Amex annual fee posted right before statement cut

[Anonymous]

I went through all my cards on Wednessday to make sure only the utilization I wanted to report would be reported since my billing cycle closes on the 10th.

All were paid down to $0 except my CSP to around 5% (I'm being annal because I'm not sure when I'll be going down the mortgage route, it could be as soon as this month).

Today my wife (AU) made a charge on my BCP for her business which we pay off immediately for bookkeeping purposes.

I noticed my annual fee had posted immediately before statement close so it seems there's no way to avoid an AF getting reported. Is this normal?

I have enjoyed AMEX's customer service so far but forcing the AF to report jsut seems kind of low (not that it matters that much).

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I went through all my cards on Wednessday to make sure only the utilization I wanted to report would be reported since my billing cycle closes on the 10th.

All were paid down to $0 except my CSP to around 5% (I'm being annal because I'm not sure when I'll be going down the mortgage route, it could be as soon as this month).

Today my wife (AU) made a charge on my BCP for her business which we pay off immediately for bookkeeping purposes.

I noticed my annual fee had posted immediately before statement close so it seems there's no way to avoid an AF getting reported. Is this normal?

I have enjoyed AMEX's customer service so far but forcing the AF to report jsut seems kind of low (not that it matters that much).

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I think all issuers do it.  They are not "forcing the AF to report" to be mean, they just add the annual fee as part of statement generation, just like any interest, because there isn't an associated transaction that posts.

[Anonymous]

Hmm. Maybe I'm wrong but I thought I've seen it as a charge at the beginning of the billing period before... It's been a while.

Good to know it's a common trend, I'll have to remember when they're scheduled to come around!

[UncleB]

As a data point, my AF with Capital One has historically been charged as the statement was generated as well, so while it might not be universal (?) it's certainly common... at least with the issuers I have/had that charged an AF. 

If it's a true concern, simply make a note on next year's calendar to pay the amount of the AF a few weeks before it will be charged to create a credit balance.  That way the statement that generates showing the fee will also report a -0- balance to the credit bureaus. 

[lg8302ch]

As LTL mentionned this is quite common for other lenders as well.  Amex has done it each time on my BCP but don't worry about the 0 balance reporting for 1 month... it has no memory so it will be fine on the next reporting again

[noobody]

they usually give advance notice on previous statement, just pay the AF before the statement generated.

[newhis]

I applied for Amex PRG on 10/11 last year, the AF was charged 11/10 this year (closing date).

I didn't care if they reported balance, so I didn't try to push the payment to have $0 balance. Next year, if I need to report $0 balance, I know I should pay the AF before the 11/10 closing date.

[too-much-time]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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I think all issuers do it.

 Doesn't the Alaska card report at the beginning of the billing cycle and Chase the first of the month? For Amex, I use Serve to push the fee through in advance having the balance at zero.

[longtimelurker]

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@too-much-time wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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I think all issuers do it.

 Doesn't the Alaska card report at the beginning of the billing cycle and Chase the first of the month? For Amex, I use Serve to push the fee through in advance having the balance at zero.

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Yes, you are right about Chase.   My statement close is shortly after the first so I hadn't realized but they do appear to charge on the first of the month