Major APR increase on AMEX card

[Anonymous]

So, you went from say 15% to 20% ?

Anyway.... there's always a fluctuation of rates depending on a ton of things from credit items to the fed rate adjusting up and down.

95% of cards issued threse days are Variable rates unlike in the past where there were a significant amount of Fixed rate CC's on the market.  I still have 1 of them that's 6.9% fixed through a CU that I picked up back in 2007 and now all of their new cards are 8.9% and Variable.

If you're playing the CC game right then the APR shouldn't matter most of the time and when it does matter you should have backup plans in place if you need to carry a balance for more than a month or two to keep the expenses down.  If you want some ideas I might have some options that work depending on where you're at and eligibility requirements.

[bluejosua]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So, you went from say 15% to 20% ?

Anyway.... there's always a fluctuation of rates depending on a ton of things from credit items to the fed rate adjusting up and down.

95% of cards issued threse days are Variable rates unlike in the past where there were a significant amount of Fixed rate CC's on the market.  I still have 1 of them that's 6.9% fixed through a CU that I picked up back in 2007 and now all of their new cards are 8.9% and Variable.

If you're playing the CC game right then the APR shouldn't matter most of the time and when it does matter you should have backup plans in place if you need to carry a balance for more than a month or two to keep the expenses down.  If you want some ideas I might have some options that work depending on where you're at and eligibility requirements.

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Yes that is correct.  I have had rates increase when the fed rates have changed.  Just never a increase of 5%.  Based on responses it doesn't appear that others have either.  But since the rate only applies to purchases going forward I can avoid paying the increased rate.  I was just surprised.

Thanks for your time and advice.

[HeavenOhio]

It appears that it was 5 percentage points and 33 percent.

That's a lot.

[Anonymous]

IIRC I was at 14% and they jumped to 19% in the last few months..... it's not a big deal since it's a cash back card and I don't carry a balance on it..... I think they figured that out now 4-5 years into it that they're not going to be making $$ off my spend other than the swipes.  Yet they keep giving me bonuses when I rotate it up/down from BCE to BCP to BCE again.... 

[Shadowfactor]

It doesn't seem like this is the first time the OP has had AA taken against them. 5% is a considerable increase but it is better then having the account closed.

What is causing the current AA and what has caused the previously taken AA ?

[Anonymous]

if you aren't PIF, you shouldn't even be using rewards cards...don't worry about the APR and PIF....there's really nothing else to talk about..if you can't PIF, you should be using low rate, no frills cards.

[Anonymous]

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@bluejosua wrote:

My apologies if this is the wrong forum.  Feel free to move if necessary.

I have an AMEX Everyday card.  Have had it for several years although I believe it was converted to the Everyday card back in 2017.  I have just noticed that on my June 2019 statement ( I know, I should always read my statement closely) that they notified me my APR would be going up.  Now I realize APR's are rising but in this case the rate increased 33%.  The explanation was that a review of my credit scores prompted this increase.  Essentially when they reviewed my scores they did so like I was a new customer applying for credit.

Is this normal?  I have had credit limits decreased after review but I have never had such a drastic increase in APR.  I had one card that wanted to change the terms but they gave me the chance to opt out.  I have gone back over the statement numerous times and was not given the option to opt out.  Fortunately this only applies to purchases going forward so do have control over that.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Thank you.

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They did it to me earlier this year-

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Amex-raised-my-rate-4-and-I-didn-t-even-know/m-p/57251...

And I'll find out in a week if they're as quick about switching it back, but probably not -

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Amex-rate-decrease-w-CLI-What-are-the-odds/m-p/5752946...