topic Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits in Credit Cards

Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

theNavigator — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 21:41:18 GMT

American Express also just had my limit cut by 13k, down to just about where my balance is at, unreal. I am paying my small balance off and never doing business with them again. I advise people to be careful and steer clear of them they really aren't that special to be pulling this tbh.. Never had a company ever do this to me and I don't appreciate it.

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

Horseshoez — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 21:45:34 GMT

I don't suppose you recently used their tool which allows you to check your spending power?

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

SoCalGardener — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 21:47:05 GMT

@theNavigator wrote:
American Express also just had my limit cut by 13k, down to just about where my balance is at, unreal. I am paying my small balance off and never doing business with them again.

What do you mean they "also" cut your limit? Did this happen with another company, too?

Is there anything going on in your life financially that may have provoked this action? I'm continually hearing about Synchrony unceremoniously closing accounts, but I can't recall anything about Amex arbitrarily cutting limits. I'd like to believe they had good cause for doing so.

I advise people to be careful and steer clear of them they really aren't that special to be pulling this tbh.. Never had a company ever do this to me and I don't appreciate it.

Have you tried finding out why they did it? Did they notify you in any way? I understand how you're feeling--I wouldn't appreciate it either--but I'd like to know all the facts.

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

BearsCubsOtters — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 22:16:59 GMT

@theNavigator wrote:
American Express also just had my limit cut by 13k, down to just about where my balance is at, unreal. I am paying my small balance off and never doing business with them again. I advise people to be careful and steer clear of them they really aren't that special to be pulling this tbh.. Never had a company ever do this to me and I don't appreciate it.

~~I am sure the mods will shut this down soon, but I am adding anyway.~~

Credit card companies have been participating in credit line reductions for years. There are always a variety of reasons but they are usually conducted electronically by computer software created to mitigate risk. Risk factors include (but not limited to):

~~-long-running, revolving balances~~

~~-making minimum or slightly above minimum payments for an extended period of time~~

~~-reduced credit scores, both internal and external (EX, TU, EQ)~~

~~-increase use of credit line with that lender, and with all your lenders~~

~~-active credit-seeking (both new trade lines and new inquiries)~~

~~-even some purchases that seem risky to the lender can cause it~~

Other times, the card issuer needs to reduce the available credit lines offered to cardholders due to economic reasons. Our credit lines are not arbitrary, made-up numbers; the bank has to have that money on hand to lend. Capital One had to reduce their mortgage-backed securities in 2017 which caused many cardholders, including those with stellar credit and no risky behaviors, to have a CLD while they "right-sized" their portfolio.

~~I am sorry this happened to you. You are in good company though as many of us have had credit line "haircuts" recently from several different lenders.~~

Wait for Amex to send you a letter with the reasons why. You may then contact Amex to discuss the account. They have been known in the recent past to reverse the computer's decision; often times by simply making a large payment.

ETA: Never mind; I did not read your post thouroughly enough. I agree with the posters below me...you are being balanced chased. Although, what I wrote could still be taken into consideration with regards to why they did it. Give them a call when you receive the adverse action letter to see what they can do.

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

Loquat — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 22:07:33 GMT

@theNavigator wrote:
American Express also just had my limit cut by 13k, down to just about where my balance is at, unreal. I am paying my small balance off and never doing business with them again. I advise people to be careful and steer clear of them they really aren't that special to be pulling this tbh.. Never had a company ever do this to me and I don't appreciate it.

@theNavigator I know it sucks and I won't make light of it. What you're experiencing is "balance chasing". As I'm sure you are aware, this happens when a lender is cutting your available credit with them to what they are comfortable with.

Once it starts who knows how long it will continue. Most of the time it's just until you reach their comfort level with you and your finances. There are some occasions where they do it until you've paid off the balance and then they proceed to close the card.

I think your advice to "steer clear of them" is misguided based on your current situation. Again, I won't make light of your situation nor will I tell you that you're wrong as your perception is based on your reality, and right now, they're looking at lot less favorable from your point of view. It doesn't make you right or them wrong, it's just your perception and while some would argue with your perception, I won't...because it's not going to change your point of view...nor should it; you're entitled to feel however you want about them and that's okay.

However, in my opinion, there is absolutely no reason for someone to steer clear of them. What you're experiencing is no different that what could happen at any lender if you happen to cross their algorithm in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable about the amount of available credit that has been extended to you. Lenders have risk tolerance and once anyone has exceeded such, actions are taken until they deem you less risky.

I hope whatever it is that has put you on the radar of Amex clears quickly so that you can once again go back to the feeling about them the way you once did prior to today when they cut your limit.

Best of luck to you.

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 22:10:28 GMT

It sounds like they are balance chasing. I would pay it off and close the account. Let it show as closed by customer on your credit report. If you do not do this it will wreck your utilization score no matter how small the amount .

Synchrony did this to me back in 10/2020 when they closed all 7 of my accounts. One account I owed some money on so I paid it off not to have a utilization issue.

