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Am I the only one?

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SisterGirl
Established Contributor

Re: Am I the only one?


@bs6054 wrote:

@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"


When I mention "trust", I will always inform them if I plan to make a purchase that is not a "typical" one....and some level of assurance is expressed between myself & the person authorizing approval. Perhaps that word was taken by some other token, but want to make myself clear in the meaning intended. I have a Chase unsecured line of credit & can whip out the checkbook anytime to draw against it, but there is no "guarantee" that it will be paid upon presentation. Trust comes from doing the right thing & keeping your word, as it is your bond. When approvals occur, there must be SOME level of trust (eg...electronically implied) or it wouldn't happen !

 

When my son-in-law was killed in a car accident & I was snatched from my deep sleep in the middle of the night to drive from Texas to VIirginia, it was an oversight of mine to not pay Amex (or anyone else), but they didn't shut me down either !  They were informed ASAP because that's the way it should be.....it's a two-way street when it comes to being a customer or not....trust or NOT....and I wouldn't trust anyone with every aspect of my life. Nonetheless, the standard rule is  "Cash Is King" all day, everyday.

 

 

SisterGirl

  

SisterGirl
Message 11 of 19
Sparkz1920
Frequent Contributor

Re: Am I the only one?


@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 pay when the statement cuts as well, therefore i really dont know when my due date is on my charge


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Message 12 of 19
bs6054
Valued Contributor

Re: Am I the only one?


@SisterGirl wrote:



When I mention "trust", I will always inform them if I plan to make a purchase that is not a "typical" one....and some level of assurance is expressed between myself & the person authorizing approval. Perhaps that word was taken by some other token, but want to make myself clear in the meaning intended. I have a Chase unsecured line of credit & can whip out the checkbook anytime to draw against it, but there is no "guarantee" that it will be paid upon presentation. Trust comes from doing the right thing & keeping your word, as it is your bond. When approvals occur, there must be SOME level of trust (eg...electronically implied) or it wouldn't happen !

 

When my son-in-law was killed in a car accident & I was snatched from my deep sleep in the middle of the night to drive from Texas to VIirginia, it was an oversight of mine to not pay Amex (or anyone else), but they didn't shut me down either !  They were informed ASAP because that's the way it should be.....it's a two-way street when it comes to being a customer or not....trust or NOT....and I wouldn't trust anyone with every aspect of my life. Nonetheless, the standard rule is  "Cash Is King" all day, everyday.

 

 

SisterGirl

  


OK, I guess we really differ in terminology.  

 

A few years ago, I had a charge on a Capital One card I hardly use that I thought I had set up for autopay.  So I didn't pay it.

Next statement I see that it is due, and a late fee.   I asked Capital One to remove the late fee or I would close the card.  They immediately removed the fee. Why, because my spend overall with them made them want to retain me enough.  Not because I had built trust, but because the business relationship made sense to both of us.  In your more dramatic case, I think most card issuers would have given you the same leeway as Amex.

 

Why don't you have the same level of confidence in Chase?  Have they not paid checks you presented within the bounds of your contract?  Why keep the account then?

 

Telling Amex about future atypical purchases is also, to my mind, hardly a matter of trust.  You name a figure, and the algorithm preapproves it.  The wording on the automated function even reminds you that this really isn't a guarantee, as things may change by the actual time of purchase.

 

Maybe I am too cynical from working for a big company, but it always surprises me when people use words like trust, or loyalty, with mega-corporations.   They REALLY don't have feelings for you as individuals, they are in it for the money.   It may be that excellent customer service has been determined in that segment to be a worthwhile expense to retain and grow profits from customers, don't mistake it for real human emotions, that's for friends and family.

 

But I guess we have to disagree.  Now if I could transfer some of your trust in Amex to my company...., BleedTheSuckersDry PLC.  Oh, maybe we need a new name.

Message 13 of 19
HiLine
Blogger

Re: Am I the only one?


@Creditaddict wrote:

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.


