About American Express Credit Guide
What information can I find on MyCredit Guide?
MyCredit Guide provides your VantageScore® credit score by TransUnion®, refreshed weekly upon login. MyCredit Guide also includes a range of information and tools to help you understand your credit score better and plan for the future. Some of the features include:
- Score Factors impacting your score
- Up to 12 months of score history
- Detailed TransUnion credit report
- Email alerts about critical changes to your TransUnion credit report information to help you identify potential fraud
- Score simulator to help you assess the possible impact of financial choices before you make them
How often is the credit score in MyCredit Guide updated?
Your VantageScore credit score is updated weekly, upon login.
What are the “Score Factors” impacting my VantageScore credit score?
The “Score Factors” impacting your VantageScore credit score tell you what information from your TransUnion credit report is impacting the calculation of your score. These are some key factors that could affect your credit score:
- Your history of making payments on time
- How old your credit accounts are
- How much credit you are using
- Recent inquiries for credit
- Recently opened new credit or loan accounts
- How much credit you have available
What is the Credit Score Simulator?
Please note the results of Credit Score Simulator are estimated and dont necessarily show the exact results a given behavior will have on your score.
How accurate is the Credit Score Simulator?
Avoiding Annual Fees With Retention Offers
A huge driver for why people cancel their cards is because they dont want to pay the annual fee. This is really understandable for cards that have annual fees in the $200-$500 range. But did you know that you can avoid these annual fees sometimes or at least get them effectively cut down?
You can do this by getting something known as a retention offer. These are offers that go out and are usually based on things like your spend in a given year and also your history with American Express.
So lets say that you have put $50,000 worth of spend on a Platinum Card and you have had that card for a handful of years.
In that case, you could expect to get some kind of offer with the annual fee waived, partially waived, or given an offer of Membership Rewards.
Sometimes you might have to put additional spend on your card to earn the Membership Rewards but other times they will just give them to you outright.
You dont always have to put a significant amount of spend on the card to get a retention offer, though. But generally the more spend you put on it the better your odds of getting a retention offer.
To inquire about a retention offer the easiest way is to just simply call the number on the back of your card and let them know that you were thinking about canceling your card but wanted to see if there are any incentives to prevent you from canceling.
Will Afterpay Affect My Credit Score Negatively
Afterpay is not much different from a credit card when it comes to impacting your credit score negatively. The ease of shopping with Afterpay could encourage you to spend more than you would have typically. These spending patterns could lead you to financial stress where you miss a payment. Afterpay is likely to report this missed payment to a credit reporting agency which will negatively impact your credit score.
Afterpay doesnt usually run a credit check when youre applying. This means your positive repayment history with them wont be noted on your credit report.However, if you miss even a single payment, theyre likely to report this. This can then cause your credit score to decrease. Its important to note that while it might not be charging you interest or fees, Afterpay is just as risky and can land you in as much trouble as a credit card or other loan.
As long as you use Afterpay responsibly, make all repayments on time and repay your balance on time, it shouldnt affect your credit score negatively.
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This article was reviewed by Personal Finance EditorGeorgia Brown before it was published as part of RateCitys Fact Check process.
Jodie Humphries
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Closing A Credit Card Improves My Credit Score
False. Closing a credit card will never improve your credit score in fact, it’s likely to ding your score and that’s one reason experts generally don’t recommend it. But there are some specific circumstances to think about before deciding whether or not to cancel your credit card.
If your card has no annual fee, then there’s really no harm in keeping it open. But if you’re losing money on the card, you can call up the card issuer and ask if you can switch to a no annual fee credit card. If you’re being charged a high interest rate, it might be beneficial to close a credit card.
The Capital One offers a simulator so you can see how taking certain actions might impact your credit score. This is a good place to start if you’re worried that closing your card might make your score go down.
What Does Your Credit Score Mean
Understanding how credit scores are calculated is one thing. But what does that mean when it comes time to apply for a credit card?
All the factors spelled out above will combine to calculate your credit score.
To get approved for most credit cards, your credit score will need to be above a certain threshold. And that number is different from credit card to credit card. Scores are typically lumped into buckets labeled as either Poor Credit, Subprime, Acceptable Credit, Good Credit, and Excellent Credit.
Heres what that looks like in practice. Generally speaking, the higher your credit score, the better the interest rate will be when it comes time to borrow money.
