Update 5/3/21: Looks like this is no longer being considered a credit card by AmEx. This is separate to the increase of up to 5 cards.
Update 3/15/21: Frequentmiler has a data point indicating that while Green cards are considered a credit card to use up a spot for future applications, they are not considered a credit card when actually applying for the Green card. So if you already maxed out your 4/5 credit card slots, you can still get approved for a Green card. But once you have the Green card it’ll add to your credit card totals to potentially stop you from getting approved for another card afterward.
Update 2/17/21: One reader report suggests that this negative change is only for Green cards opened after October 2019.
Original Post:
We’ve mentioned before about increased grumblings that American Express charge cards might be considered a ‘credit card’ – toward your limit of 4 total American Express credit cards – when Pay Over Time is enabled. Here’s how to easily unenroll in Pay Over Time.
Now, Reddit reports suggest that in the case of the AmEx Green consumer card, specifically, even if you have have Pay Over Time disabled it will still count against you as one of your credit cards. (It’s not entirely clear why that would be the case, though some have noted that the Green cards allow Pay Over Time even on small transactions with no minimum, so might have something to do with it.)
Again, in the case of other charge cards, simply disabling Pay Over Time seems to do the trick, but with the Green consumer card it appears they are now counting it consistently as one of your 4-card-limit.
Could this card potentially be downgraded/product change to Everyday no-fee card since it may be considered a credit card and they both earn MR?
Unfortunately NO. Green card is the lowest card in the group (Platinum, Gold, Green), and there is no further downgrade opportunities. It is also a charge card (not a real credit card with a limit), while EveryDay is an actual credit card. So not possible to product change one to another.
I thought I’d chime in on this issue. I receive DPs about these issues daily so the bullet points below are based on evidence, not my opinion.
1. Currently, the lending card limit is 5 for most people. Rarely, some are able to acquire more than 5 lending cards, but it’s not very common and shouldn’t be considered in our discussion.
2. For many people, Green card is indeed considered a lending card when you hold the card (not when you apply for the card). This statement is supported by recent DPs of people applying for a credit card while holding 4 credit cards plus 1 Green and they’re told they need to close one card in order to get the credit card approved.
3. For some people, however, Green card is NOT considered a lending card. This statement is supported by DPs of people applying for a credit card while holding 4 credit cards plus 1 Green and were able to get the card approved without closing any cards.
Obviously, 2 and 3 are contradicting each other. So what exactly is the rule?
My answer is: “We really don’t know what the hell is causing the difference.”
Amex’s official statement is that any Green card acquired after October 2019 or so is considered a lending card. But again, that’s not true based on numerous contradicting DPs.
My suggestion is that if you have some credit cards and a Green card, and you want to apply for a new credit card, just go ahead and apply (and get a pending result), and call the new account department to find out whether your Green is considered a lending or not. HUCA may be needed when you see fit.
My recent DPs:
Auto approved for CC #5 in March, not counting Personal Green opened Feb 2020.
Applied for CC #6 a couple weeks ago, went pending. Called in and CSR stated I was at max lending card limit and I could close one lending card in order to open new card, so I did.
Still at (apparently) 5 CC limit with no mention of Green by CSR.
I would not assume based on that one link that they are no longer considering it a CC. I don’t really see the evidence in the reddit link to be honest, unless I am not reading correctly.
Fixed back, thank you
Maybe I’m being dense, but the Reddit link you are posting to does NOT seem to say what you are claiming. That person had 3 credit cards + green, and was auto-approved for a credit card. In the “update” in this article, you are claiming that shows that Green no longer counts towards Amex’s 5 credit card limit. But it doesn’t say that at all, since after the auto-approval that person just had 4 credit cards + Green, so for all we know Amex is still counting Green.
Same. Not seeing how he came to the conclusion in title.
Agreed. The green is still being considered a credit card by Amex; however, there were reports last week that the new limit of 5 CCs hadn’t kicked in yet and people were needing to call for manual approval. So I wanted to post an update that I had applied for my 5th card (3 CCs + green + new credit card) and it was immediately approved even though I had recently been denied. Sorry for any confusion.
I am the person doc linked to on Reddit above. Just applied for the delta reserve and was instantly approved. So seems Amex systems have updated now to 5 total cards (including green) for those who had this issue.
Another DP to add to the mix:
Opened Green 02/2020 while holding ED, CM and Delta Gold. All accounts still opened. POT disabled on Green many months ago. Since the first of the year I have applied and instantly approved for Plat, Gold, Surpass, Brilliant.
3 charge (including Green here) / 5 credit. 2 of the credit opened in the last month or two.
Hope this helps.
I had 4 cards (3 credit cards and 1 green personal), and was successfully approved for Delta Gold Biz card. This occurred in the beginning of March. So either green card did not count (contrary to what this post states), or 5 credit card limit was applied (at least to me).
We either have to believe that Amex lifted the limit up to 5 again, or has the limit different on a customer by customer basis, or… green personal card still does not count towards the limit (as it was the case before).
I was also targeted for the set of Delta cards (as many recently).. not sure if that has to be taken in consideration, but being targeted did not overwrite the card limit in the past (didn’t it?)
Thanks for everything you guys doing!!!
Good luck.
P.S. Got my green card in January of 2020, so also after the reported Oct 2019 cut off date.
I had a similar experience. If my Green card were counting as a credit card, I should not have been approved for one of the recent Delta offers. I got the green card about 6 months ago, and have pay over time turned off.
From what I’m reading — my understanding is that the Green Card is treated similarly to the rules around the Chase Business cards and 5/24.
Is there any benefit for keeping Green card on top of plat and gold?
3x on hotels, transit, rental cars, trains, cruises, OTAs (e.g. Hotels.com), AirBNB, parking, and other misc travel. Not saying Green’s the best 3x travel card, but there are lots of urbanites who spend >$5k/yr on public transit, take the train instead of flying, and stay in AirBNBs or boutique hotels.
And, of course, if you’d otherwise pay for CLEAR or use LoungeBuddy, those credits can more than offset the annual fee, but they seem pretty niche.
Good summary. Good for urbanite travelers. For burbite like me, I opened this card mainly for clear and lounge buddy ( Escape lounge) and of course Away credit of $100 but with escape bought by Amex, I can use plat for that.
I wish Amex could give us Uber eats credit instead of lounge buddy otherwise this card is not good for me.
Keeping chase preferred just for rental car insurance.
i don’t know what’s up with Amex. I only had the blue biz cash card and the green card and they denied me for the BBP due to too many CCs. ..WTH!!! cancelled the blue one and was able to get the BBP. I had cancelled two delta cards (one pers, one biz) weeks before, which should not impact, but who knows…
IME, closed cards (not just Green) sometimes seem to linger for months as “open” in the AmEx back end. I’ve seen this when searching for new or incognito card offers, finding long closed cards listed as “your card” where the SUB info would be. I haven’t figured out a pattern yet, but it has prevented auto approval where the only factor is number of open cards, and requires a reconsideration call.
This could actually just be a cookie issue with your browser.
Very similar recent history- just cancelled a credit card to free up a spot, but denied with only 3 open credit cards. Strange days.
This could happen if your spending isn’t high enough and they view you as someone just opening cards for welcome bonuses.
Does anyone know if a corporate amex card counts as a spot? I’ve never been able to figure it out and nobody talks about corporate cards, just charge vs credit cards.