Amex reduces credit 24 hours after I add cash

sparklegrrrl

I have an Amex card. It has a £2,000 of credit, I leave it at around £1,900 - paying off the minimum balance each month. I normally put more than the minimum balance back on the card so I can pay bills and any goods online (credit card protection).

A few days ago I put on £550, it appeared almost straight away - the following day the credit vanished. A couple of days later it still wasn't there, so I decided to chase up and found out they've reduced my credit to £1,500. Hence I've pretty much lost that cash I've just paid on.

Now I know that really, it isn't my money, but Amex's that I'm borrowing for a fee. And I know that I've just paid £4/500 towards debt, but I could really do with that £550 — £300 is for bills, the rest for planned purchases. This has certainly messed up my plans for this month.

I guess I have no recourse here and in future I should just stick with my debit card?

CLAPTON

this is happening a lot to people who are always near their credit limit... it is seen as the person is struggling to manage

exel1966

sparklegrrrl wrote: »

A few days ago I put on £550, it appeared almost straight away - the following day the credit vanished. A couple of days later it still wasn't there, so I decided to chase up and found out they've reduced my credit to £1,500. Hence I've pretty much lost that cash I've just paid on.

Credit limit reductions are nothing new, it can happen to anyone, but it's more likely to happen to those who sail close to their limits as it indicates possible financial problems.

As for losing £500, well you haven't. You've reduced your debt considerably and you're going to have lower interest payments next month. Maybe you could obtain a temporary overdraft to cover your short term cashflow issue with regard to the bills ?

Are the planned purchases really neccessary considering you don't have your own funds to afford them ?