So what does that mean if youre applying for the Amex Platinum?
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How Does Afterpay Affect My Credit Rating
Afterpay is a service that allows you to buy and receive something instantly, then you can pay back the total in fortnightly instalments without interest. If you sign up using your debit card, Afterpay offers a for debit card purchases.
According to Afterpays Terms of Service, when you apply, theyll make enquiries that they consider necessary to confirm your identity and assess your capability to make payments in accordance with the payment schedule relating to Afterpay orders. For example, they could order a credit report, perform other repayment capability checks, and verify the information you provide against third party databases. If you open an account with a credit card, itll be assessed based on your limit and credit history.
Signing up for Afterpay is also free and if you do choose to sign up, it wont affect your credit score initially. However, if you have any negative activity on your account, such as late payments, missed payments, defaults or chargebacks, Afterpay may report them to a credit reporting agency, which will affect both your credit rating and your ability to secure a mortgage. Moreover, if you fail to pay an instalment, youll be charged a late fee of around $10.
As you can see, you should only use ZipPay or Afterpay if you can afford the repayments and considered the effect it may have on your credit rating. This is very important if youre thinking of applying for a home loan.
Do I Need To Apply For A Scotia Selectpay Installment Plan And How Will An Installment Plan Impact My Credit Score
No, a Scotia SelectPay Installment Plan is a new feature available on eligible Scotiabank credit card accounts . Its not currently available for Scotiabank American Express, Scotiabank Mastercard credit cards, or small business Scotiabank credit card accounts. Its also not available for Quebec residents.
Please refer to our FAQs about qualifying for installment plans to learn about eligibility.
An installment plan wont impact your credit score. When you enroll in an installment plan, Scotiabank will not perform an additional credit check.
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I Don’t Need To Worry About My Credit Score Until I’m Older
False. The minimum age at which you can apply for credit is 18 and that’s when you should start worrying about your credit score. Financial experts recommend young people start building credit as soon as possible. The length of your credit history is a big factor in your credit score, so the sooner you establish credit the better.
For those just beginning their credit journey, check out CNBC Select’s recommendation for the best first credit card. If you’re a student, check out our list of the best cards for college students.
Which Cards Are Eligible For Pay It Plan It
Pay It, Plan It is available only for eligible personal American Express credit cards, which includes quite a few options. This benefit isnt available for business credit cards from American Express, which rules out cards like The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. Another exception includes accounts with Pay over Time.
Here are a few credit card options to consider if youre looking for Pay It, Plan It access:
Pay It, Plan It also works for American Express credit cards that are co-branded with airline and hotel partners. This means you could use this benefit with co-branded Delta credit cards like the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card or the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, among others.
Remember, youll still earn rewards as normal on purchases you pay off using the Pay It, Plan It feature. Where many of the top American Express credit cards let you earn cash back or statement credits, co-branded credit cards tend to let you earn airline miles or hotel points that you likely dont want to give up.
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Social Security And The Tax Torpedo
Dear Liz: People are typically advised to wait as long as possible to take Social Security to maximize the benefit. If a couple has low expenses and substantial pensions, wouldnt it make sense to take Social Security earlier, to preserve retirement funds to pass on to their heirs? Social Security payments stop upon death, whereas retirement accounts are passed on to heirs.
Answer: If your primary concern is preserving an inheritance, maximizing your Social Security payments could help you reduce how much you have to withdraw from retirement funds in the long run.
Starting early also could make you more susceptible to whats known as the tax torpedo, which is a sharp increase in marginal tax rates due to how Social Security is taxed when someone receives other income. People who only receive Social Security dont face the torpedo, and higher-income people probably cant avoid it, but middle-income people may be able to lessen the hit by delaying Social Security and drawing from their retirement funds instead.
One way to preserve assets for heirs is to convert traditional retirement accounts to Roth IRAs. This requires paying taxes on the conversions, but then you wouldnt face required minimum distributions on the Roth accounts.
Calculating the best course can be difficult. You can pay $20 to $40 to use sophisticated claiming software such as Social Security Solutions or Maximize My Social Security to model various options, or consider consulting with a fee-only advisor.
When Using A Company Card Helps Your Credit Score
Using a company credit card to charge business expenses can indirectly help your personal credit score by helping you maintain a low credit utilization rate.