I believe that Experian reports actually display monthly credit usage, so the balance at statement closing doesn't really matter for this purpose.

Message 14 of 19
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Am I the only one?

Credit card companies are not interested in how many credit cards you have..  Maintaining a "0" balance only indicates the possession of the card.  Having a one hundred dollar balance on given accounts and making payents as required are the issue of the account history and what a potential creditor is actually interested in.  AMEX has a reputation of not reporting on accounts in good standing as master card and visa does.  What is interesting to me is that you are not concerned about annual fees you may be paying for each of the cards you do possess

Message 15 of 19
Rhaeny
Valued Contributor

Re: Am I the only one?


@bs6054 wrote:

@SisterGirl wrote:



When I mention "trust", I will always inform them if I plan to make a purchase that is not a "typical" one....and some level of assurance is expressed between myself & the person authorizing approval. Perhaps that word was taken by some other token, but want to make myself clear in the meaning intended. I have a Chase unsecured line of credit & can whip out the checkbook anytime to draw against it, but there is no "guarantee" that it will be paid upon presentation. Trust comes from doing the right thing & keeping your word, as it is your bond. When approvals occur, there must be SOME level of trust (eg...electronically implied) or it wouldn't happen !

 

When my son-in-law was killed in a car accident & I was snatched from my deep sleep in the middle of the night to drive from Texas to VIirginia, it was an oversight of mine to not pay Amex (or anyone else), but they didn't shut me down either !  They were informed ASAP because that's the way it should be.....it's a two-way street when it comes to being a customer or not....trust or NOT....and I wouldn't trust anyone with every aspect of my life. Nonetheless, the standard rule is  "Cash Is King" all day, everyday.

 

 

SisterGirl

  


OK, I guess we really differ in terminology.  

 

A few years ago, I had a charge on a Capital One card I hardly use that I thought I had set up for autopay.  So I didn't pay it.

Next statement I see that it is due, and a late fee.   I asked Capital One to remove the late fee or I would close the card.  They immediately removed the fee. Why, because my spend overall with them made them want to retain me enough.  Not because I had built trust, but because the business relationship made sense to both of us.  In your more dramatic case, I think most card issuers would have given you the same leeway as Amex.

 

Why don't you have the same level of confidence in Chase?  Have they not paid checks you presented within the bounds of your contract?  Why keep the account then?

 

Telling Amex about future atypical purchases is also, to my mind, hardly a matter of trust.  You name a figure, and the algorithm preapproves it.  The wording on the automated function even reminds you that this really isn't a guarantee, as things may change by the actual time of purchase.

 

Maybe I am too cynical from working for a big company, but it always surprises me when people use words like trust, or loyalty, with mega-corporations.   They REALLY don't have feelings for you as individuals, they are in it for the money.   It may be that excellent customer service has been determined in that segment to be a worthwhile expense to retain and grow profits from customers, don't mistake it for real human emotions, that's for friends and family.

 

But I guess we have to disagree.  Now if I could transfer some of your trust in Amex to my company...., BleedTheSuckersDry PLC.  Oh, maybe we need a new name.


IMHO, I think the relationship one has with a credit card issuer is purely business.  That means that they are in it to make money to make sure that their shareholders earn profits and to pay their employees and bills.  So trust has no bearing in these relationships, if you that's what you want to call it.  I honestly can't think of a better word either....LOL!

 

Every decision made by credit issuers are all based around numbers that may or may not fairly represent who you are.  But who you are makes no difference because if the numbers don't add up then you don't have a "relationship" with them.  They either deny or grant you credit.  That's why we are all here on the Fico Fourm trying to figure out how to make our numbers better so that we can do business with them.

 

When you apply online and you get that instant approval, there isn't anything behind it other than your numbers met their criteria to offer you that card and that's it. 

 

Maybe 50 years or more ago busines relationships were built on trust, but that is far gone now.  Not even a glimpse of trust except maybe for the small businesses, and even they might have a hard time agreeing that there is a trust factor.  

