Keeping Amex balance at Zero

Openyoureyes

Hello everyone,

First post here.

I keep all my credit card and charge card balances at zero.

I also have direct debits set up for all my credit cards to pay off the entire balance each month.

I wanted to know whether paying off my Amex Platinum balance (sometimes its upto 5 payments on the personal plat amex a month) is a good idea or whether it'll be better for my credit history and charge card "limit" to wait for direct debit payments.

Just want to add that I do not need any credit and I only use credit cards since they offer rewards and debit cards do not, plus the fact that you need credit cards for hotels and car rentals etc.

:beer:

dj1471

If the statement balance is always zero it will look like you're not using the card, it generally looks better to let the DD take care of it. Besides which there really is no point making extra payments if you have a DD set up for the full balance.

Charge cards don't have a limit so not sure what you mean by that.

Deadbeat

> Charge cards don't have a limit so not sure what you mean by that.

Amex uses (amongst other things) cardmembers' spending patterns to determine its internally-held spending limits.

So if the OP pays off their charge card account weekly this will probably lead to Amex approving quite low spending levels.

Openyoureyes

I need to stop paying it off early then. Can anyone else confirm this?

I thought if they knew I dont need to borrow they'd give me a higher limit.

[Deleted User]

Clearing in full each month will demonstrate that. Making lots of small payments can demonstrate a slightly fearful approach to credit.

Superscrooge

Paying off the balance up to five times a month is just pointless and would look bizarre to anyone checking your usage. It is not going to encourage any organisation to give you a higher limit.

If you want to improve your credit history, just use the credit card regularly. Always stay within your credit limit and when you receive your monthly statement, pay the balance in full, preferably by DD.

planteria

Superscrooge is right. only time i make additional payments is if i want to hit a card so hard during a month that i want to spend more than the limit.

System

Use the card to suit you and any payment pattern that suits you.

As long as you don't put it in large amounts of credit or miss payment dates, I wouldn't worry in the slightest.