topic Re: AMEX - due dates sliding... in Credit Cards

AMEX - due dates sliding...

RickNATL — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 04:58:45 GMT

Curious...

Has anyone else noticed Amex (don't recall other cards doing this, yet) due dates sliding? I have some move to earlier due dates by as much as 3 days with no warning. Just found the third one, with my Delta AMEX, moved from 27 to 24. I usually pay on 24th...missed the 8PM MST payment window by 1 hour, got a late fee. (it will automatically reverse he says).

If not Amex, any other card vendors?

Re: AMEX - due dates sliding...

dogmeat — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 08:11:54 GMT

I have never experienced this or heard of it.

When you called in to get the late charge reversed, did you mention the mysterious due date change? What did 'he' say?

Re: AMEX - due dates sliding...

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 08:37:45 GMT

@K-in-Boston can explain it better, but your due date is 25 days from statement close date. That day will change depending on how many days are in a month.

Re: AMEX - due dates sliding...

NRB525 — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 09:22:22 GMT

I wouldn't consider that as the due date sliding, it's the due date accelerated. Semantics.

Most all of my cards are on autopay, and with the 5 AMEX cards I have, I have noted their preference to have the payment due date be as quick as about 15 days after statement date. You can select other dates further out for the autopay timing, but then it gets questionable how long should I wait to pay something I will pay anyhow.

For those accounts not on autopay, I set up the payment from the CCC side, based on their calendar telling me when that payment is due, or on a pattern of Day Of The Month which is well within the typical due date ( verifing the stmt due date is after that ) . Said differently, waiting until one thinks the payment might be due to try to pay three days prior to that invites problems.

Re: AMEX - due dates sliding...

UpperNwGuy — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 10:02:41 GMT

I now pay all my credit cards no later than 10 days after the statement cuts. Yes, that's two weeks before the due date, and I realize that I'm not maximizing the float. I spent too many years in financial trouble due to irresponsible credit card use to ever again want to pay credit cards at the last possible moment.

Re: AMEX - due dates sliding...

CreditInspired — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 10:22:49 GMT

@RickNATL wrote:
Curious...

Has anyone else noticed Amex (don't recall other cards doing this, yet) due dates sliding? I have some move to earlier due dates by as much as 3 days with no warning. Just found the third one, with my Delta AMEX, moved from 27 to 24. I usually pay on 24th...missed the 8PM MST payment window by 1 hour, got a late fee. (it will automatically reverse he says).

If not Amex, any other card vendors?

I know you didnt ask this question but I implore you to not wait until the due date to make your payment. It's Murphy's Law--if it can go wrong, it will! A thousand-and-one things could happen. Your computer could freeze up, you can't reach a CSR, your cell phone dies, an emergency pops up. It's not worth the headache nor the stress.

If nothing else, make your payment at least 1 day in advance, preferably 2! And TBH, there's no way in hell (under any circumstances) where I'd wait until the minute before cutoff time--no matter the timezone--to make a payment.

Please let this be a lesson-learned. When your statement comes out, check the due date at that time.

Re: AMEX - due dates sliding...

K-in-Boston — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 11:27:37 GMT

I would double-check your statements to ensure that your due dates actually changed. I have never seen nor heard of Amex changing due dates (except by customer request), particularly as of 2009 as it is a violation of The CARD Act.

SEC. 106. RULES REGARDING PERIODIC STATEMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 127 of the Truth in Lending Act
(15 U.S.C. 1637) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(o) DUE DATES FOR CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The payment due date for a credit card
account under an open end consumer credit plan shall be the same day each month.

Amex due dates are always on the same day of the month. Statement closing dates can and will change depending on the length of the month and whether the statement closing falls on a Saturday, but will always be at least 25 days prior to the due date. Setting your due date to the 27th or 28th, will always ensure that your statement closes on the 2nd or 3rd (one day earlier if the 2nd (if 27th chosen) or 3rd (if 28th chosen) is on a Saturday).

Re: AMEX - due dates sliding...

staticvoidmain — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 12:00:06 GMT

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
@K-in-Boston can explain it better, but your due date is 25 days from statement close date. That day will change depending on how many days are in a month.

Due dates are supposed to be constant. It's the statement dates that changes. For Amex,

Statement date = Due Date — 25 days

If the result above is a Saturday, the formula is: Statement date = Due Date — 26 days

Re: AMEX - due dates sliding...

tacpoly — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 12:01:32 GMT

@RickNATL wrote:
Curious...

Has anyone else noticed Amex (don't recall other cards doing this, yet) due dates sliding? I have some move to earlier due dates by as much as 3 days with no warning. Just found the third one, with my Delta AMEX, moved from 27 to 24. I usually pay on 24th...missed the 8PM MST payment window by 1 hour, got a late fee. (it will automatically reverse he says).

If not Amex, any other card vendors?

Have you looked at previous statements (you can download pdf versions online or from the app) to confirm that your due date did indeed change? Based on the responses above, Amex can't willy-nilly change due dates, but they may have sent a notice that you missed reading (I admit to not clicking on new changes to the account link emails).

Since it has come up, it appears OP's normal pattern is to pay 3 days before the "usual" due date. Except the actual due date changed - thus the subject of his inquiry here.

Re: AMEX - due dates sliding...

Sharingan — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 14:01:43 GMT

I’ve never experienced changing due dates either on any of my revolving American Express cards. All of them have had their same due dates for years, even the business cards which aren’t bound by the same requirements. I believe my Zync card was the only one to have its due date changed when AmEx replaced the flexible “Please Pay By” date with a firm due date for the charge cards several years ago, but even it has had the same due date since.

The only cards I have with varying due dates are from other banks, such as my GS Apple card and Barclays Aviator Business card, for different reasons.

Re: AMEX - due dates sliding...

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 14:29:00 GMT

@staticvoidmain wrote:
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
@K-in-Boston can explain it better, but your due date is 25 days from statement close date. That day will change depending on how many days are in a month.
Due dates are supposed to be constant. It's the statement dates that changes. For Amex,

Statement date = Due Date — 25 days
If the result above is a Saturday, the formula is: Statement date = Due Date — 26 days

Yeah, that was my bad, u was half asleep. That's why I tagged k.