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I have gotten so in the habit of PIF before the statement cuts that I have been doing it with my AMEX Green. It never reports anything. I think I'm going to pay after the statement cuts this month so other CCCs can see that AMEX trusts me with large spending!
I don't think it matters that much one way or the other. Do what works for you, but I don't think other CCs are going to marvel at your Amex balance.
Yeah, I have no idea how the reporting works with AMEX charge cards but honestly the only one I care about knowing what my spend is on my card IS AMEX. That way I can call them and debate my value as a customer by pointing out my spend year to date on the card.
I'll stand on my own merits with other cards without AMEX but if they need to know I'll offer to fax them my AMEX statements.
Personally, I don't mind other creditors seeing what my highest spending is with Amex. They also see that it is an individual account & PIF for years. But I do make it clear to Amex that I pay every invoice upon receipt (long in advance of the due date) & I appreciate the trust we've built between each other.
SisterGirl
@SisterGirl wrote:Personally, I don't mind other creditors seeing what my highest spending is with Amex. They also see that it is an individual account & PIF for years. But I do make it clear to Amex that I pay every invoice upon receipt (long in advance of the due date) & I appreciate the trust we've built between each other.
SisterGirl
Not quite sure what to make of your last part. What "trust" has been built and between you and what? Amex is a big corporation. I work for a bigger one with consumer, business and enterprise LOBs and while we can certainly look up records for individuals and evaluate their worth/risk to us, I don't think anything like "trust" comes in to it.
Amex can tell that you have paid on time, and while they may track that you pay consistently early, we don't really know the impact of that (e.g. in some situations might be a danger sign, paying off in order to make the big purchase that they don't intend to pay for). So, their algorithms may "reward" with you CLIs etc, but again it's not trust. Miss two payments and see if they say "Oh, we trust sistergirl, I'm sure she'll pay when she's ready"
@LesWH wrote:I have gotten so in the habit of PIF before the statement cuts that I have been doing it with my AMEX Green. It never reports anything. I think I'm going to pay after the statement cuts this month so other CCCs can see that AMEX trusts me with large spending!
I have, at times, prepaid most of my cards just to see the FICO impact or in preparation for an app. However, after reading about FICO's "Capacity Index," a score that estimates one's ability to take on additional debt, I tend to let balances report though I also pif. Consistently prepaying may, in the absence of fine grain reporting that only some creditors do and only EX reports, make one appear less attractive to new creditors.
@webhopper wrote:
I don't think other creditors pay attention to your amex balance that much to want you to fax in your amex statements.... Maybe I'm wrong.
Lmao! I agree Web!!
@webhopper wrote:
I don't think other creditors pay attention to your amex balance that much to want you to fax in your amex statements.... Maybe I'm wrong.
It's not the balance, it's the lack of balance and total spend. It got Chase's attention. Didn't fax, just carried them into my local branch. Of course they knew what I was spending on my AMEX accounts as all my payments to AMEX come from Chase accounts. My banker pointed that out even before looking at statements. Don't rule out offering to show what you spent on a competitor's card when asking for an increase or a new line. Of course YMMV as I run a bunch of spend on personal and business cards, spending that a year ago was all done via check or debit card.
I'm just saying that sometimes I think we (collective) put too much importance on what reports when and how. It's actually the MONEY that the banks care about, as well as the little things like PIF and on time or earlier. The computer might not see it but an actual human will consider it, or did for me.
I think paying all your balances before they report a balance is going to hurt you in the long wrong... if it's just your amex charge i don't know if it will matter to anyone else or not... it's only TU 98? is that the one that may mess it up on your report... but i would not want ALL cards showing $0 every month... and we have had many posts of issues with that.