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Amex The Check Spending Power tool

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RicHowe
Valued Contributor

Re: Amex The Check Spending Power tool

Thanks for the clarification. That's about what I suspected.
Message 31 of 43
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Amex The Check Spending Power tool

Thanks for the clarification Pooka89.  That was my understanding from statements you have made in the past, that if you use the button the system is actually expecting a purchase of that amount.  Before knowing better, I played with it on the day they rolled out the "yes we'll approve $xx,xxx in fact, we'll approve your charge up to $yy,yyy" feature in the app.  While there are certainly many reports of people only being "approved" for amounts significantly lower than their POT limits, there were several of us that were "approved" for amounts that were multiples of our $35,000 POT limits.  Which leads me back to the original post, as a new customer American Express can be cautious about how much credit they are willing to extend you.  Show them a history of responsibly borrowing and they're likely more confident in your ability to repay them than you may think.

Message 32 of 43
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Amex The Check Spending Power tool


@Anonymous wrote:
Sorry I didn't mean to imply that using the tool will flag your account for a financial review by any means. What I meant was, I have seen many people who did "play" with it, as in consecutively request amounts until the system locked them out. Each time I saw an account in that status, the authorization system flagged their account, which was always subsequently acknowledged by a representative in the responsible lending group (the group that initiates FR's). While it's not a surefire way to trigger one, you are, so to say "raising your hand" when using it like a toy.

Hope this clarifies Smiley Happy

That's kinda what I figured.  Makes sense @Anonymous 

 

Poking The Dragon.gif

Message 33 of 43
pizza1
Community Leader
Super Contributor

Re: Amex The Check Spending Power tool

Me being the envelope pusher that I am, Ive checked from time to time. I started out with $500 (ooh, don't go too crazy with that limit, now). Im proud to say that Im up to $2.5k now, just within 6 months, LOL. Smiley Wink

Honestly, I doubt Id ever spend that in one swoop anyways.
Message 34 of 43
Watchmann
Valued Contributor

Re: Amex The Check Spending Power tool

I've been a Gold Card member since 1980 and I don't play with stuff like that.  Credit is a serious game, especially with a company like AMEX, everything is recorded, sifted and sorted in their AI systems to develop a profile on you.  Why poke the bear just for your personal entertainment?  I've used the card all over the world and have never had an issue, and that includes some hellacious charges along the way.  If you have history with them and pay your bills you are ok.  Newbie members need to start slowly and build a relationship with them, nothing is more important then paying your obligations.  Just my two cents.

Message 35 of 43
CreditRebuilder2020
Frequent Contributor

Re: Amex The Check Spending Power tool

I had an interesting back and forth with AMEX recently over my Green Card. I am in rebuilding mode, scores in the 600's, for the holidays on my other cards I carried some balances that were rather high, something I usually don't do, but I knew I could pay it all off in the next 1-2 months. But my utilziation shot up pretty quickly. 

 

I then get this email from AMEX saying because of "recent activity on my credit report", they were throttling my Green Card spending to just $2200 a month. Which was annoying because I was spending at the time, roughly $3500 a month on the card always PAID IN FULL.

 

I called and they said I could challenge it with a financial review, which I had no problem doing. I make $110K a year have some $35K in assets/retirement. I was a mess with my credit for years, last two I cleaned it up. 

 

3 days after submitting documents, I logged into my account and I see that my Green Card went from NO LIMIT SPENDING POWER to $22,000 CREDIT LIMIT. It essentially let me know how much I can spend on the card each month. I've been told this isn't a good thing, that having the no limit spending power is better. But I gotta tell yah, it's been great knowing what my limit is and how much I can spend instead of this mysterious "No limit spending power" and having to check how much you can spend each month.

 

I'm told eventually this will go back to NO LIMIT SPENDING POWER and I'll have to go back checking all my purchases once I start hitting a few thousand worth of a balance. It's pretty amazing right now having the $22K limit posted on the account and knowing exactly what I can spend as oppose to the mysterious check purchase power. Which by the way, also freezes up on you if you check it too much. Another really annoying feature. 

 

Wish AMEX would do what they're doing with me, with every customer for the charge cards. Why wouldn't you want to know what you can spend? The guessing game stuff is BS. 

 

P.S. -- I'll save everyone the trouble right now. This has nothing to do with PAY OVER TIME. That is still not available for me on the card. 