Shon Anderson, a certified financial planner and president at Anderson Financial Strategies, gives an example to show how.
Imagine you were taking a business trip and had to charge expenses, such as airline flights, hotels, cabs and meals, onto a credit card. If you had to put these business expenses onto your personal credit card and later get reimbursed by your company, this could cause a steep increase in how much of your personal credit limit you use.
And depending on how long it took for your company to repay you, those charges could linger long enough to incur interest charges.
“The would see those extra charges and report a higher , which can negatively impact your score,” Anderson tells CNBC Select. Experts typically recommend keeping your utilization rate, or your debt-to-credit ratio, below 30%.
Anderson notes one caveat: If you have plenty of unutilized credit and don’t have any significant purchases coming up, or you don’t plan on applying for a loan any time soon, you may be able to handle a slight temporary reduction in your score. If that’s the case, putting these business expenses on your personal credit card can help you more quickly earn rewards, such as airline miles or cash back.
Editorial Note:
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How Do Zip Pay And Afterpay Work
Essentially, you can purchase goods or services and receive them instantly, then pay the account off over four fortnightly instalments. IFPPs dont charge sign-up fees, and there are no interest charges .
As soon as the transaction goes through, your contract with the retailer is complete Lieu explains they are paid in full by Afterpay or Zip Pay at the time of the transaction, and your payment contract is now entirely between you and your IFPP.
Zip Pay offers three different credit limits: $350, $500 and $1,000, while Afterpay has a limit of $500 for debit card purchases and an account opened with a credit card will be assessed based on your limit and credit history.
To apply, you can log onto their website and fill out an online form. Youll need to allow them to look at your Paypal, social media or bank account to verify your identity to make sure you are who you say you are. Subject to approval, sign-up takes only seconds, after which you can complete your purchase and pay for it later.
Some online stores will allow you to sign up on the spot and then at the checkout, you can select Zip Pay or Afterpay for payment method and answer a few quick questions. Once youve been approved, you can continue to use your account anywhere that accepts the payment platforms.
Pay Over Time Vs Traditional Revolving Credit
The Pay Over Time feature can make your charge card function more like a traditional credit. With charge cards, consumers or businesses are not able to carry a balance your amount due on your monthly statement must be paid in full.
The difference with Pay Over Time is that it permits cardholders to finance eligible purchases beyond the month with interest.
Yet, Pay Over Time differs from a typical credit card you may have in your wallet. Notably, Pay Over Time enables you to toggle the feature on and off.
Additionally, your qualifying American Express card has no preset spending limit, while your Pay Over Time limit does resemble a traditional revolving credit limit. In effect, you can charge what you want on your American Express card and decide when and how to pay off the amount you owe.
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American Express Personal Loan Reviews & Transparency
Category Rating: 90%
- Better Business Bureau: American Express has an A+ rating. It has been accredited since 1948.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: The CFPB has recorded only around 25 complaints about American Express personal installment loans. Some of the complaints listed include having trouble receiving funding, while others describe difficulty settling when customers couldnt keep up with payments. Amex provides consistent timely responses to complaints.
- WalletHub: American Express has a user rating of 3.9/5. Thats the average of more than 20,000 reviews.
- Transparency: American Express is very transparent about all of their personal loan terms. You can easily access those terms on their website. One area where they could be clearer is by stating minimum income requirements.
American Express has a good reputation, and they score high marks from their own customers. They have a high level of transparency as well. All these factors lead to a good score in this category.
Amex Pay It Plan It: What It Is And How It Works
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American Express’s Pay It Plan It® feature lets you pay for purchases one at a time with your smartphone and might help you save money on interest in the process.
Pay It Plan It® gives cardholders the option to pay off small purchase amounts right away or pay down large balances over time by setting up an interest-free payment plan for a monthly fee . For those who carry balances, the latter option could potentially add up to big savings.
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How To Choose A Buy Now Pay Later Plan
When comparing buy now, pay later plans, pay particular attention to the following:
- Which retailers accept it
- Number of installment payments required
- Interest charges, if any
- Limitations or exclusions on purchases
- Shipping policies
- Refund and return policies
Also, consider how a buy now, pay later agreement might affect your credit. Though many BNPL companies only perform a soft credit check to approve shoppers for loans, your credit score could still suffer if you’re late in making a payment and the company reports it to a credit bureau.