Thanks

Mark

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

Loquat — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 22:18:15 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It sounds like they are balance chasing. I would pay it off and close the account. Let it show as closed by customer on your credit report. If you do not do this it will wreck your utilization score no matter how small the amount .
Synchrony did this to me back in 10/2020 when they closed all 7 of my accounts. One account I owed some money on so I paid it off not to have a utilization issue.
Thanks
Mark

It's up to the OP to handle the card and Amex however they choose to do so. HOWEVER he or she doesn't even know if Amex plans to close the card continue with balance chasing or this is a one and done for now. There are soo many things that could possibly happen. If it were me, I'd wait until I have received information from Amex speaking to why they've made such decision before making such an emotional one.

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

Remedios — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 22:23:40 GMT

@BearsCubsOtters wrote:
@theNavigator wrote:
American Express also just had my limit cut by 13k, down to just about where my balance is at, unreal. I am paying my small balance off and never doing business with them again. I advise people to be careful and steer clear of them they really aren't that special to be pulling this tbh.. Never had a company ever do this to me and I don't appreciate it.
I am sure the mods will shut this down soon, but I am adding anyway.

Credit card companies have been participating in credit line reductions for years. There are always a variety of reasons but they are usually conducted electronically by computer software created to mitigate risk. Risk factors include (but not limited to):
-long-running, revolving balances
-making minimum or slightly above minimum payments for an extended period of time
-reduced credit scores, both internal and external (EX, TU, EQ)
-increase use of credit line with that lender, and with all your lenders
-active credit-seeking (both new trade lines and new inquiries)
-even some purchases that seem risky to the lender can cause it

Other times, the card issuer needs to reduce the available credit lines offered to cardholders due to economic reasons. Our credit lines are not arbitrary, made-up numbers; the bank has to have that money on hand to lend. Capital One had to reduce their mortgage-backed securities in 2017 which caused many cardholders, including those with stellar credit and no risky behaviors, to have a CLD while they "right-sized" their portfolio.

I am sorry this happened to you. You are in good company though as many of us have had credit line "haircuts" recently from several different lenders.

Wait for Amex to send you a letter with the reasons why. You may then contact Amex to discuss the account. They have been known in the recent past to reverse the computer's decision; often times by simply making a large payment.

Mods aren't going to shut anything down unless a brawl happens, half the posts need to be removed, accusations being pulled out of thin air, etc.

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 22:24:49 GMT

@theNavigator wrote:
American Express also just had my limit cut by 13k, down to just about where my balance is at, unreal. I am paying my small balance off and never doing business with them again. I advise people to be careful and steer clear of them they really aren't that special to be pulling this tbh.. Never had a company ever do this to me and I don't appreciate it.

So.... I see two apples/oranges datapoints.

Your experience, and the NPSL card in This Thread .

I'm so sorry this happened to you - haircuts like this are no fun, but there just does not seem to be evidence of what you suggest. They cut YOUR limit - seems you've been paying on a balance for a while. They adjusted another person's internal "no pre-set limit" pre-set limit on a newer card that he got at the same time another card.

Again sorry this happened to you, but at this point it does not seem to be a data point pointing to a larger issue at Amex.

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 22:27:12 GMT

@Loquat wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
It sounds like they are balance chasing. I would pay it off and close the account. Let it show as closed by customer on your credit report. If you do not do this it will wreck your utilization score no matter how small the amount .
Synchrony did this to me back in 10/2020 when they closed all 7 of my accounts. One account I owed some money on so I paid it off not to have a utilization issue.
Thanks
Mark
It's up to the OP to handle the card and Amex however they choose to do so. HOWEVER he or she doesn't even know if Amex plans to close the card continue with balance chasing or this is a one and done for now. There are soo many things that could possibly happen. If it were me, I'd wait until I have received information from Amex speaking to why they've made such decision before making such an emotional one.

I hear ya and you are correct. He still needs to pay it off so the utilization does now wreck his score, or even transfer it to anohter bank if he can not pay it off. I looked at from my end where I have 69 credit cards. I am always prepared to close down a few if I am ever balance chased but that is not a normal situation. I was only balance chased that one time but you never know with these banks LOL

Thank you for your correction. I was wrong.

Mark

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

xenon3030 — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 23:52:31 GMT

I recommend paying off the card but do not close it by your own. You are not sure whether they plan to close it or they want to keep it open with a low credit line. Also, I think there is no difference if it gets closed by you or by lender, as long as the lender does not provide negative comment on the closing reason.

Before paying off the card, also you might call them to get feedback on the status and inform them that you have a good will to pay off the card soon. In case that they have some prior decisions to close it, it might help to prevent it.

Synchrony closed my Amazon store card several years ago without prior notification (the credit reports show: "closed by lender"). I was not carrying balance but their website was very buggy at that time and it was not doing the payments or autopayments correctly. After receiving their letter, I called them to describe the issues but it did not change their decision. Afterward, I migrated to Chase Amazon Prime card to use 5% cashback on Amazon. I heard that Amazon might break with Chase and consider Synchrony or Amex. If it wants to happen, I wish that they work with Amex.

