Amex Pay Over Time Setting
American Express is sending out notices to cardholders about an upcoming update to its Pay Over Time feature. Beginning February 1, 2027, the Amex Pay Over Time setting will automatically be turned on for eligible accounts. This could be a bummer. Amex has been known to send lucrative targeted offers for turning on this setting. Will those offers dry up now? Let’s take a look at the upcoming change and what it might mean.
What Is Amex Pay Over Time?
The Amex Pay Over Time setting allows select cardholders to carry a balance with interest on eligible charges up to a limit. This essentially makes charge cards that don’t have a preset spending limit (such as The Business Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Gold Card) function more like traditional credit cards. Turning the setting on activates the option to pay eligible charges over time with interest. You can then choose to either pay your monthly balance in full, pay the minimum amount due or anything in between.
What Are Pay Over Time Bonus Offers?
To get members to turn this program “on,” Amex sometimes offers bonus points to targeted cardholders. Last spring, for example, we saw some accountholders targeted with offers to earn 20,000 Membership Rewards points for activating the Amex Pay Over Time setting. The great thing is that these offers don’t require you to actually use the program to get the points—you’re simply selecting the option to use it. Because as always, you should pay your cards in full every month to avoid interest fees.
How to Opt In or Out of Pay Over Time
While the Amex Pay Over Time setting will be automatically turned on for eligible accounts on February 1, 2027, you can still make sure it’s turned off in the meantime. Sign in to your account and select the eligible card. Then, click on Account Services and Payment and Credit Options.
From there, click on “Manage Pay Over Time.” This will bring you to a dashboard where you can turn the setting on or off.
Amex Pay Over Time Setting: ToP Thoughts
Once the Amex Pay Over Time setting automatically activates on February 1, 2027, we don’t yet know if there will be a way to turn it back off. If not, this could mean the end of those valuable targeted offers for turning the feature on. In the meantime, you may want to ensure you have it turned off in your settings just on the off chance any targeted offers pop up between now and February. Once the feature is activated next year, remember that we always encourage not carrying a balance and paying off your credit cards in full each month—though the program may be helpful to some in a pinch. What are your thoughts on this change? Tell us over in the ToP Facebook Group.
