topic Re: Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move? in Credit Cards

Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move?

sosabe77 — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 02:44:01 GMT

I opened an Amazon Business American Express but no longer intend to use it. I've found a card with a better version of the perks I was looking for.

If I canceled my card this early, would I be in jeopardy of receiving some sort of adverse action from Amex? I've heard they don't take kindly to this sort of thing.

Re: Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move?

RicHowe — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 02:46:25 GMT

Two words: Bad and Move.

Re: Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move?

UpperNwGuy — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 02:52:32 GMT

Once you open a card, you should keep it open for a year before closing it.

Re: Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move?

Loquat — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 03:02:08 GMT

@RicHowe wrote:
Two words: Bad and Move.

+1 I echo @RicHowe . I would hang on to it...especially since there isn't an annual fee.

Re: Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move?

wasCB14 — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 03:24:26 GMT

Did you earn any sort of bonus for spending a certain amount on the card?

Re: Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move?

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 03:28:19 GMT

It's not *that* big of a deal, unless you earned and received a sign up bonus then cancelled it...then it just looks like you pump-n-dumped them. If that is the case, it was definitely a bad move and I would expect some sort of AA

Re: Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move?

UncleB — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 03:33:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It's not *that* big of a deal, unless you earned and received a sign up bonus then cancelled it...then it just looks like you pump-n-dumped them. If that is the case, it was definitely a bad move and I would expect some sort of AA

Actually we don't know for sure; the algorithm might not care. I closed a Green card that had no bonus just before the AF was due (just shy of 12 months) and some have suggested that contributed to my getting the infamous 'pop-up' last summer.

Bonus or no bonus, I would suggest waiting until one is past 12 months before closing a card.

Re: Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move?

sosabe77 — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 03:39:45 GMT

Thanks for all of the replies.

As far as bonuses go, I didn't receive the typical initial spending bonus through Amex...but I did receive a credit added to my gift card balance on Amazon, along with 5% cashback on Amazon due to my Prime membership (which I won't be renewing).

It looks like I could be at risk of Amex flagging me in some way. It's not a big deal to just sock drawer the card for a year (no AF). I just didn't wanna keep around an inactive business card.

Re: Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move?

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 11:07:07 GMT

As long as just letting it sit costs you nothing, I see no harm in letting it sit there. Closing it definitely isn’t worth risking AA in the future.

Re: Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move?

PointsBonus — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 15:24:05 GMT

I highly recommend and echo what everyone else has said. KEEP IT. Also if you are a Prime member its actually a good card to have.

Re: Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move?

pinkandgrey — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 16:27:17 GMT

I did this once. Amex didn’t take any AA and have even given me CLIs on my remaining card since. However, on various other cards, I’ve been told that I may not be eligible for the SUB. I haven’t tried apping for anything else with Amex, so I don’t know if that’s still the case or not.

Re: Closing Amex Card After 2 Months. Bad Move?

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 16:43:47 GMT

Yeah definitely don’t do this. I was approved for a BCE last year and immediately canceled it because they gave me a $1K limit. Now I get the pop up for no SUB for a card I canceled within 30 minutes of being approved for, all of my prequals disappeared, and I was denied the card in January with a higher score than when I was approved in March of last year.

Amex definitely doesn’t like people who close accounts early.