topic Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance in Credit Cards

high report(ing) AMEX current balance

elixerin — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 01:31:58 GMT

okay friends, im a lil worried here. ive been using my new AMEX cm revolver heavily passed couple weeks (cardholder as of Nov 8/splashing 5% to 10k reward).

on my 4k limit ive run 8k already and made a 4k payment earlier this week, but now im almost at 100% uti and am now aware i cant pay any more till statement closes which means 100% reported balance... but i wanted to pay it down to 20-30% before statement closes, what can i do? it wont lower my score cause amex shows after 2nd statement but now it’s in their system that i used all 4k and am about to “let it” report 100% uti, which i’ve never done on any cc..

ignoring intro apr, i wanted to look like a good candidate for 3x cli come 61D and my only other current reporting cc disco card will report $10-15 balance out of only 2k till amex 2nd statement comes (just to avoid $0 fico penalty)

i tried calling, tried “bill pay” but bank doesn’t have it, what do i do? if a 100% uti report goes out what should my 60D report be? $0, 1-2%? already feel like im gonna look like a crappy burrower come 61D no matter what i do

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 01:35:00 GMT

You can make a payment over the phone through a rep.

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

elixerin — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 01:36:38 GMT

i tried this but they say we are unable to process any payment beyond your initial until after first statement closes, WHY?

thanks for reply

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

K-in-Boston — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 01:41:39 GMT

Amex will have no issue internally with your balance; it shows that you're making use of the credit line and will suggest to them that you need more. It is exceptionally rare for American Express cards to report before the 2nd statement closes. Since we're 99% sure that it won't report to the credit bureaus, I wouldn't be too worried about it. If your bank does not allow you to push payments, you could always mail a check. How long until the statement closes? Once you get past the first statement closing, you should be able to pay as many times as you'd like.

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

AverageJoesCredit — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 01:43:34 GMT

Amex usually likes 1 payment your first month. I dont know how you will look crappy if you are really using your limit. Scores are temporary anyway. If it cuts at 100%, you just pay it off once you are able to make payments . No big deal. Imo. Just remember trying to spend too fast too heavy out of the gate with a new Amex might raise some eyebrows so just make sure to pay on time and establish you can early

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

Revelate — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 02:02:13 GMT

Don't sweat it. Let that balance post and then cut the payment is what I'd do.

End of the day I'm still of the opinion that *using* one's cards is the best thing you can do for future approvals... and a high balance shows literally everyone that you not only used it, you used it responsibly (assuming some future balance is much less and no lates / default).

Might not matter, we've been living in the credit sunshine for nearly 7 years now and trended data will come eventually probably everywhere... but there's cracks in the credit markets which seem to be showing now and I think it's best to accrue any small advantage one can. Bank's like profitable customers, show them you at least might be and that's exactly what a non-trivial high-balance can do.

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

elixerin — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 01:47:10 GMT

thanks K, closing Dec 6. you think mailing check would make it in time? or just a waste of time you think, hope they dont get jittered internally, yes i talked to rep they said right after 2nd statement close that balance will report (for me jan 6) 61d jan 8

glad to hear it’s only a 1 statement issue, even with multiple banks? i hope

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

elixerin — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 01:54:19 GMT

thanks everyone for re-assurance, score won’t be affected just worried about amex internal “risk algorithm” and come CLI day how it look

a day before cli request balance will show up on reports which will be low $0 or 1-2% from the 100% (facepalm)

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

K-in-Boston — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 02:02:18 GMT

If you got it in the mail tomorrow, it's certainly possible that it could be received and processed by next Friday, but that is cutting it close. Let me put it this way, if Amex had real concerns with you, they would never have allowed you to cycle through your entire credit line twice in the first month, allowing you to get up to 100% utilization twice already.

The one payment thing is just a fraud mitigation thing for them. Their reasoning is that since you're a new customer, they need to allow time to make sure that the account you're paying from is legit and that they're not going to be hit with reversals. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I think the multiple payment thing happens with any additional bank accounts added for pull payments.

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

Anonymous — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 02:05:17 GMT

Seriously, what sort of bank are you using that wouldn't allow you to push a payment via ACH to Amex?

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

Anonymous — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 02:32:32 GMT

When you get through this, and show you can max out a card and pay it down to 0 quickly, and you do it a few times over time, you'll be smelling like a rose to them and likely will give you a CLI even before then.

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

NRB525 — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 02:57:44 GMT

@elixerin wrote:
thanks everyone for re-assurance, score won’t be affected just worried about amex internal “risk algorithm” and come CLI day how it look

a day before cli request balance will show up on reports which will be low $0 or 1-2% from the 100% (facepalm)

Keep in mind all CLI decisions in AMEX are based on the latest SP. The balance on the date of your CLI is unlikely to affect a SP score, but AMEX does of course have their internal scores.

