huh?!? Plat balance chasing??

[elixerin]

okay so i just had some unfortunate? and randomly embarrassing and shabby news from AMEX regarding my charge card i just obtained Jan 8... in the first week or so i ran 35k got the message of payment and sent 32k right away, i spent 8k since getting me to about 11-12k total balance before getting the message again.. paid 10k and now with $1847 balance im getting charges declined so i called furiously and was informed that my “limit” is $3900???

is this regular behavior for amex charge cards?? thats hella annoying.. i have a cc with them thats 3x+ the charge card “limit”

getting balance chased with AMEX Plat is honestly disappointing.. contemplating a full payment and close out. At least with the CC i know what charges i can and can’t be declined on.. when i have to pay, etc.

please charge card holders share thoughts.. i dont mind paying 3900 so often but cant afford charges over that amount being declined, EXTREME inconvenience that i wasn’t experiencing first few weeks... what’s actually happening?

[Anonymous]

No preset spending limit, typically offered with charge cards, is not the green light for endless charging, regardless of how many times you may PIF during the billing cycle. This is more true upon initial card opening.

AMEX will still benchmark your spending against your reported income. If your reported income doesn’t necessarily support the spend, they will get spooked.

Furthermore, don’t mistake that the Platinum card carries any additional charging privileges than the Green has, for example.

[kerplunk]

Have you thought about the reasons American Express is treating you like this? What might stand out to them? Income, credit score, history with them, etc.

[FinStar]

I'd love to know what's tripping AmEx's algorithms, since for obvious reasons, you're on the radar as they're definitely not comfortable with the risk. Especially when this card hadn't been open for too long by AmEx standards.

While it can be annoying, they're mitigating risk, bottom line. None of us áre privvy to how you manage your finances or how your accounts are handled and what types of transaction activity is on your card, but AmEx does.

It's definitely not regular AmEx behavior since you'd see a plethora of threads here in the forums scorning such a pattern.

You sure you want to go for Schwab?

[wasCB14]

It's "regular behavior" for Amex when they have increasing concern about a customer's ability to pay. It's not something they do to the customers they want to keep.

Don't be shocked if they later reduce the limit on, or close, your ~$12k CL card.

It's hard to say why this is happening without a complete picture of your finances.

[wasCB14]

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@FinStar wrote:
You sure you want to go for Schwab?

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Did I miss something? How does Schwab enter into this?

[elixerin]

308k income on app.. i was thinking about schwab and major future point boosts and redemption outlets but this experience just put a huge hinder on all of that... whats the play here?? i can’t possibly see in any world how sending 40k+ before first statement even cuts is “highly risky”, kind of a joke..

apologize for the venting but this experience severely caught me off guard..

[FinStar]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@FinStar wrote:
You sure you want to go for Schwab?

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Did I miss something? How does Schwab enter into this?

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@elixerin wrote:
i have a vanilla plat now, i was trying to justify a downgrade to the cheapest AF card while retaining tradeline so that i can pick up the schwab and not have two Plat cards

i will be looking for those 5-10 CPP values for sure, its really for business/first class fliers and im someone who doesn’t mind economy/“premium” economy as they put it this is more so if after the research i put in to that route of redemption doesn’t pan out, i have a fall back 1.25 CPP cash deposit

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Thread here from 1/26 > https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/AMEX-Green-code-uber-eats-as-3x/m-p/5893761

[Anonymous]

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@elixerin wrote:
308k income on app.. i was thinking about schwab and major future point boosts and redemption outlets but this experience just put a huge hinder on all of that... whats the play here?? i can’t possibly see in any world sending 40k+ before first statement even cuts is “highly risky”, kind of a joke..

apologize for the venting but this experience severely caught me off guard..

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You spent $43k in the first 3 weeks. You were on pace to spend $745k in one year. More than twice your reported income could be a red flag. 

[Anonymous]

What types of transactions were these? Anything that might spark the interest of AMEX?