Amex credit cards vs Pay Over Time cards
Amex offers both credit cards and “Pay Over Time” cards (the latter are charge cards under the hood but also, optionally, have credit-card-like “pay over time” capability). Unlike credit cards, Pay Over Time cards allow customers to turn on or off the pay over time capability (see this post for details). When pay over time is turned off, you are required to pay the card’s balance in full each month. Pay Over Time cards also differ from credit cards in that they have no clearly defined credit limit. Behind the scenes, though, Amex can and does impose limits. For the customer who pays off their cards in full each month, there is no practical difference between credit cards and Pay Over Time cards except for one key thing: Amex imposes a limit on how many of each type you can get.
How many Amex credit cards or Pay Over Time cards can you get?
When applying for a new Amex card, you may get turned down due to limits that Amex enforces: 5 credit cards and 10 Pay Over Time cards. They won’t make you cancel any if you already have more than the limit, but they won’t approve you for a new card if it would push you over the limit (or if you’re already over the limit).
Both personal and business cards are counted together towards these limits. Authorized user cards and employee cards are not counted towards these limits.
In order to count how many Amex credit cards and Pay Over Time cards you have, it’s necessary to know which are which. As a general rule, all of their co-branded cards such as Delta, Hilton, and Marriott are credit cards. Amex’s own branded cards are mixed. Some are credit cards, and some are Pay Over Time cards.
Here’s a list of cards that we maintain in our database, separated into Pay Over Time Cards and Credit Cards:
Pay Over Time Cards
Note: The Amex Green Card is weird. It is technically a Pay over Time card, and it is treated that way when applying for the Green Card, but if you already have the Green Card, it is treated as a credit card towards your credit card limit. This applies only to the consumer Green card. The Business Green card acts as a regular Pay Over Time Card.
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Amex Credit Cards:
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[…] There are two types of this bank’s cards: Which AmexCards are Credit Cards? How many can you get? […]
The CC limit is still 4 (at least for me).
I know Doctorofcredit posted something about the CC limit getting relaxed to 5 today, but I applied for a 5th CC today and was denied due to already being at the 4 card maximum. I called amex recon and was told that the limit is 4. I then replied that I saw online that the limit was actually 5, and the agent told me to: “try and call reconsideration again in a few days” because they (the agent) had also “heard that the limit might get relaxed to 5, but it’s not relaxed yet”.
Following up. Just a little bit ago i called the new accounts number (800-567-1083) and was told by the specialist (from a foreign call center) that the limit is still 4. Just now called the number for the senior new accounts specialists, talked to an agent with an American accent, and BAM, approved!
I as well tried to I apply for a 5th credit card last month from Amex, and I was denied due to having too many credit cards (4). The crazy thing is I applied for a card that I canceled in April 2020 when the world shut down (before Amex made enhancements due to covid). Decided I would cancel for a year and reapply (knowing I would not get the new member bonus). I still way declined/not allowed to apply unless I canceled a credit card. And i find it quite limiting that the credit card limit applies to bother personal and business cards combined. Amex really needs to change this policy!
Hi Greg, My Amex Green AF is coming up this November and I don’t intend to extend by another year. Are there any no AF downgrade option Charge cards or do I have to cancel ?
Unfortunately no.
Greg, the only complaint I can make about your list is that it does not include the plethora of discontinued American Express Cards. Optima, Blue Sky, Zync, etc., etc. Don’t those old cards also count against the 4 card limit?
That’s true. If those cards are credit cards then they count against the limit. Unfortunately, we don’t have those in our database, so I couldn’t easily list them.
There is a Lowe’s Business Card I see for 1st time today