American Express - gold card - chargecard limit?

dingends

Hello!

just wondering,

called up amex and asked how much I can spent on my charge card and they just said up to me.

do you guys know from when they start blocking transactions? I mean there must be clearly a limit set.

kind regards,

dingends

chattychappy

Many, many, many years ago, when I got a Amex gold chargecard the guy on the phone said "you can usually spend up to what you have shown us you can afford". I asked him how much have I shown you I can afford? He couldn't say. He said that they might ask for more information about me if I wanted to make a large purchase and I should call them first. What was a "large purchase"? He said as a I guide, they wouldn't expect to see more than 10% of my declared income going through in the first statement cycle.

thebritishbloke

chattychappy wrote: »

Many, many, many years ago, when I got a Amex gold chargecard the guy on the phone said "you can usually spend up to what you have shown us you can afford". I asked him how much have I shown you I can afford? He couldn't say. He said that they might ask for more information about me if I wanted to make a large purchase and I should call them first. What was a "large purchase"? He said as a I guide, they wouldn't expect to see more than 10% of my declared income going through in the first statement cycle.

That's interesting, as I'd expect a lot of people who take out AmEx cards to make a huge purchase within the first couple of months to get the bonus points/cashback.

SLZ

dingends wrote: »

Hello!

just wondering,

called up amex and asked how much I can spent on my charge card and they just said up to me.

do you guys know from when they start blocking transactions? I mean there must be clearly a limit set.

kind regards,

dingends

They'll block based on previous purchase limits, if you go over that limit they'll call and make sure that you have the available funds to pay off the card.

I'd recommend putting as much through a month to prevent blocking.

thebritishbloke

SLZ wrote: »

They'll block based on previous purchase limits, if you go over that limit they'll call and make sure that you have the available funds to pay off the card.

I'd recommend putting as much through a month to prevent blocking.

Don't do this, haha. You'll just waste money.

planteria

i think perhaps what SLZ meant was to put as much of your normal spending through the card as possible, to beef up your track record on the card.:think:

SLZ

thebritishbloke wrote: »

Don't do this, haha. You'll just waste money.

I meant that you put through your usual spend on AMEX rather than any other card although it doesn't really help unless you spend a good few thousand a month as going from buying groceries at Waitrose to a Ferrari will obviously result in a card block

InsideInsurance

thebritishbloke wrote: »

That's interesting, as I'd expect a lot of people who take out AmEx cards to make a huge purchase within the first couple of months to get the bonus points/cashback.

Define huge purchases?

There is no set limit on a chargecard however each transaction is considered based on its value and the current outstanding balance. If you want to ensure a transaction will go through to save embarrassment of it being declined you can call AmEx first and they can test it for you with a 99% accuracy

Like all lenders as time goes on they become more comfortable and are likely to be willing to lend more. If you consistently have and payoff high balances then clearly they are more likely to allow you to run high balances as you've a proven track record.

Personally I've only had the discussion with them twice, the first time was within weeks of getting a new card when I called and they said that a £6k transaction, on top of other spending, would be declined. The second time was a few months later where due to a merchant error about £15k of spend had been authorised and they called me advising that transactions over £100 would most likely be declined until the erroneous authorisations dropped off (obv only had my word for the fact they were errors)

starM

When I received my charge card. I rang Amex they told me I have a dummy limit of 4k. Although it can change depending the usage of my account. They said if I will be making large purchase ring and obtain confirmation first.

reclusive46

starM wrote: »

When I received my charge card. I rang Amex they told me I have a dummy limit of 4k. Although it can change depending the usage of my account. They said if I will be making large purchase ring and obtain confirmation first.

As one of the above posters mentioned though, its important to note that limit is per transaction. Amex generally won't decline Restaurant, petrol and some hotel/rental transactions without informing you that you have a full account block.

dingends

ok thats good to know, thanks guys!