Amex Payment Question

RJCE · ‎07-23-2017

Hi all.

This is my first post on this forum although I've been reading posts for weeks. My question is regarding how payments work with Amex. I made a payment on 7/18 of $822.60. The statement closed on 7/19. Now, it says my balance is $3.50 but that charge posted to my account on 7/17 which is the day before I made what I thought was payment in full on 7/18. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks.

NRB525 · ‎07-23-2017

What was the posted / owed balance at the moment when you made the $822.60 payment?

If the swipe on 7/17 was still Pending as of 7/18 when you looked at your Current Balance of $822.60, then the $3.50 most likely was not completed for the Posting / Validation sequence and was not in the $822.60 amount.

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JaeJae12 · ‎07-23-2017

You probabaly had charges that were pending, and the charges had posted to your account after the statement closed already, so you perhaps paid the amount the statement was.

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Anonymous · ‎07-23-2017

Your statement (and online login) will show you your Statement Balance and Account Balance. They may be the same or they may not.

Anonymous · ‎07-23-2017

These are correct. I have a card that I used a few different times within a couple weeks period. I want to pay it in full but my balance shows 40.00 but I know it's actually 60.00. I'm just waiting on the other 20.00 to post because it's pending then I will pay it all off at once. And of course it's nowhere near the due date so I can wait until it does. I just prefer to do it this way.

UpperNwGuy · ‎07-23-2017

If you want to pay a credit card in full, and see the zero balance, you have to stop using that card several days before you make your payment.

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Anonymous · ‎07-23-2017

@UpperNwGuy wrote:
If you want to pay a credit card in full, and see the zero balance, you have to stop using that card several days before you make your payment.

4 days to be exact. Besides, a 3.50 closing balance is absolutely nothing, just make sure you make that paltry payment, late is late, 3.50 or 3000.50.

HeavenOhio · ‎07-24-2017

Some payments take longer and will actually drop out of pending. The charge will post a few days later and bypass pending. AMEX leaves an item in pending for eight days. Capital One leaves it there for five.

One scenario where this can happen is if a merchant doesn't claim payment until an item ships. It happened to me recently with Wayfair. My transaction dropped out of pending and posted a few days later. Something similar happened when I bought an item on "pre-sale" at Macy's. I had to wait two weeks or so to pick it up. The charge dropped out of pending and posted on the day after I picked the item up.

Then there's Apple, who bills you any time they get around to it. A movie I purchased on the 14th or 15th of this month just showed up pending today.

If it's really important to post zero, learn your merchants' habits. You can get an idea of how long it takes pendings to post by reviewing past statements. Also, if you buy something that may not ship for a few days, allow for that.