topic Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload in Credit Cards

AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

LS2982 — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:00:25 GMT

Put $250 on this card 2/15 and a week later still not on card. This can't be realitic for a person using this card to move away from banks when it takes a week to load funds. (Me personally not miving away from banks)

The other option is greendot moneypacks but that costs $5 to put money on.

Is there saomething i'm missing here?? I really don't understand why it takes week to load from an ACH transfer.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:10:10 GMT

I really really tried to use AMEX prepaid but I couldn't deal with the reload time. I ended up buying more of the Greendot MoneyPacks which come with an additional $4.95 fee because Amex's process of transfering funds was incredibly tedious. Not only do reload times take forever, I remember making a return using the card and it took 8 days before the funds were available. Not cool.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

LS2982 — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:12:15 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I really really tried to use AMEX prepaid but I couldn't deal with the reload time. I ended up buying more of the Greendot MoneyPacks which come with an additional $4.95 fee because Amex's process of transfering funds was incredibly tedious. Not only do reload times take forever, I remember making a return using the card and it took 8 days before the funds were available. Not cool.

They really should fix this somehow. This would be a successful program with less waittime.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

espnjunkie — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:14:33 GMT

Is there any point to using the prepaid card really?

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

LS2982 — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:18:07 GMT

@espnjunkie wrote:
Is there any point to using the prepaid card really?

Hope of getting SP in 6 months for a charge card.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

pizzadude — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:36:58 GMT

That's really strange that it takes so long ~ this is from their prepaid site FAQs:

How long does it take to load funds with a bank account?
Funds loaded to the Card from your verified bank account will generally be available within 5 business days after the load is requested.

I'm guessing that it's taking an extra day or two to load due to the President's day holiday on Monday. But even 5 days is painfully slow, there's no reason I can think of that they would need to sit on your money for that long.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

Creditdreamer — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:57:23 GMT

When did they pull the funds from your bank acct?

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

espnjunkie — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:12:49 GMT

Your best bet would be to build your actual credit through other means. A prepaid card won't do anything for your credit score and is essentially a reloadable debit card. The "make your move" program does not guarantee you anything after six months. They still will do a hard pull of your credit report(s) when you apply for a card anyways. I would imagine you would be be better off to focus on your secured/unsecured lines of credit and garden with them. In six months time you should be able to boost your scores up enough to qualify for an AMEX charge card.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

Creditdreamer — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:28:03 GMT

@ espnjunkie: A little OT but I'm doing both at the same time. Building my credit with two secured cards and using the Amex prepaid. It can't hurt to show Amex I cam handle it since I'm also doing it with my ccs.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

espnjunkie — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:45:39 GMT

Perhaps...but I am skeptical about the make your move program because they still will require a hard pull to approve you. I'm not saying it is deception and that nobody will get an offer, but an offer to apply for a charge card doesn't mean a whole lot. If you credit report and scores are good enough you will be accepted.

Best of luck!

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:56:14 GMT

Just verified the deposits on my daughter's card. Hopefully the funds will clear in a few days.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

Creditdreamer — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:44:22 GMT

My funds cleared the day after I verified.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

LS2982 — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:03:59 GMT

@Creditdreamer wrote:
@ espnjunkie: A little OT but I'm doing both at the same time. Building my credit with two secured cards and using the Amex prepaid. It can't hurt to show Amex I cam handle it since I'm also doing it with my ccs.

Theres nothing wrong with doing cood by your credit and having AMEX do a soft to see if they want you or not.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

Creditdreamer — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:23:38 GMT

@ LS2982: How long ago did they take the funds from your bank acct?

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

Revelate — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:22:30 GMT

@LS2982 wrote:
Put $250 on this card 2/15 and a week later still not on card. This can't be realitic for a person using this card to move away from banks when it takes a week to load funds. (Me personally not miving away from banks)

The other option is greendot moneypacks but that costs $5 to put money on.