 

So again, this is only my opinion, but I agree with bs6054 that this is not about anything other than how much of risk, based on the numbers your ss# generates, can they take with you so that THEY can make money off of you.  Where is the trust in that?


Major CC's - Barclay's ($5.5K) | Barclay's Sallie Mae MC ($5K) | DCU ($7.5K) | Discover IT ($1.4K) | Genisys Visa ($1.4K) | NFCU Visa ($22K) | Navcheck ($15K) | Chase Freedom ($5K) | SDFCU Visa ($8K) | Amex BCP ($9.5K) | Amex Delta ($10K) |Store CC's| -Amazon ($4K) | Catherines ($850) | JCP ($4K) | Macy's ($1.7K) | Avenue ($850) | Victoria's Secret ($1.4K) | Walmart ($4.1K) | Paypal SC ($1.3K) | HSN ($2.5) | Sears ($2.6K) | Sams Club ($4.1K) |Goal|: Age with grace to 750 across the board |Last app|: 3/3/2014
Message 16 of 19
bettercreditguy1
Established Contributor

Re: Am I the only one?

I always PIf and early after statement cuts. I don't worrry about too many credit cards with balances showing. When Chase increased me to $25k they saw all of those little (under $ 1000.) charges currently due. What THEY looked for was payment history. How can they see payment history or balance detail on other trade lines if you NEVER allow any reporting? As for paying ahead of the statement cut date, it may help internally only with that particular credit card issuer. Just my experience, as always YMMV.

Updated scores 3/7/21 TU 849, EQ 829, Ex 818 (all Fico scores) Remember the Three P's: Pay early in Full, Pay on Time, Patience
Message 17 of 19
SnackTrader
Valued Contributor

Re: Am I the only one?


@Anonymous wrote:

Credit card companies are not interested in how many credit cards you have..  Maintaining a "0" balance only indicates the possession of the card.  Having a one hundred dollar balance on given accounts and making payents as required are the issue of the account history and what a potential creditor is actually interested in.  AMEX has a reputation of not reporting on accounts in good standing as master card and visa does.  What is interesting to me is that you are not concerned about annual fees you may be paying for each of the cards you do possess


Visa and MasterCard are not banks and therefore do not report any account information to anyone.  They are payment networks and their sole purpose Is to issue cards, process payments, and provide some degree of cardholder protection/benefit. 

 

Also, What reputation are you referring to? 


In My Wallet: Amex BCP (12/12) $50,000, Chase Freedom (12/12) $16,500, Cap1 Quicksilver (6/12) $14,000, Barclaycard Rewards (5/13) $10,500, Citi Prestige (4/16) $30,000

Last App: June 27, 2015
Message 18 of 19
FutureBillionaire
Established Contributor

Re: Am I the only one?

I pay the majority of my cards in full every month.  I have one card with a credit union that has a high balance from the era when I did not know how to properly use credit.    If I carry a balance, it is going to be on a new card with a 0% intro apr.  Sometimes I carry a balance on a card for one cycle and then pay it off on the next one.  My credit report shows 4 accounts with a balance, and none of them report with over 10% utilization.  I think this helps me be more attractive in the eye of even the stingiest creditor.  My goal is to have only one card reporting a balance every month. 

Gas: Discover It, Penfed Platinum Rewards x2, Chase freedom, Citi TYP
Plane tickets: CSP
Groceries: AMEX BCP, Penfed Platinum Rewards,Citi TYP
Clothes: Express, Amex BCP, Discover IT
Amazon: Citi Forward, Cash +
Restaurants: Citi Forward, Chase Freedom, Discover IT, CSP
Hotels and other travel: Discover Escape, CSP
Movies: BofA travel rewards visa signature(fandango), Discover IT, Citi Forward, Freedom
Bars, clubs, tomfoolery: CSP, Citi Forward, Discover IT, Freedom
Balance transfers: Kroger 123 rewards
Bill Pay: Chase Ink Plus, Citi Forward,
Everyday spending: Bofa Accelerated cash rewards amex, Discover Escape
Message 19 of 19
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