I’m sure there of plenty of things people can find to complain about American Express. They got a bad name when the AMEX RAT ran rampant, finding every way to shut down every loophole when AMEX created and promoted those offers.
I have since taken a careful approach when dealing the American Express. I will push for benefits when I think they’re warranted but I’m also very careful when using one of their offers for a signup bonus.
That’s why I was shocked when I got an email from AMEX that I’ve never received from another bank.
I try my best to pay my credit cards on time but occasionally I’ll miss a payment when I’m busy worrying about things, like the upcoming holidays. Once the late fee hits your account, you can contact the bank to apologize and they may waive the late fee if you’re a good customer.
But this was the first time I’d received an email on the day of my payment reminding me that I hadn’t paid my bill.
Note: This isn’t a message saying I missed the payment. It’s a reminder that I didn’t make a payment yet (and that I still had a few hours to resolve that mistake.)
In the short term, this email may have cost AMEX $39 in the late fee and a few dollars of interest. However, in the long term, it shows goodwill toward cardholders. Other banks send this email the day AFTER you missed a payment when the late charge has already hit your account.
AMEX allowed me to correct my oversight in scheduling a payment. They still have their money and I don’t have to pay the penalty for paying my bill 12 hours after it was due.
So for a brief moment, American Express did what was right. It’s a holiday miracle!
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4 comments
You don’t use autopay? Any reason why?
It’s almost as if the regulators are fining banks and clamping down on fees and penalties not commensurate with the coat of enforcing or processing the task.
Chase is also giving 24 hours to clear an overdraft and BofA paved the way in removing lots of fees
How much was the fine on Wells Fargo?!
All banks send payment reminders like this Amex one. More importantly readers should set up these alerts on all their accounts. Every single one! We once received a text of about a charge that we never made. The account had no balance. So we immediately informed Citi that it wasn’t our charge.
Going back to Amex, you have to be a really good customer for Amex to waive a late fee. I have had a late fee waived, but my household has 9 Amex accounts. One has to very careful not paying on time with Amex cards. Because many Amex cards are “charge cards”, not credit cards!
My husband and I are very happy customers with AMEX, we have had the card for aboit a year now and I highly recommend. A few things, we are using it specifically for airline points and we pay all cards off every month regardless…basically if I dont have the money ot has to wait. I have no late fees, no interest and no issues. They have also raised my limit 3 times in a year. Also, we had 3 fraud issues between 2 cards and they handled it immediately and we had new cards in no time. So, the moral of the story is, they are a great company and this really should be how all cc companies are if you areba responsible customer.