What happens if your don't pay you Amex charge card by due date?

[firstclasser]

Hi everyone,

I have an Amex platinum charge card, and am wondering what happens if you don't pay the balance in full by the due date?
Obviously with a credit card, you only have to pay a minimum balance and you get charged interest if not paid in full. With a charge card however, the terms state that the complete balance must be paid in full, hence I thought I'd ask the gurus on AFF what happens if its not paid.

The reason I ask is cause I have a short fall for a business loan I'm requiring, and an option for me to come up with the extra cash is to charge it on my amex platinum through the business POS facility.

With the extra cash flow I'd be generating by gaining equity into this new business, I anticipate I will be able to pay back my charge card within 12 months. I'm okay with paying 20% interest as it will still be worth it, but will I run into any problems by not paying the balance of a charge card in full?

 

[serfty]

The "interest rate" may be > than 20% and used to be called (if not still the case) "liquidated damages".


Carefully check your T&C's.

 

[Hvr]

an option for me to come up with the extra cash is to charge it on my amex platinum through the business POS facility.

Is this allowed? I'm sure there have been reports of people posting here who've gotten into trouble with the card provider doing exactly this.

 

[firstclasser]

Is this allowed? I'm sure there have been reports of people posting here who've gotten into trouble with the card provider doing exactly this.

As long as the business is not under your name at the time of charging the card, I'm not aware there'll be any issues.

 

[glasszon]

As a minimum, they will cancel all your Amex points as you did not pay off your obligation (although this will be the least of your worries). Given you are looking to drag this over 12 months, there's a good chance Amex will just terminate their relationship with you because you are not complying with the terms of the card.

Remember it is actually a feature of the credit card for you to carry a balance as long as you pay the minimum required each month, but for a charge card you are breaking the contract by not paying the balance in full.

In short, don't be surprised if you get blacklisted by Amex for this move, you might even lose your POS facility for breaking their T&C as well, you are not allowed to charge your own card through the POS facility to get the cash flow benefit.

 

[exp1k]

In the past I always paid my charge card just before the next statement, usually about 2 weeks after the due date. Never had any problems. Since a few months I get hit with late payment fees even f I pay just a few days after the due date.

Has there been a policy change regarding the grace period? Are others affected as well, or is this just for my account?

 

[Dr Bob]

I use to do the same thing. Statement date the 16th always paid by the next 14th even though I noticed the due date had moved to around the 31st.
Got a curtesy email advising that I now needed to pay by the due date otherwise I could be charged a late fee. Now all set to pay on the 28th.
I would think that if you ring they will wave a late fee.

 

[blackcat20]

Saw in my account that they can now deny you points earned for that statement if you fail to pay on time.

 

[DC3]

From memory, the balance of the Charge card was (technically) payable on statement issue but there was a grace period of a couple of weeks in which to pay. May have changed since then as that was many years ago.

 

[serfty]

It used to be you had until the next statment (despite what the pay by date stated).

However, reports are this has changed and the penalties are being applied if the date to pay by is not adhered to.

See reference to ":iquidated Damages".

[Mod Hat]I have merged these similar threads[/Mod Hat]

 

[Pushka]

We had paid our (Business) card in full and before due date. Noticed this on our statement. Anyone know what it is? It was redacted but seems a bit strange.