Amex to close Charge cards in UK

[andye]

In the second half of the article below from the UK site headforpoints it suggests that Amex is going to close the Charge product and presumably make them credit cards.

End of an era as American Express retires its iconic 'Green' card

It's a symbolic day for the UK payments industry as the Amex Green charge card - the face of American Express for many years - is retired from the UK market.

www.headforpoints.com

No idea if this has any AU implications. I personally prefer having a large part of my spend not taking up any total credit limit

 

[Princess Fiona]

In the second half of the article below from the UK site headforpoints it suggests that Amex is going to close the Charge product and presumably make them credit cards.

End of an era as American Express retires its iconic 'Green' card

It's a symbolic day for the UK payments industry as the Amex Green charge card - the face of American Express for many years - is retired from the UK market.

www.headforpoints.com

No idea if this has any AU implications. I personally prefer having a large part of my spend not taking up any total credit limit

Don’t think it will have any affect.
Both the Plat Charge and Centurion have way bigger markets and will continue to exist in the UK and here.

 

[daft009]

agreed.. love the charge card.
no way could I go back to a credit card with a hard limit

 

[SYD]

I haven’t had a charge card for decades. Am I missing out on something? (short of impulse buying a Tesla etc?)

 

[daft009]

Personally it's just the no limit aspect as I have business expenses.
Some months I might do twice my average or 4x my average and I don't have to worry about checking the limits

 

[Princess Fiona]

I haven’t had a charge card for decades. Am I missing out on something? (short of impulse buying a Tesla etc?)

Absolutely brilliant benefits.
Decent TI, lounge access in multiple programs are the two that I value most.

 

[SYD]

Absolutely brilliant benefits.
Decent TI, lounge access in multiple programs are the two that I value most.

I’m assuming the TI is much the same as the AMEX credit card travel insurance I have on my two cards? Although, I prefer to have a seperate worldwide annual policy.

I rarely find myself loungeles, so I’ve never been swayed enough to pay for one of the more premium cards that come with that but again, often available on the credit card as well as a charge card?

As mentioned earlier, “no credit limit” on the charge card was the main difference but you always had to pay in full each month (which I do anyway).

 

[albyd]

Personally it's just the no limit aspect as I have business expenses.
Some months I might do twice my average or 4x my average and I don't have to worry about checking the limits

I always thought there was a limit. I went way over my "soft" limit and they suspended it until I made payment to get it back down under that threshold. How did you get a limit free card? All Amex's promotional material is at pains to point out it's not an unlimited credit line - simply not pre-set - in practice, it fluctuates with your spending pattern. If spend is way beyond your usual spend levels, Amex requires pre-payment. I've been told that to get a higher limit if I want it, I will need to be "underwritten" and that limit is reviewed 4 (I think) years later.

Green has also been withdrawn from the Australian market for quite some timeas has Gold with Platinum and Centurion being the only local Charge products. In the US, they are showing Green and Gold TLC so just depends on the market - whether it's left to wither on the vine.

I like the Green - it's very iconic and retro. Hopefully it will live on. Personally, I pay my Charge off every month and would only consider a credit product if the earn rate was much higher than the Charge (like Explorer was pre-devaluation). It's so much easier to use the Charge during the month and not have to prepay it like I was my credit card to make large purchases.

YMMV.

 

[SYD]

Personally, I pay my Charge off every month and would only consider a credit product if the earn rate was much higher than the Charge (like Explorer was pre-devaluation). It's so much easier to use the Charge during the month and not have to prepay it like I was my credit card to make large purchases.

The charge card always had to be paid in full each month. That’s the key difference between a charge card and a credit card (with pre-approved unsecured credit limit, min repayments, interest etc). That was never an issue for me.

I had the green card back in the ‘90s for “Express Cash“ and other benefits travelling overseas but eventually cancelled it because I had a free Gold CC via a Professional Body. Pretty sure I’m no worse off - in fact my current small Biz CC is quite good.

 

[Travelerwin]

The main benefit of a charge card, if you do a lot of property investing, is that it doesn't count as a credit card and impact your serviceability. At least that's the main benefit for me.

 

[SYD]

The main benefit of a charge card, if you do a lot of property investing, is that it doesn't count as a credit card and impact your serviceability. At least that's the main benefit for me.

True. Also why businesses got everyone off Visa and onto Corporate AMEX CC where the individual is responsible. ie the liability is off the balance sheet!

 

[daft009]

I always thought there was a limit. I went way over my "soft" limit and they suspended it until I made payment to get it back down under that threshold. How did you get a limit free card? All Amex's promotional material is at pains to point out it's not an unlimited credit line - simply not pre-set - in practice, it fluctuates with your spending pattern. If spend is way beyond your usual spend levels, Amex requires pre-payment. I've been told that to get a higher limit if I want it, I will need to be "underwritten" and that limit is reviewed 4 (I think) years later.

Yep I've had them block me too, and over months I've increased spend slowly. most recently it let me cross $200k in June within one statement period and no blocks were placed.

I usually average $40-60k

 

[albyd]

Likewise, I built up my spend pattern over time until I was told I was at the limit. I was surprised they let some chunky charges through recently before they cut me off. Was kinda hoping my shadow limit had increased beyond what I'd been told previously that it was - on account of my good conduct and all ... lol

 

[Doctore1003]

You can always ring up and ask what your current "soft" limit is. I did that recently before buying a car.

 

[pangwen]

I haven’t had a charge card for decades. Am I missing out on something? (short of impulse buying a Tesla etc?)

I did that recently before buying a car.

At the risk of going off-topic, I was thinking of buying a Tesla, but the experience from one of my family members was that there was no option to pay for it by card (except maybe the initial small deposit). Has anyone bought a Tesla using their Plat Charge and can enlighten me on the process? Is it something the concierge can facilitate?

 

[Spongbob]

At the risk of going off-topic, I was thinking of buying a Tesla, but the experience from one of my family members was that there was no option to pay for it by card (except maybe the initial small deposit). Has anyone bought a Tesla using their Plat Charge and can enlighten me on the process? Is it something the concierge can facilitate?

A charge card for a charge car?

 

[albyd]

I imagine Tesla don’t want to pay the merchant fees over and above the initial deposit as is commonly the case with all car dealers. I use BlueChain for this type of payment - they can do bank transfers funded from your Amex. Just a matter of whether the service fees make sense for you and if you have an ABN as I believe they’re B2B only. IME funds arrive at the other end very quickly.

Tesla may accommodate Amex payment for the balance if you ask nicely and they may quote a fee for it. I don’t have experience with making this sort of payment to Tesla - again a matter of whether that fee makes sense for your circumstances.