AMEX Plat Charges Declined and Review?
Nov 25, 2017, 12:50 pm
#46
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Boulder
Programs: AA Plat, CX Silver
Posts: 2,361
How would it be "ticking off everyone else" to simply be more conservative with credit limits if that's what the underwriting tells them? It simply makes no sense to let people spend big money and then try to make sure they have the money. If Amex didn't want people to carry a balance for more than a couple months, it wouldn't be in the CC business — it would just issue the original charge cards.
Are they right about their risk management? Who knows. But I suspect that's the calculation they're making.
Nov 25, 2017, 1:05 pm
#47
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Miami, Florida
Programs: AA ExPlat, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Spire, Hilton Gold
Posts: 4,009
No matter how you slice it, it makes no sense to let people spend money and then verify afterward that they can repay it. As far as I'm aware, no other major issuers do this — they might do a review and shut an account down, but the customer is rarely involved.
Contrary to the other poster's claim above, charge-card spending seems to trigger an Amex F/R much more often than CC spending or carrying a CC balance.
Contrary to the other poster's claim above, charge-card spending seems to trigger an Amex F/R much more often than CC spending or carrying a CC balance.
Nov 25, 2017, 2:07 pm
#48
Join Date: Mar 2017
Programs: HHonors, TrueBlue, Delta SkyMiles, Hyatt Discoverist, Starwood Preferred Guest, American Airlines.
Posts: 2,035
Nov 25, 2017, 3:59 pm
#49
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Miami, Florida
Programs: AA ExPlat, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Spire, Hilton Gold
Posts: 4,009
Look, I'm not trying to start an argument with you, but it is well known that those who carry high balances and use up a large portion of their credit line have a significantly higher chance of getting an FR, than someone who pays their balance off every month or keeps their utilization low. AMEX is just like Barclaycard, if you sneeze in the wrong direction they flip out. AMEX will let you carry $7,000 of your $10,000 limit for a few months to collect the interest, but if at the end of month #3 , your balance is still $6,870, expect a FR because you obviously can't pay the card off on your income and must've lied on your application.
It's easy for banks to figure out who's carrying balances from credit reports, so if Amex didn't want people who carry a balance, they'd simply reject applicants who show a recent history of carrying balances.