 

 


X1 VISA SIG $15,500/ AMEX Gold / Petal 1 $3600 / Wells Fargo Active Cash VISA $3K / VENMO Visa $900 / Verizon Visa $2K / Apple Card $1500 SL / Wyndham Rewards Earner Visa $500 / WALGREENS Store $1K / Amazon Store $5000 SL/ Discover IT Chrome $2500K / BP Prime Rewards VISA $4350 / PayPal MC $3500 / BOA BankAmericard $2K / BOA Cash Rewards $1K / Cap One Savor One $1200 / Cap One QS1 $950 / Blaze MC $2250 / Credit One $850 / Credit One AMEX $1200 / OpenSky $600 / AvantCard $1000 / Discover IT Cash Back (Graduated) $400 / eBay MC $750
FEB '22 EX: 698 EQ: 700 TU: 713 | UTL: 23% | Total Credit Limit: $54000
Goal Score: 675 for all FICOS (ACHIEVED NOVEMBER 2021) | NEW GOAL SCORE: 725 for ALL FICOs
Message 36 of 43
rbentley
Established Contributor

Re: Amex The Check Spending Power tool

I am confused over your excitement about this change. Yes it is nice to know what you can use the card for, but essentially didn't they just turn your charge card into a credit card that you must PIF?
Message 37 of 43
CreditRebuilder2020
Frequent Contributor

Re: Amex The Check Spending Power tool


@rbentley wrote:
I am confused over your excitement about this change. Yes it is nice to know what you can use the card for, but essentially didn't they just turn your charge card into a credit card that you must PIF?

I know what I can spend.....that's the point. There were months where I wanted to go beyond $3500K and I would go to "check spending power" and I would get denied. 

 

Even though I had the money.....so now that I know I have a full blown limit. I know what I can spend as opposed to this mysterious spending power. 

 

I don't understand the point of the no limit spending power....Yes, it's really cool to have this notion that you can spend whatever you want! But let's be honest, they throttle the cards to your income/spending and any purchase that's out of the ordinary, they will deny. I'd rather see that limit and know what I've got. Always Paid in Full. 


X1 VISA SIG $15,500/ AMEX Gold / Petal 1 $3600 / Wells Fargo Active Cash VISA $3K / VENMO Visa $900 / Verizon Visa $2K / Apple Card $1500 SL / Wyndham Rewards Earner Visa $500 / WALGREENS Store $1K / Amazon Store $5000 SL/ Discover IT Chrome $2500K / BP Prime Rewards VISA $4350 / PayPal MC $3500 / BOA BankAmericard $2K / BOA Cash Rewards $1K / Cap One Savor One $1200 / Cap One QS1 $950 / Blaze MC $2250 / Credit One $850 / Credit One AMEX $1200 / OpenSky $600 / AvantCard $1000 / Discover IT Cash Back (Graduated) $400 / eBay MC $750
FEB '22 EX: 698 EQ: 700 TU: 713 | UTL: 23% | Total Credit Limit: $54000
Goal Score: 675 for all FICOS (ACHIEVED NOVEMBER 2021) | NEW GOAL SCORE: 725 for ALL FICOs
Message 38 of 43
rbentley
Established Contributor

Re: Amex The Check Spending Power tool

I totally agree with you. I too would like to know how much I can actually purchase, rather than it being some undefined limit, but that is what it credit card is. That is why I only have credit cards. In your case AmEx has made your charge card into a credit card.
Message 39 of 43
CreditRebuilder2020
Frequent Contributor

Re: Amex The Check Spending Power tool


@rbentley wrote:
I totally agree with you. I too would like to know how much I can actually purchase, rather than it being some undefined limit, but that is what it credit card is. That is why I only have credit cards. In your case AmEx has made your charge card into a credit card.

Essentially. Still needs to be PIF, which I do anyway, it's just nice having the spending limit. 

 

I've heard on these forums, this happens to people who submit a financial review and then a few months later, it goes back to the no limit spending power. For someone in rebuilding mode, the charge card has been a great opportunity for me to get my foot in the door with AMEX and do some big spending on a card. I would love to have some Chase card with a $10K Limit....just going to take me a while. 


X1 VISA SIG $15,500/ AMEX Gold / Petal 1 $3600 / Wells Fargo Active Cash VISA $3K / VENMO Visa $900 / Verizon Visa $2K / Apple Card $1500 SL / Wyndham Rewards Earner Visa $500 / WALGREENS Store $1K / Amazon Store $5000 SL/ Discover IT Chrome $2500K / BP Prime Rewards VISA $4350 / PayPal MC $3500 / BOA BankAmericard $2K / BOA Cash Rewards $1K / Cap One Savor One $1200 / Cap One QS1 $950 / Blaze MC $2250 / Credit One $850 / Credit One AMEX $1200 / OpenSky $600 / AvantCard $1000 / Discover IT Cash Back (Graduated) $400 / eBay MC $750
FEB '22 EX: 698 EQ: 700 TU: 713 | UTL: 23% | Total Credit Limit: $54000
Goal Score: 675 for all FICOS (ACHIEVED NOVEMBER 2021) | NEW GOAL SCORE: 725 for ALL FICOs
Message 40 of 43
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