Three and O2 accept it. Literally never had any issues with them and I just paid my Three bill by Amex.
Unless you have an income to justify that sort of limit, This seems like like irresponsible lending. At least you have a direct debit for the full balance and are being sensible about it. Amex are very generous with their limits, but I didnāt realise they were giving 19 year olds 5.7k limits!
They are insanely generous. I got Ā£12,000 when I opened mine. I immediately just asked it to be reduced to Ā£1,000.
It probably stems from the fact that they are known to have lower acceptance rates and required a higher salary than most.
Or at least used to.
Mines at Ā£15,000, but on opening they asked if I wanted it higher so I might raise it when it comes to renewing it soon.
Iām still only going to be putting Ā£1.5-2k on it a month so doesnāt matter if they give me Ā£50,000 a month.
Itās nice having the buffer, and helps with future lending having a decent credit limit on your credit report.
Not on PAYG. (Well at least O2 definitely donāt.)
Iām a uni student and they have me Ā£1000 at first but within three months they upped it to Ā£5000!
Ah right I donāt use PAYG so I donāt know.
Interestingly Iāve stopped using my Amex in order to get the budgeting analysis from my current account. Still have it for big purchases, but prefer to see all my spending together.
There are (annoying) ways around that but itās probably a while before that is fully integrated.
Why do you assume a 19 year old doesnāt earn enough to justify this? What salary would justify 5.7k in your eyes?
I work full time often doing 50hours a week.
My income and the industry I work in is very stable and in their eyes can support the limit. (Online retail distribution)
It is safe to assume most 19 year olds are studying or just starting out in the world of work. Throwing that much credit at them is irresponsible in most casesā¦
And I use Starling, not Monzo
Itās often the case, I got a early start in work at 16 due to reasons. (I really did not get on well in the education system) I admit Iām a exception to the rule.
I was still expecting a smaller limit when I got approved.
I had a Tesco Bank card to build up my score that I paid off in full by DD and only used 10% of my limit. (Keeping open for score and so I have a mastercard credit card)
I intend to use monzo for places that donāt take amex as itās my main current account.
I make Ā£21K per year from my job before overtime is taken into account. (This is the figure I gave amex) I do 20/30 extra hours every 4 weeks. (Iām wage paid)
Circumstances are individual and at the end of the day it isnāt my money being lent, no need to justify anything to me, but you seem like you know what youāre doing. Carry on with the good work and financial responsibility.
I do think itās a bit insane though a family member of mine was approved just after their 18th birthday for Ā£1.5k. I donāt think any other lender would be prepared to do that. I donāt think lending money like this is in the spirit of the LSBās Standards of Lending Practice which Amex are subscribed to.
Whether itās sensible or not is obviously its own discussion.
But on other lenders doing it, I was able to get a Ā£2,000 overdraft on my student current account, and I know a lot of them maxed out higher than that at the time. I started uni 7 years ago now, and a Ā£1,000 overdraft was very common, with lots of people having been given higher.
Watch the small print
It is Ā£5 for up to 10 transactions at different participating outlets.
To me, that means you will not get it more than once from your local pub. Sorry
Those accounts are designed for students in mind and you wonāt get the full o/d limit if you show signs of financial distress and they stagger increases so they can monitor how you cope with what you are given. Banks may also set a lower limit in your first term to stop you being irresponsible and blowing it all during freshers. They are also interest free and then they gradually charge interest once you graduate and find a job (hopefully) you are also only allowed one. So very different from getting a 5.7k card with high interest and repayments that start the next month and then being able to take out multiple cards.
Fair enough I suppose - certainly re the interest point.
I had one housemate at uni who got a student account, got the maximum overdraft, withdrew it all straight in an ISA. I had a mate who basically drunk his whole loan + overdraft in a month, so not sure those systems as robust as you/the banks would like to think. As you say, at least they donāt require monthly repayments.
Whatās the minimum payment going to be on an AmEx maxed out at 5.7k - Ā£150? sounds likely to be affordable on 21k to me. A horrible waste of money, but affordable.
Thatās the whole point of the credit reference agencies. if @desu maxes out the Amex in month 1, and then applies for another credit card the, application will be declined. Sounds to me like that wonāt be the case.
Amexās money is not their life savings squirrelled away under the bed for a rainy day - its money they want and need to lend to make more money. Thereās plenty of it around and a shortage of credit worthy customersā¦