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AMEX Flagged for FR

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haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: AMEX Flagged for FR

Jubeyy, let us know what you find out!

@bugg03 wrote:
That's what a charge card is for IMHO. But paying bills with a credit card can also be seen as a sign of financial trouble, so how do find out if everything is above board? A FR.

This sounds sort of like the general advice that you might see in a magazine article. It can be a sign of financial problems if you used to pay cash or write checks for utility bills and so forth, and suddenly you start doing one-time payments with plastic. That does look like a potential sign of a cash shortage.

What the others are talking about is different: this is signing up to have automatic payments for a lot of your regular expenses done via CC. The CC company is happy because they're getting a cut (through transaction fees) with every monthly payment, and you're happy because you're getting whatever the rewards are. I suppose the utility or whatever is less happy, as they are now paying these fees, but on the other hand, they are still getting your regular payments. Same deal with using plastic for groceries, gas, etc: if this is your financial tactic to help track expenses, get rewards, and streamline your payments, it's not a desperate, I'm-out-of-cash action.

Making sure that you're in the second category instead of the first is why AmEx and others frequently soft your credit reports. This lets them know that you're still paying all your bills, and that your debt isn't creeping (or exploding) up.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 91 of 96
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: AMEX Flagged for FR


@Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone have an opinion on this? I received my Delta Amex and registered for their online services and everything but the annual fee ($55) is not listed on my balance. Even it it was listed I am not allowed to make a payment until the first statement cuts.

So does anyone think I should snail mail them the $55 so that when my first statement cuts it will be a $0 balance (instead of a $55 balance)? Can I do that? Or should I even worry about it? Thanks.

Oh, and it is a pretty card by the way...heh heh heh


Jubeyy, leaving aside the question of the fee (hope you found that out), you can't pay on the AmEx site until the first statement posts. (This happens with other CCC's too, like BofA.)

You can snail mail, but what I did in this situation is pay from my online checking site and push the money into AmEx. I did call and find out what my statement date is (the 18th, every month), so I stopped using the card around the 10th and made a payment from my bank site into AmEx on the 13th. Unlike some other sites, they did credit it right away, so I was able to have $0 report on the first statement. Once that statement posted, I've been able to pay on the AmEx site. Hope that helps.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 92 of 96
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: AMEX Flagged for FR



@Anonymous wrote:







@bugg03 wrote:

That's what a charge card is for IMHO. But paying bills with a credit card can also be seen as a sign of financial trouble, so how do find out if everything is above board? A FR.






I firmly believe that FR has nothing to do with whether you use your card to pay bills. They actually encourage you to do so.








I agree. They are giddy when you pay everything with it so they can rake in that point and a half in profit.

I carry my card(s) with me and use them for any purchase over .99 cents because I'd hate to carry around tons of cash all the time. I used to carry no less than $5000.00 in my pocket at all times... but after awhile it gets cumbersome and really foolish because of the danger.
Message 93 of 96
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: AMEX Flagged for FR



bugg03 wrote:
That's what a charge card is for IMHO. But paying bills with a credit card can also be seen as a sign of financial trouble, so how do find out if everything is above board? A FR.
 



AMEX Costco is offering $10 card if you use your card to pay cell phone bills:
 
Message 94 of 96
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: AMEX Flagged for FR


@haulingthescoreup wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone have an opinion on this? I received my Delta Amex and registered for their online services and everything but the annual fee ($55) is not listed on my balance. Even it it was listed I am not allowed to make a payment until the first statement cuts.

So does anyone think I should snail mail them the $55 so that when my first statement cuts it will be a $0 balance (instead of a $55 balance)? Can I do that? Or should I even worry about it? Thanks.

Oh, and it is a pretty card by the way...heh heh heh


Jubeyy, leaving aside the question of the fee (hope you found that out), you can't pay on the AmEx site until the first statement posts. (This happens with other CCC's too, like BofA.)

You can snail mail, but what I did in this situation is pay from my online checking site and push the money into AmEx. I did call and find out what my statement date is (the 18th, every month), so I stopped using the card around the 10th and made a payment from my bank site into AmEx on the 13th. Unlike some other sites, they did credit it right away, so I was able to have $0 report on the first statement. Once that statement posted, I've been able to pay on the AmEx site. Hope that helps.




I called them and a woman told me that the fee will not show up on the statement until it cuts...early next month.

Also, as far as msheresy paying a bill being the reason for her FR...the whole using a card to pay bills being seen as a red flag thing....well, here is my take:

msheresy wrote that she was FR'ed within 26 hours after activating the card.....basically, a day. In that one day she quickly payed a cell phone bill. The Amex system does not show that she was just setting up automatic payments, but just that she payed a bill of around $100. That very well might have set off the red flag because everyone is on "parole" when starting a new credit card. When the first thing they see you do (on the first day) is pay a bill upon activating the card, that may set them off thinking ...."Hey, this person has no money and really needed this card to pay that bill quick! Warning Will Robinson! Warning!"

I am not saying that this is what happened , but just that this is how they (or their system) could have interpreted it. Maybe if they saw that she waited till after paying the first statement (comprised of only the annual fee or a very small under $20 purchase) and THEN started up the bill paying, it might have looked different.

By the way, their general customer service people are the nicest of any customer service people I have ever spoke to. I am sure the FR people are a different group!

Message Edited by Jubeyy on 06-18-2008 01:28 PM

Message Edited by Jubeyy on 06-18-2008 09:41 PM
Message 95 of 96
msheresy
Regular Contributor

Re: AMEX Flagged for FR

Just got a call from Ms. Rickey, my 16 yr old financial reviewer to notify me that everything was taken care of and that my card is now active again.  What a buch of crap this whole ordeal was!
 
 
Thanks for all the support though!Smiley Very Happy


Message Edited by msheresy on 06-25-2008 01:45 PM
Message 96 of 96
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