Amex chopped CL 50%

[HeavenOhio]

AMEX reports the highest statement balance, but I think banks that report the highest balance ever are in the majority.

[Anonymous]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

AMEX reports the highest statement balance, but I think banks that report the highest balance ever are in the majority.

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Well apparently I learned something new today myself. I figured it would be fairly universal. 

But even so, highest balance internally no doubt is what they would go by. Most people have some grasp of the largest credit card balance they had to pay in the last year I would think. 

[Anonymous]

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@Turbobuick wrote:

Recent 5 page thread on this subject was locked.

My letter reads... "the spend activity on the account listed above has been significantly lower than your credit limit." 

We've had this card a number of years and our income is stable. Most of our CL's are over 20K. Not sure what suddenly spooked Amex. My fico is 850, wife is 838. No balances.

We put thousands on the Blue Cash Everyday card last year, every year, mostly on groceries. If this card didn't suck in every catagory except grocery, we'd use it more. CL went from 24K to 12K and guess what? The 12K is going to be too large too. LOL

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I'm ready for AmEx's axe! 2 revolvers, may lose 15k CL together.

btw, I am thinking they may be checking 12-month 0r 24 months rotating monthly high balance.

[bourgogne]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

AMEX reports the highest statement balance, but I think banks that report the highest balance ever are in the majority.

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Well apparently I learned something new today myself. I figured it would be fairly universal. 

But even so, highest balance internally no doubt is what they would go by. Most people have some grasp of the largest credit card balance they had to pay in the last year I would think. 

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internally, meaning reported or not?  I cannot believe this is actually a thing, when cap1 cut $27K out of my card it did not surprise me a bit but from a company where a main feature is a sp 3x cli @ 180 would be surprising.  on most of my accounts the first month of getting the sub is the highest the card will ever see.  the only card I have that sees any action is my CSR 2x a year for euro travel, other than that most are pretty generic spend.  My CIU took general spend away from the FU and the BGR only when there is a dell kickback.  I have a BBP @ $30K that get no spend, same for my ED.  I guess thanks to the forum so I won't be surprised if and when the limits fall from any lender from here out, if ax can do it then anyone can

[SouthJamaica]

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@Turbobuick wrote:

Recent 5 page thread on this subject was locked.

My letter reads... "the spend activity on the account listed above has been significantly lower than your credit limit." 

We've had this card a number of years and our income is stable. Most of our CL's are over 20K. Not sure what suddenly spooked Amex. My fico is 850, wife is 838. No balances.

We put thousands on the Blue Cash Everyday card last year, every year, mostly on groceries. If this card didn't suck in every catagory except grocery, we'd use it more. CL went from 24K to 12K and guess what? The 12K is going to be too large too. LOL

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I wonder if they're doing this to their co-branded cards too.  With co-branded cards, their partner might not be thrilled with this practice.

Reason I ask is that I have an Amex card which would be a prime candidate for CLD if the only criterion is low usage of the limit. It's got a 34k limit, and my average monthly spend is probably 500. But it's a co-branded card. I wonder if that will save me from the chopping block

[longtimelurker]

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@someone379 wrote:

Of course, AMEX would not need to look at the reported “high balance” on a credit report as they could more accurately look at how much spend is put through the card during a month... Some people pay before statements cut so the credit report may not show the true high balances. 

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This, any issuer has more information on usage than is in the credit report.   So I guess Amex or someone could be interested in high balance on other cards (are they maybe using someone elses card when they should be using ours?) but doubt whether that would play a big part in CLD.

I think the high balance, internal or external, probably doesn't matter as much as total spending on the card.  While if I spend $10000 a month I don't "justify" a $30K limit, and If I spend $30K in 4 months of the year I do, I would guess that issuers view this as a potential timing issue, and the question is do we make enough money from this person to "use up" some CL.

[Anonymous]

If not considering high balance in any given cycle, I would think highest spend in any given cycle is what they're looking at.  The me, the spend on a given cycle is going to matter more than overall spend when it comes to the credit limit.  Someone with low/steady usage over the course of year doesn't need a high credit limit, where someone that spends the sum of that low/steady usage in a single month has better justification for "needing" that CL, as it could be the constraint to spend [in that month]. 

My next question to anyone that's seen an Amex spend-related CLD would be what their highest usage/spend month has been in the last 12 months, relative to the CL on the account.

[fritscher]

I am putting balance transfer on mine. That may help.

[fritscher]

Have a feeling good by 3x clis

[pastnow]

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@Turbobuick wrote:

Recent 5 page thread on this subject was locked.

My letter reads... "the spend activity on the account listed above has been significantly lower than your credit limit." 

We've had this card a number of years and our income is stable. Most of our CL's are over 20K. Not sure what suddenly spooked Amex. My fico is 850, wife is 838. No balances.

We put thousands on the Blue Cash Everyday card last year, every year, mostly on groceries. If this card didn't suck in every catagory except grocery, we'd use it more. CL went from 24K to 12K and guess what? The 12K is going to be too large too. LOL

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This happened to my BCE as well. They decreased my limit from 25k to 15k, citing the exact same reason as yours. I have great payment history and FICO score. Leaving the extra CL idle doesn't imply potentil risk. Not sure how cutting people's CL/spending potential will benefit them as a company