Is there saomething i'm missing here?? I really don't understand why it takes week to load from an ACH transfer.

Their site claims 5 business days, depending what time you loaded.

16rd

17th

18-19 weekend

20 holiday

21st

22nd today

Only 4 days so far.

ACH transfers get held up in a lot of places, including the bank you're actually pulling from (remember it's in their best financial interests to hang on to your money as long as possible, this is a non-trivial delay they impose).

Just plan it out a little: when I got down near $100 from the original $300 I loaded, I simply ACH'd another 300 over. It took several days but it painless enough that I didn't have to worry about it. Holidays and weekends always suck for financial transactions, and I guaruntee you the banks got President's Day off. I really don't understand it as it's all electronically handled anyway, but banks will be banks unfortunately.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

LS2982 — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:56:35 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
@LS2982 wrote:
Put $250 on this card 2/15 and a week later still not on card. This can't be realitic for a person using this card to move away from banks when it takes a week to load funds. (Me personally not miving away from banks)

The other option is greendot moneypacks but that costs $5 to put money on.

Is there saomething i'm missing here?? I really don't understand why it takes week to load from an ACH transfer.
Their site claims 5 business days, depending what time you loaded.

16rd
17th
18-19 weekend
20 holiday
21st
22nd today

Only 4 days so far.

ACH transfers get held up in a lot of places, including the bank you're actually pulling from (remember it's in their best financial interests to hang on to your money as long as possible, this is a non-trivial delay they impose).

Just plan it out a little: when I got down near $100 from the original $300 I loaded, I simply ACH'd another 300 over. It took several days but it painless enough that I didn't have to worry about it. Holidays and weekends always suck for financial transactions, and I guaruntee you the banks got President's Day off. I really don't understand it as it's all electronically handled anyway, but banks will be banks unfortunately.

I see your point Revelate. I think i'm gonna have to use this card as my lil snack card when I don't want to spend on CC's.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

Revelate — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:02:08 GMT

Yeah, I run my generic food and small grocery shopping bills through it... Gas is out of the question (they put a straight $100 deduction for a hold on the account, so much easier on a CC) and I put the rest of my charges through a credit card which I'm in the process of getting a high balance on before I write a check for it.

Like you I'm not willing to bet my entire credit future on the "Make Your Move" program, but it's worth a shot if it gets me to a Zync this year instead of next year (extra year of backdating a few years out from now). Realistically speaking it can't hurt me that much as long as I put enough activity on my other credit cards such that they don't get closed on me... and I have to figure they're going to be at least somewhat genuine with their program and make some offers to people just for form's sake if nothing else.

If nobody gets an offer in six months after using the card, I think people may start to think it's a scam... but in my case I was planning to take the Hail Mary application / inquiry anyway in December so what the hay.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

Open123 — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:54:50 GMT

Given the extent AmEx collects and keeps track of internal data--much more comprehensive than any other issuer--it certain can't hurt. I wouldn't be surprised at all at some prepaid customers getting an invite or pre-approval for a charge card.

In my view, the prepaid has other uses. For instance, I ordered some of these to run petty cash through them instead of leaving currency in an envelope. There's tons of reasons to have a prepaid these days.

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

LS2982 — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:58:13 GMT

thats a pretty good idea open!

Re: AMEX Prepaid - Very long waittime for reload

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:30:39 GMT

You guys might consider (if you haven't already) providing your feedback to Amex, with regard to some of the likes/hates about the card. The time that it takes to load seems to be a recurrent theme (I've read it in a couple of threads), and the thoughtful feedback & comments here could certainly be shared with Amex-- perhaps it'll inspire them to make changes (for the better) to this product.

One very common use that I could think of for acquiring this card would be for teens & college students-- the allowance & emergency funds (like the Visa Buxx cards). The long load time might be prohibitive though for more emergent needs. I'd think that Amex might be grateful for receiving consumer feedback on how their product is used, by whom, and what improvements can be made to make it more marketable.