I agree with all the suggestions to NOT be concerned about nearly maxing the limit, and it is quite likely your 3x will be just fine.

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

elixerin — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 05:25:42 GMT

i only attempted twice once on an offshore panamanian account(200% no-go), and Suntrust which disabled my bill pay feature after previously being enrolled?(they suck xD)

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

elixerin — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 05:33:49 GMT

@NRB so are you recommending i wait a little past 61 days to make sure that that statement balance gets "shown" to them? AMEX only SP through the EXP score that's currently visible in their systems right?

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

HeavenOhio — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 06:16:09 GMT

The restrictions are actually due to your new payment account rather than being a new cardholder. If you were to add another card in the future, these restrictions wouldn't occur. However, if you add a new payment account, they'll kick in again for a 30-day period (on the new bank account, not previous ones).

Because AMEX isn't likely to report this month, don't worry about the statement balance. AMEX doesn't care about statement balances as long as they're being paid in full and on time.

Pay down your balance once they're ready to accept money from you. During the second statement period, you should be able to make as many payments as you'd like up to your statement balance, plus one more payment beyond that. Once your payment account has been connected to your card for 30 days, the restrictions will be lifted.

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

elixerin — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 06:52:44 GMT

thanks for the reply but i tried the payment method they took 4k from so idk. only tried adding other banks after seeing “No payment due at this time”

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

Mv350 — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 07:37:56 GMT

I just became an Amex member earlier this month also. I made a payment to bring my balance to zero about a week and a half after I received the card. Then when I used it some more, it wouldn't let me make another payment right away. Then earlier this week, bam, it opened up again and I am able to make another payment.

I am pretty sure it's to prevent fraud. Due to it being the first month of use, they want to make sure that the bank account is on the up and up before pulling payments from a bad account and getting burnt.

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

Anonymous — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 10:08:41 GMT

@elixerin wrote:
i only attempted twice once on an offshore panamanian account(200% no-go), and Suntrust which disabled my bill pay feature after previously being enrolled?(they suck xD)

@elixerin So you've spent twice your credit limit in just the first month then attempted to pay via an offshore account? I sure hope you know what you're doing because this may not end well. One of the first things a lender would think is that your behavior is possible money laundering. I don't intend to cast aspersions but I'm reasonably familiar with how banks view certain activities.

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

NRB525 — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 12:26:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@elixerin wrote:
i only attempted twice once on an offshore panamanian account(200% no-go), and Suntrust which disabled my bill pay feature after previously being enrolled?(they suck xD)
@elixerin So you've spent twice your credit limit in just the first month then attempted to pay via an offshore account? I sure hope you know what you're doing because this may not end well. One of the first things a lender would think is that your behavior is possible money laundering. I don't intend to cast aspersions but I'm reasonably familiar with how banks view certain activities.

Having a Panamá-based USD account that can be used to pay bills does not lead to the presumption of money laundering. It has been clarified that the "first AMEX, first month" has limits on number of payments allowed. Once OP gets past that time period, if the Panama-based account has a routing number, I don't see a reason it couldn't be used for autopay of a US-based AMEX card.

Re: high report(ing) AMEX current balance

Anonymous — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 15:42:41 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@elixerin wrote:
i only attempted twice once on an offshore panamanian account(200% no-go), and Suntrust which disabled my bill pay feature after previously being enrolled?(they suck xD)
@elixerin So you've spent twice your credit limit in just the first month then attempted to pay via an offshore account? I sure hope you know what you're doing because this may not end well. One of the first things a lender would think is that your behavior is possible money laundering. I don't intend to cast aspersions but I'm reasonably familiar with how banks view certain activities.
Having a Panamá-based USD account that can be used to pay bills does not lead to the presumption of money laundering. It has been clarified that the "first AMEX, first month" has limits on number of payments allowed. Once OP gets past that time period, if the Panama-based account has a routing number, I don't see a reason it couldn't be used for autopay of a US-based AMEX card.

@NRB525 You're missing important context to my comment. I'm not referring to the one payment from a new bank account limitation imposed by Amex; that happens to everyone. I'm referring to the fact that the OP is 19 years old, barely has one year of credit history, was approved for an Amex Cash Magnet with a $4,000 credit limit on 11/8/19 and has already cycled that limit twice within the first month of approval, then attempted to pay with an offshore bank account. I can assure you, based on my experience in financial institutions, that the described behavior checks several boxes and will draw scrutiny to the account.