Amex platinum hard spending limit

[Tony542577]

Hey guys,

I got the Amex platinum card 4 months ago and I've spent probably about $14,000 on it with things I've been fixing around my house, I've been paying it but leaving about $400 each month just to pay the interest on it and keep Amex happy making a little money on that side. I've had the money to pay it, it's just I've always put a small balance on new cards so it looks like I used them and paid a little interest too. This last month I paid it off in full and had gotten the statement 0, but yesterday they emailed me that "We're reaching out because we wanted to let you know as quickly as possible that after a recent review, we have assigned a Preset Spending Limit of $25600 to your account." I don't understand why. Before it was no preset spending limit. Should I call and fight it or wait a couple months put more spend and keep paying in full then call?

[Anonymous]

@Tony542577  Many believe that American Express wants members to pay in full, and quickly. I recommend to never keep a balance on their charge cards. Like you, I have a charge card. Mine is the Green. I have no preset spending limit, but every time I charge something I pay it immediately when the authorization shows. I believe this is the type of behavior American Express expects. Since they recently assigned your card a spending limit, it means they are having trust issues with you at this time. Perhaps if you pay your charges immediately and never keep a balance, Amex will restore your status. American Express is different from other lenders. They seem to make their profits from charges. Other lenders don't want you to pay in full, but instead want you to continue paying interest every month. Not American Express. Amex wants immediate payment in full, then continue and charge again.

[OmarGB9]

Unfortunately I think this is due to you leaving a balance on there every month for several months in a row. Amex is happier when you DON'T carry any balances. They don't want you to pay interest - they want you to pay in full every month (hence the charge card design).

[Anonymous]

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@OmarGB9 wrote:

Unfortunately I think this is due to you leaving a balance on there every month for several months in a row. Amex is happier when you DON'T carry any balances. They don't want you to pay interest - they want you to pay in full every month (hence the charge card design).

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RIght, and I really wouldn't recommend paying interest on new credit cards either.  They make some money from the swipe fees.   While interest is money to them, not PIF is a risk for them, so they will be perfectly fine with using it and PIF, and you will save money too.

[DSTforlife]

this is what i don't understand.  If you let the statement cut, and then pay in full by the payment date, technically you are not carrying a balance for any length of time....and you are not paying any interest.  Seems weird that AMEX would penalize the OP essentially for paying the statement balance in full each month....maybe there's something else at play here.

[GatorGuy]

I will never understand this idea of voluntarily carrying a balance and paying interest.

As far as lenders are concerned, there is only one reason a borrower would carry a balance and pay interest, it's because you are spending more than you have. This is not a good thing. They will not look favorable on this. You will always look riskier than someone who pays in full. 

Luckily for you it sounds like they gave you a generous hard limit. Keep spending how you were but pay in full every single month. For ALL your cards.

[simplynoir]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@OmarGB9 wrote:

Unfortunately I think this is due to you leaving a balance on there every month for several months in a row. Amex is happier when you DON'T carry any balances. They don't want you to pay interest - they want you to pay in full every month (hence the charge card design).

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RIght, and I really wouldn't recommend paying interest on new credit cards either.  They make some money from the swipe fees.   While interest is money to them, not PIF is a risk for them, so they will be perfectly fine with using it and PIF, and you will save money too.

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This here pretty much. With regards to getting the hard limit removed and the NPSL reinstated it's YMMV on when they do that. You might have to initially call them to see if they know when it can be removed and follow up every once in awhile after. It may take awhile but it can be done it's just the timeline may just be shorter or longer than you expect

[W261w261]

Change your behavior and hope for the best. If you do that you'll get back to NPSL, but it's any body's guess when. Your spending limit seems to be quite high, something you can easily live with. It could be a lot worse. 

[DSTforlife]

my point is if the OP is letting $400 report on the statement, and spending 14k, surely the payments made covers the statement balance each month...which means they should not be paying any interest.  Interest doesn't start unless there's a remaining statement balance left after the payment date...all credit cards give you the initial grace period of no interest until the payment date.

for example, month 0:  spend 5k, and pay 4.5k which means 500 is the 1st statement balance.  next month:  spend 5k, and pay 5k which means the 500 statement balance is paid and the remaining 500 is what's remaining for current balance because the first 500 of the 5k payment is applied to the statement balance.  no interest is charged.

unless the OP is using the POT feature, the charge card's statement balance has to be paid in full each month.

[bigseegar]

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@Anonymous wrote:

@Tony542577  Many believe that American Express wants members to pay in full, and quickly. I recommend to never keep a balance on their charge cards. Like you, I have a charge card. Mine is the Green. I have no preset spending limit, but every time I charge something I pay it immediately when the authorization shows. I believe this is the type of behavior American Express expects. Since they recently assigned your card a spending limit, it means they are having trust issues with you at this time. Perhaps if you pay your charges immediately and never keep a balance, Amex will restore your status. American Express is different from other lenders. They seem to make their profits from charges. Other lenders don't want you to pay in full, but instead want you to continue paying interest every month. Not American Express. Amex wants immediate payment in full, then continue and charge again.

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On their Charge Cards yes they expect/much prefer PIF every month. However it doesn't matter to them whether that is PIF on the Due Date or earlier really. There is no need and it doesn't help your standing any really to pay it as soons as you make the charge. AmEx just likes to see it paid monthly, period. I've been (well off and on with a 19 year gap lol) an AmEx Card Member since 1984 and I've always paid on or just before the the due date and never had a hard limit placed on either my Green, Gold or Platinum cards. They also could be concerned about your spending vs your reported income as well or your total credit crad UTL from all sources as they pull your credit every 2-4 weeks.