Plan It™ Instalment Plans FAQs
Creating an Instalment Plan
Plan ItTM Instalment Plans is a feature available on American Express® Credit Cards that provide Cardmembers with the ease and flexibility to pay off purchases in fixed monthly instalments.
Plan It is a feature for eligible Cardmembers. No enrolment is required. Instead, we will indicate any purchases that are eligible for Plan It within your Online Account or American Express® App. You can then select and create a plan that best suits you.
No, there is no credit check performed for creating an instalment plan as it is available within your existing credit limit.
There may be a number of reasons why you may not be eligible for Plan It including:
- If you've recently withdrawn cash using your American Express® Credit Card.
- If you’re enrolled in a Financial Support program with American Express.
- If you don’t have an eligible purchase or a balance amount. Eligible purchases and instalment plan amounts must be a minimum of £100.
- You hold a product not eligible for Plan It, such as an American Express® Charge Card.
You can create an instalment plan by logging in to your Online Account or the American Express® App.
- Step 1 - Select an eligible purchase or an amount of £100 or more to pay in instalments with Plan It. To create an instalment plan for an amount, please go to the Make a Payment page within your Online Account.
- Step 2 - Select a plan duration that suits you. You can choose plan durations of either 3, 6 or 12 months.
- Step 3 - Review and submit your instalment plan. Your instalment amount will be automatically added to your minimum payment due each month.
The minimum amount for any new instalment plan is £100. To see how much you can move into the instalment plan at any given time, log in to your Online Account or American Express® App.
Yes, you can create multiple instalment plans, and the amount of plans you can have at once depends on your Card and credit limit.
No, you cannot add your entire current statement balance to an instalment plan.
Plan It allows you to spread the cost of a purchase or manage a portion of your current balance, up to 85% of your credit limit.
This feature is designed to break down purchases into structured payments.
No, you cannot set up an amount-based plan for your unbilled balance (current cycle). You can only set-up plans on transactions from your unbilled balance.
Only the balances that have been billed (i.e., those appearing on your current statement) are eligible for amount-based planning.
Your Direct Debit arrangement will not be affected. If your Direct Debit is set up to pay the Account’s minimum monthly payment, this will include any monthly instalment amount and the plan fee(s).
If your Direct Debit is set up to pay the full balance each month, it will be adjusted automatically to reflect your latest due balance. This will include your monthly instalment amount and plan fee(s), but it will not include any instalments that are not yet due for payment.
If you have a Direct Debit set up, there are certain times during your billing cycle (plannable window) when you cannot set up a new instalment plan.
These plannable windows help avoid errors in Direct Debit calculations when instructions are sent to your bank.
Additionally, no plans can be set up on the day your statement is generated. This applies to all Cardmembers, whether or not they have Direct Debits in place.
You’ll get an email from us confirming we’ve received your request to create an instalment plan. It will take up to 48 hours to set up, then you’ll be able to see the details on your Online Account or American Express® App.
Paying off instalments
Yes, you will be charged a fixed monthly plan fee on each instalment plan. This monthly plan fee will be charged each month that your plan is active.
When you create a new plan, you’ll be shown the term and fee options that are available, so you can decide what works best for you.
Interest is not charged on balances moved into an instalment plan.
The monthly fee is included as part of the monthly instalment amount you are required to pay each month.
The fee will continue to be charged each month until your instalment plan is paid off or you've decided to cancel your instalment plan.
Any monthly instalments that you need to pay are included in the minimum payment due on your monthly statement. You’ll need to pay this by the payment due date.
Your minimum payment will increase because the monthly instalment amount and fee will be included as a required part of the amount due.
If you miss a monthly payment for an Instalment Plan, the unpaid amount will be requested on your next statement as part of the payment due that month.
Missing payments can have serious consequences. It can impact your credit rating making it more difficult or expensive to get credit in future.
If you do not pay your monthly minimum payment, in full, for two consecutive statements, any instalment plan(s) on the Account will be cancelled.
The instalment plan balance will be added to your main Account balance and be subject to the terms of your agreement, including the charging of interest.
Only main Account holders can create instalment plans. However, eligible balances from Additional Cardmember transactions can be included in instalment plan(s).
This is not a promotional or special rate offer, unless specifically stated otherwise.
The fee charged is comparable to the interest you would have paid if you carried this balance on your Account, without the instalment plan. For illustrative examples, please refer to our Plan It calculator here.
The creation of an instalment plan is not a payment to your Account - you’ll still be required to make your minimum payment each month as usual.
No, you can’t make extra payments towards your instalment plans. Any extra payments you make will be applied to your main Account balance, not your remaining Plan It balance.
If you’d like to pay your remaining Plan It balance in full, you’ll need to cancel your instalment plan.
Changing or Cancelling Plans
Yes, you can cancel your instalment plan at any time with no cancellation fee. Any remaining plan balance will go back onto your main Account balance. Any monthly plan fees already billed will not be refunded.
You can cancel your instalment plan by logging in to your Online Account or American Express® App. Under the view your plans section, you can cancel your existing instalment plan.
We’ll send you a confirmation that we’ve received your request to cancel your plan. Please keep in mind it takes up to 48 hours for your balances to update after cancelling a plan.
Once an instalment plan has been cancelled, you are unable to set up a new instalment plan on the same transaction.
If your monthly fee has already been charged, it will not be returned. However, any subsequent fee that has not been charged yet, will not be charged once the plan is cancelled.
At this time, it’s not possible to make changes to your instalment plan once it has been created.
You can cancel an instalment plan at any time. However, you are unable to set up a new Plan on the same transaction.
You can see your instalment plans anytime by logging in to your Online Account or the American Express® App. A summary of all your instalment plans also appears on your monthly statement.
If the interest rate on your Account decreases, it may mean that the fee on your instalment plan is more expensive than the equivalent interest rate you’d pay on your Card. If this happens, you may want to cancel your plan.
We use any payments you make to pay off your monthly instalment amount and fee in priority to any other amounts you owe us (except for arrears).
This includes money you owe for cash withdrawals, which have a higher interest rate than other Card purchases. This means it could take you longer and cost you more to repay your cash balance.
The amount for a returned purchase or refund will be applied as a credit to your main Account balance. However, this refunded amount will not adjust your remaining instalment amount. It will remain until the balance is paid or the plan is cancelled.
If you returned a purchase that is in an instalment plan, you can cancel the instalment plan.
If your monthly fee has already been charged, it will not be returned. However, any subsequent fee that has not been charged yet, will not be taken once the plan is cancelled.
No, once a plan has been cancelled, it cannot be reinstated for the same purchase or amount.
If you cancel a plan, you must ensure that you do not want to continue with it, as the cancellation is final.
If you need to change the terms or if the cancellation was accidental, you will need to set up a new or different plan from scratch.