Amex Pay Over Time 10K Bonus
American Express has a program for their charge cards called “Pay Over Time”. This program essentially changes your charge card into a credit card for large purchases. Here is how Amex describes the benefits:
- No fee to enroll.
- Added flexibility to pay eligible charges over time with interest.
- Simply choose each month to pay in full, the minimum amount due, or anything in between. It’s your choice.
- All eligible charges of $100 or more can be paid over time.
Pay Over Time Formula
First things first. You should NEVER PAY OVER TIME. NEVER NEVER NEVER.
Actually there is a simple formula that may explain it better:
- Paying over time = Interest
- Interest = Bad
- Paying Over Time = Bad
Remember that credit card debt is evil and paying off your bills in full each month is essential to tipping the benefit scale in your favor. So then, why would you enroll in Pay Over Time? Because sometimes they offer you a bonus.
Targeted 10,000 Point Offer
American Express has sent out some emails in the last few days, offering this bonus once again. They do so every few months, and it is usually a targeted offer. But sometimes you’re able to get it even when not receiving an email.
Amex definitely isn’t doing you any favors for paying over time.But you just need to enroll and not actually carry a balance to be eligible.
Check here if you’re targeted by logging in. Or you can call Amex at 1-866-280-4438 and mention Offer Code: CF2O:0008.
Key Offer Terms
There are of course some terms to this offer. I did manage to save them and I’ll post the key terms below for those of you interested. Notice you can get this offer once on each OPEN account if it is eligible.
1. OFFER VALID THROUGH 05/13/2017. TO BE ELIGIBLE TO EARN MEMBERSHIP REWARDS POINTS, YOU MUST BE ENROLLED IN THE MEMBERSHIP REWARDS PROGRAM AT THE TIME OF ENROLLMENT IN THE EXTENDED PAYMENT OPTION FEATURE. ONLY ONE OFFER PER AMERICAN EXPRESS OPEN BUSINESS CARD ACCOUNT IS PERMITTED, AND POINTS WILL BE CREDITED TO YOUR ACCOUNT WITHIN 6-8 WEEKS AFTER ENROLLMENT IS APPROVED. MAXIMUM 10,000 POINTS PER ACCOUNT.
2. CARD MEMBER MUST BE ELIGIBLE TO ENROLL IN THE EXTENDED PAYMENT OPTION AT THE TIME OF REQUESTING ENROLLMENT. THIS ENROLLMENT OFFER IS ONLY AVAILABLE IF YOU COMPLETE THE ONLINE REQUEST FOR ENROLLMENT. THE EXTENDED PAYMENT OPTION IS ISSUED BY AMERICAN EXPRESS BANK, FSB (“BANK”).
Hard Inquiry?
Data points from similar offers in the past show that there’s no hard inquiry done, even though it requires approval.So you should be safe.
Conclusion
American Express is giving out a bonus just to add an option to pay over time to your credit card. You don’t need to carry a balance, so the bonus should be a net profit.
Have you received this or a similar offer on your account? Please let us know in the comments.
HT: r/churning
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I received the offer 2 months ago and have not received the points. Just put in an inquiry with them and the customer service rep opened a dispute on it for me.
I received a 0% interest offer for extended pay, no MR points. The offer was 0% for the first 9 months on purchases $100 or over.
Got the offer on my Platinum, called in yesterday and set it up. 18%+ interest on any extended pay money. Wow. But I signed up and will pay off each month as usual and get the 10K. 6-8 weeks before I’ll see the 10K, which is about the same time my card comes up for renewal. Now it makes sense.
Yes this is never a good deal if you pay interest, but it is nice if you already pay off the bill every month anyway!