Comments on: American Express Cards DO Have Spending Limits

By: MATT

MATT — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:50:23 +0000

I just encountered this problem with my AMEX Gold Card earlier this week. I recieved notification that my account would be temporarily placed on “hold” due to a balance of around $900. My closing date is the 15th of each month. I owe $600 due at the end of October, and on Ocotber 17th,about $600 was spent on emergency car repair.(that 600 should be due at the end of Novemner). I have been a customer since 1986 and never been late on any payments. Once I received an email about my account being placed on “hold” until my balance is ZERO, i immediatley made a $350 payment. Today,I received a call from Customer Service saying that my account has been placed on :hold” until my balance is zero. That being said, they cant tell you what your limit is, which is just dumb; HOWEVER, they take the average of what you spent the previous 3-6 months and that is your limit; However, if you have a higher than normal monthly bill, once you pay that off, your monthly credit limit is increased. I think they should tell you what your “spending limit” is, and the person who came up with this bright idea is a prime example of a “buffoon”. THIS is a bad practice!!

By: David Weliver

David Weliver — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:41:30 +0000

Hi Norman,

To be honest, I’m not positive how AMEX treats your history with other cards in determining a spending limit on charge cards. My guess is that they would take your payment history on that card into account (for example, if you’re late on the HHonors card, they might lower your ability to spend on the charge card).

By: Norman Dea

Norman Dea — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:38:53 +0000

David,

You mention that “American Express determines spending limits based upon your reported annual income and your payment history with their cards.”

Does that history include other American Express cards? I have an extensivehistory with their AMEX Hilton HHonors Credit Card as well.

Thanks for your response.

Norm

By: help4fire

help4fire — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:11:07 +0000

AMERICAN EXPRESS BETRAID US!! IT CHANGED IS POLICY and now any card with a high limit is better than amex….

for what reason I would carry this card if I cannot pay 10K for a purshase of a client who is going to pay me in 2 weeks after installation???

is the first time this happens to me in the 8 years I’ve been with the card.. In fact in march 2009 I made a 10K purshase, paid it off in 2 weeks, now (5 months later) I can only use 9K!!

By: DS

DS — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:52:07 +0000

I have had the same issue with Amex, and I am going to can them! If you are interested in a company that doesn’t randomly lower limits and has been very good to its customers, I’d check into Capital One. I have 2 of their cards and they have never ever cut me off or lowered my limits. They seem more than fair and I am very pleased with them. I guess “whats in your wallet?” really does ring true!

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:12:16 +0000

Same here. My $25K card with a high of $21800 went to $2000 then to $500. I called and they said to make a payment so that my medication charge would go through from Costco. Member since 1996, averaged $4000 per month use, paid off in full every month, never late. I said, hello, look at the payment history, you’ve gotten over $700 worth of payments in the last two weeks along, and I’ve send in three more. The charge will be declined because you can’t keep up with my payments, how about even a tempory authorization so the meds will clear. “We don’t do that anymore” was te answer. Anyone have a better company? This is rediculous.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:19:47 +0000

I’ve had my Amex card for a couple months now without a problem. I’ve charged several hundreds of dollars at once to $1100 the other week for a new LCD, etc and assumed that I did have the “no pre-set spending limit” so I’ve been using it for a number of things so I wouldn’t have a problem in the long run. I guess it’s unsettling reading this, if any is true, that Amex seems to be misleading. Actually, just found out I have to pay my bill in full each month, lol. Of course that’s not the problem, but I’d rather pay some other things off like the new car I charged on my Capital One card which seems to have no problem increasing my limit by several thousand dollars a couple times a year with excellent payment history. Hm… maybe I made a mistake in going with Amex. We will see….

By: scott

scott — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:25:56 +0000

appears i have just been cut off @ 2k. tried to make a $37 purchase and was denied. luckily it was over the internet and not in person. ive always paid in full on time every month since 05. now suddenly i have a limit?

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:10:26 +0000

What is the average credit limit for new American Express customers?

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:46:30 +0000

Well its good to hear we are all in the same situation. Unlimited to 28,500 on 11/15/08 down to 4,900.00 as of Jan 28th. Multi – Business owner and card member since 94′. They will loose my business and we find there practice ridiculous.