topic Re: Amex statement credits not applied to statement balance in Credit Cards

Amex statement credits not applied to statement balance

SouthJamaica — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 17:40:40 GMT

As you know, you have to pay interest if you don't pay the previous statement balance in full during the cycle.

I received two $25 statement credits on an Amex card, but noticed that, although my "total balance" was reduced by the $50, my "remaining statement balance" was not.

Thinking it was just some glitch, I contacted customer service for them to correct it. I was advised by the CSR that the statement balance won't reflect the credits until the next statement.

Then I asked what I thought was a ridiculous question -- "does that mean I have to pay an extra $50 above my total balance in order to avoid paying interest", and the answer, to my surprise, was yes.

So watch out for that trap.

Re: Amex statement credits not applied to statement balance

Remedios — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 17:53:04 GMT

Yeah, it's not a trap.

While it's not the best way to handle statement credits, it's addressed in T&C.

It's never been any other way with them.

Re: Amex statement credits not applied to statement balance

K-in-Boston — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 18:06:19 GMT

A credit is not necessarily the same as a payment and gets applied in the statement period in which it appears. It's a fairly common pitfall reported here about cash back redemptions as well, where even if your cash back statement credit is equal to or greater than the amount due, it still doesn't satisfy the minimum payment requirement as it's a credit being applied to the current (rather than previous) statement. But as Remedios stated, it's covered in the cardmember agreement (and in the case of cash back credits, also clearly stated when doing a redemption).