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

red259 — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 23:56:26 GMT

Doesn't sound like an Amex issue and no reason to tell others to avoid doing business with them. This stuff doesn't happen out of the blue. 99% of the time when we see posts like these there is something in the person's credit file/behavior that triggered this result. People can be upset and disagree with Amex's decision, but a lot of times this type of reaction by Amex is easily avoidable.

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

xenon3030 — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 00:12:50 GMT

Correct. The lenders can excercise their rights to close the credit card at any time. Therefore, it is better to be polite and find out the reasons that such issue happened and fix it. It happend to me once and there was a reason for that (even it was not my fault and beyond my control).

They usually do not do it unless some issues would trigger and reflect a possible financial risk (late payment, drop of credit score, derog, ...).

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

Taurus22 — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 01:04:48 GMT

The impression I've gotten about Amex over the years of watching this forum is....

They are a solid lender who doesn't mind extending credit and even hands out rather hefty limits. However, I also think they are one of those lenders who wants to be paid back relatively quickly. Not one of those that you can carry large balances for extended lengths of time.

If you have used $7,000 on a $20,000 CL card with them and you've only been paying back $100/mth the past 3 years, they are likely to balance-chase.

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

sladesurfer — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 02:03:48 GMT

@theNavigator wrote:
American Express also just had my limit cut by 13k, down to just about where my balance is at, unreal. I am paying my small balance off and never doing business with them again. I advise people to be careful and steer clear of them they really aren't that special to be pulling this tbh.. Never had a company ever do this to me and I don't appreciate it.

They did the same to me last week. Cut $15000

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

SouthJamaica — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 02:14:50 GMT

@theNavigator wrote:
American Express also just had my limit cut by 13k, down to just about where my balance is at, unreal. I am paying my small balance off and never doing business with them again. I advise people to be careful and steer clear of them they really aren't that special to be pulling this tbh.. Never had a company ever do this to me and I don't appreciate it.

No they're not special. They're just another bank. Not to be trusted.

My advice though is to just ride it out and see where you wind up. It's pretty easy to get CLI's from Amex after thing settle down.

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

Rudy1 — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 02:18:39 GMT

They just did this nonsense to me and I'm so pissed $8,900 to $2,000 my balance was $1,500 reason was too many inquiries 6 in 12 months. I'm sure they will close it I never got a whole lot of love from amex no cli's no pre approvals after that my second amex an Amazon prime business was a cold app which I was surprised they approved. I have never had a late payment with them. Hopefully things cool down and they don't close it. I like the bank everyone is always nice and helpful for me but this is just plain annoying.

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

theNavigator — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 03:10:47 GMT

Ok, so first off. I have studied credit for almost 20 years. I have close to an 800 credit score and some of you have no idea what you're talking about... And you are right once I pay it off I will be closing it off as a consumer. They aren't going to close my card, I had 16k as my limit for years, their system and the company is just paranoid.

The company sucks and I am letting people beware of it. I have NEVER had a company do this. Their reason was due to covid and also the fact that I had a few accounts with revolving balances, so what. My credit my business, like I said they have the right to do what they want and I'll also never do business with them again. I just started using this card again 2 months ago and I have close to a 3,000 dollar balance that I was paying off soon anyway. They are balance chasing is right and a bunch of morons as far as I'm concerned. In the mean time two other credit cards of mine with balances gave me increase. <mod snip: Not here, please. --UB> I don't appreciate it and I am warning others. From what I am seeing they are freaking out prematurely over people with a balance, probably due to their poor business tactics. Their computer system however isn't factoring in many other things and like I said don't assume.. Which is pretty much what they're doing. My take is they want to take away the Credit Limits as theyre not doing well as it is and afraid theyre going to get stiffed.. All good and well, but like I said I have an 800 credit score and I pay my bills and balances off, regardless of how much time it takes or what I work the hell out... Not in a good mood, won't comment more. I warned people and trust me this company sucks. Never seen this ever before and hope not to again!

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

theNavigator — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 06:30:43 GMT

No I was commenting as "Also" as I saw several posts where people just stated AMEX was doing this very thing to them.. I have never had my balances cut ever by any other company I have 7 other cards. Discover, 2 Chase, BOA, 2 Citi... And Synchrony which I am not sure which is the parent company...

Re: Be VERY Aware AMEX is Cutting Limits

CreditInspired — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 08:46:59 GMT

I have had my Amex since 2016 which now has a $40.5K CL. Prior to the pandemic, I used it a lot; and because of this community's advice, learned that AmX loves transactors--not revolvers--and made sure I was the former from the get-go.

Now, in the last 18 months, I've used my card very little and was afraid of my CL being axed due to non-use. Nope, CL still intact, thankfully.

So, it really is in the best interest of a CCC and a business decision when they cut CLs or balance chase.

I disagree with stating "Steer Away from AmX." They're the highest CL of all my CCs. Yep, it could get axed but I'd want to know why if it happened and what I could do to remedy the situation.

Onto another subject. I learned this acronym in a management course a couple of years back. QTIP. "Quit taking it personally." It gets one over the temporary setbacks and bumps in the road. It has definitely helped me.

GL2U.