I currently have a pending charge on my Amex, and today I tried to make a payment “other amount” whereas I added my total balance + the pending charge. I received an error on the app that the payment amount must not exceed the total balance.

I still have a day or two before close date, so will wait to see if the charge posts before then. I too like to pay things off early so large balances aren’t reported.

While it’s been probably over a year since I’ve tried to make an “early” payment as described above, I seem to recall in the past it was possible? Maybe it’s no longer possible since the balance updates immediately after payment now, where in the past it was 24-48 hours.