on it?

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 15:14:28 GMT

6 months old and I've only put one high charge on it that I've been paying down

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

HeavenOhio — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 15:15:25 GMT

How does utilization look on your other cards?

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 15:18:22 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I received an email this morning my Amex everday card went from $2000 to $1300...
I dont understand why so maybe a few of you can help me.

The card was at 52% and I've been paying $100 every month to lower it down except for this last month I only paid $50.
Which is still above the minimum payment of $35.
I'm also still in the 0% interest period..

First, unless you do something they will continue to balance chase you. The lower credit limit of $1300 is probably close to your balance so as you pay it down further they may very well lower it even more. You should have received an e-mail from them telling you about the lowered limit with a message to contact them if you wish to discuss their action. You should do so as they may agree to restore your original limit if you were to agree to make a larger payment to lower or erase your outstanding balance. Only they can really tell you why they took action, so please call them.

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 15:19:28 GMT

Maybe lack of use, then?

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 15:20:45 GMT

I'm sitting at rougly 42% utilization overall.

I will give them a call this afternoon and see what I can do. I will also update later on here as well.

Thanks everyone

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

HeavenOhio — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 15:34:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Maybe lack of use, then?

Revolving the balance and making payments count as use. It's possible that additional use could have exacerbated the problem.

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:00:11 GMT

@HeavenOhio wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Maybe lack of use, then?
Revolving the balance and making payments count as use. It's possible that additional use could have exacerbated the problem.

I should have been more clear. I was only trying to say that perhaps AmEx was hoping to see more than just the 1 charge over six months. I certainly wasn't advocating for further spend!

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:12:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@HeavenOhio wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Maybe lack of use, then?
Revolving the balance and making payments count as use. It's possible that additional use could have exacerbated the problem.
I should have been more clear. I was only trying to say that perhaps AmEx was hoping to see more than just the 1 charge over six months. I certainly wasn't advocating for further spend!

Amex is a charge card company first and foremost. They like to extend large limits but they don’t like having people use them for revolving balances, especially when there are revolving balances with other lenders. They will limit their exposure whenever they see risk and no reward.

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

AverageJoesCredit — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:19:20 GMT

I understand why this happens but man using your card and making payments on time should not make you concerned about whether you will be balanced chased. On a 2k card , making $100 payments is reasonsble and unless all other cards shot up in balance, the sky is not falling. Amex has their reasons but i dont see problem using or revolving a balance on a 0% apr deal. Just mho

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:26:23 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
I understand why this happens but man using your card and making payments on time should not make you concerned about whether you will be balanced chased. On a 2k card , making $100 payments is reasonsble and unless all other cards shot up in balance, the sky is not falling. Amex has their reasons but i dont see problem using or revolving a balance on a 0% apr deal. Just mho

I don’t see a big deal with it either. Unfortunately Amex is well known for this behavior. They entice you with a 0% for 15 months offer and then CLD you when you have a balance so you’re effectively maxed out on the card and hold your CL hostage until you make substantial payments.

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

FinStar — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:48:38 GMT

Some may not see this as a big thing but, AmEx has likely seen some risk with the OP's present debt. Admittedly, the OP mentioned further upthread that overall utilization was ~42%. So, with regard to the overall TCL ($36.5K), I could see why AmEx took action.

It's algorithm-driven, not a hostage situation. Especially if these balances have been carried for a while and the OP's sudden drop in their established payments with AmEx $100 to $50.

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 17:18:34 GMT

Being at 40% on only $2K does seem a bit harsh for CLD. I mean how many people have much higher CL and carry a balance.

It's posible your file may indicate that Amex is not compfy with the low payments even though they're higher than the minimums.

My BCE sat idle for 6 months while I paid on a $1300 balance, taking advantage of the 0% promo. So it isn't that alone.

Then again I did do much balance carrying on others, and nowhere near the 40% mark. I've alwasy been conscious of staying below the 29%.

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

FinStar — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 17:36:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Being at 40% on only $2K does seem a bit harsh for CLD. I mean how many people have much higher CL and carry a balance.
It's posible your file may indicate that Amex is not compfy with the low payments even though they're higher than the minimums.

My BCE sat idle for 6 months while I paid on a $1300 balance, taking advantage of the 0% promo. So it isn't that alone.
Then again I did do much balance carrying on others, and nowhere near the 40% mark. I've alwasy been conscious of staying below the 29%.

IIRC, the OP's initial post indicated that their ED was at 52% *prior* to the CLD and further elaborated a few posts later that overall CCs utilization was 42%. So, the AA appears to be AmEx simply mitigating risk which is nothing new.

@Anonymous wrote:
I received an email this morning my Amex everday card went from $2000 to $1300...

I dont understand why so maybe a few of you can help me.

The card was at 52% and I've been paying $100 every month to lower it down except for this last month I only paid $50.

Which is still above the minimum payment of $35

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 17:41:30 GMT

Yeah and now as a result of that CLD, OP is at 80% on that card which can have a domino effect on their other accounts.

I agree that this is nothing unusual for Amex but it still seems like an over the top reaction for ~$1040 that’s still being paid.

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

FinStar — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 17:49:36 GMT

Perhaps the OP wasn't aware or did not realize that having such high overall utilization on the other tradelines combined was going to have such impacts. Again, we are not familiar with the OP's financial situation nor how long this has been on the radar.

As has been mentioned further upthread, the OP can reach to AmEx to determine next steps in remedying the situation, if possible. It's in the OP's court.

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 18:58:36 GMT

I know you were mislead by the 0% APR offer offered to you (so Amex is in the wrong) but you need to "know your audience" or in this case "know your lenders" since they have all the power. There have been a few articles that came out over the last couple of years (the one I remember most being FORBES)--that perhaps you can do a quick search to find--but it essentailly interviewed AMEX, Citi, Chase and Discover on who their target audiences were.

AMEX and Chase both were quoted saying their target demographic are transactors who use their cards for everything and pay in full at the end of the month. Discover and Citi were quoted saying their target demographic are people who carry balances. Hearing this from the horses mouth, I have followed that ever since and have never had any problems.

Nonetheless, I don't think strangers on a message board can give you the reason why you are being balanced chased since we don't have the full picture of your credit profile; and hence don't have all of the context. As someone else recommended, you should call AMEX directly. Also, don't forget that a lender can balance chase you based off of your behavior of other lenders' cards. So if you have high utilization on non-AMEX cards and then you go from consistently paying $100 to half that amount happens, a logical lender would think you are in trouble, hence why you couldn't afford to pay the $50.

Good luck!

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 19:08:41 GMT

I would love to see that article. I apparently dislike the two issuers that are best suited to my pay in full mentality!

Re: Amex isn't happy with me...

UncleB — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 19:14:18 GMT

Something that's not been mentioned yet (unless I've overlooked it, which is possible) is @Anonymous's EX credit score.

If it's recently taken a dip or was marginal to begin with that could be a factor as well.

Edited to add: As others have already mentioned all we can do here is speculate. Give Amex a call and they should be able to clarify the situation.