AMEX Cashback + Payment question

dlister70 · ‎02-03-2020

My AMEX Blue Cash Everyday statement balance was $50. I used $30 in cashback and made a payment of $20. Now my balance is zero, and my available credit is the full amount. However, it still shows a remaining statement balance of $30. I asked on AMEX chat and they said that I still need to pay $30 more to avoid interest.

I'm aware of the cashback not counting towards your minimum payment, but I thought that if you had a zero balance you didn't get any interest. He said that the statement credit would not be applied until my next statement which is why I still owe $30. But if that's true, I don't understand why my available credit is the full amount.

I'm not messing around over $30, and I'm just going to pay it to avoid interest no matter how small of an amount of interest it may be, but I'm pretty sure the rep was incorrect. Does anyone have a real world example where they were actually charged interest in a situation like this?

Anonymous · ‎02-03-2020

I think minimum payment for Amex is $25 which could be the reason why. When did you credit your account in relation with when statement ended?

dlister70 · ‎02-03-2020

Statement ended in January 24. I took the credit and made the payment on January 30. Bill is due February 19.

It says minimum payment due is $0 but that remaining statement balance is $30.

Remedios · ‎02-03-2020

This was asked before, and yes, you need to make a payment.
Because your balance is zero, it will create a credit from which future charges will be subtracted.
It's best wait with redemption till you pay your minimum first (or balance) and leave enough for cashback to cover it.

Anonymous · ‎02-03-2020

Most issuers require that you pay the balance in full, regardless of what credits get applied from rewards redemptions. There are exceptions--Disco explicitly allows rewards redemptions to be part of your payment, even when PIF.

The same situation applies for charges, (and worse, large purchases) that result in refunds. For instance, you make a $500 purchase 6 days before your statement cuts. It posts, then you return the merchandise. You'll get a refund back on your card usually days after a return. Now you're stuck with a $500 payment on an item you don't own. Then you have a $500 credit on the next statement and you either spend your way back to 0 or request a check.

It's just best to ignore credits when it comes to PIF and avoiding interest.

TSlop · ‎02-03-2020

@dlister70 wrote:
Statement ended in January 24. I took the credit and made the payment on January 30. Bill is due February 19.

It says minimum payment due is $0 but that remaining statement balance is $30.

I think that there is the problem. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe you can pay your bill with cashback. You'll have to apply cashback before the statement cuts, so then your statement would have only been $20. If you apply the cashback after a statement cuts, it will be credit on future purchases on the current billing cycle.

Admittedly, I've only ever applied my cashback before the statement cuts, so I haven't ever tried what you did.

Anonymous · ‎02-03-2020

@TSlop wrote:
@dlister70 wrote:
Statement ended in January 24. I took the credit and made the payment on January 30. Bill is due February 19.

It says minimum payment due is $0 but that remaining statement balance is $30.
I think that there is the problem. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe you can pay your bill with cashback. You'll have to apply cashback before the statement cuts, so then your statement would have only been $20. If you apply the cashback after a statement cuts, it will be credit on future purchases on the current billing cycle.

Admittedly, I've only ever applied my cashback before the statement cuts, so I haven't ever tried what you did.

Yes, you can apply your redemptions before the statement cuts, but that will just lower the total balance. You still have to pay that amount in full to avoid interest.

Anonymous · ‎02-03-2020

@Anonymous wrote:
@TSlop wrote:
@dlister70 wrote:
Statement ended in January 24. I took the credit and made the payment on January 30. Bill is due February 19.

It says minimum payment due is $0 but that remaining statement balance is $30.
I think that there is the problem. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe you can pay your bill with cashback. You'll have to apply cashback before the statement cuts, so then your statement would have only been $20. If you apply the cashback after a statement cuts, it will be credit on future purchases on the current billing cycle.

Admittedly, I've only ever applied my cashback before the statement cuts, so I haven't ever tried what you did.
Yes, you can apply your redemptions before the statement cuts, but that will just lower the total balance. You still have to pay that amount in full to avoid interest.

So what if you just make a payment in full and then redeem cash back and make purchases after that?

I don't really understand not being able to put cash back towards your statement. It's not a limitation I'm used to dealing with. My other cards don't always let me use it for my minimum payment (although Disco and Cap do) but they don't penalize me with interest for the amount of the credit towards my statement balance if I don't still pay the balance that was on my statement...

Save-n-Invest · ‎02-04-2020

I had this nonsnse last year with Amex. It took a while and several different csr's to get it corrected. The balance was zero but they wanted more in the exact amount of the cash back redemption. Finally Amex gave into reason and I was not charged interest.

Just today I waited until the payment (less the cash back for redemption) posted before redeeming the cash back.

Amex is nuts. It's a bassakwards way of holding the cardholder hostage. Just play the game the way they want it and the exact same amount of payment + cash back redeemed will satisfy them.

Goofy outfit. My gut tell me Amex does not want to be in the cash back business but does not want to concede that business to competitors either.

Good luck with getting this resolved. It is doable.

Anonymous · ‎02-04-2020

@Save-n-Invest wrote:
I had this nonsnse last year with Amex. It took a while and several different csr's to get it corrected. The balance was zero but they wanted more in the exact amount of the cash back redemption. Finally Amex gave into reason and I was not charged interest.

Just today I waited until the payment (less the cash back for redemption) posted before redeeming the cash back.

Amex is nuts. It's a bassakwards way of holding the cardholder hostage. Just play the game the way they want it and the exact same amount of payment + cash back redeemed will satisfy them.

Goofy outfit. My gut tell me Amex does not want to be in the cash back business but does not want to concede that business to competitors either.

Good luck with getting this resolved. It is doable.

It might be an accounting and IT issue. Their system isn't built to handle it. But it can be changed. Discover and a couple others made those changes to allow redemptions to be part of or the entire payment. Others may follow suit, but it's been around a while and you would think they'd get around to it by now. Scarce IT resources maybe.