More Payment Choices.
Greater Payment Control.
As your spending needs change every month, so can the way you pay your bill. Whether you’re creating a home office space or stocking up on essentials, find out how Pay It®1, Plan It®2, and Pay Over Time3 give you flexibility when it comes to paying your bill – all while still earning rewards the way you usually do.
Explore Your Payment Options
Pay In Full
Prefer to pay your total balance each month?
You can always choose to pay in full each month when your bill is due.
Plan It
Looking to split up purchases into equal monthly installments?
Plan It helps you to split up large purchases into monthly payments with a fixed fee.
Pay It
Interested in a way to manage everyday purchases?
You can use Pay It in the American Express® App‡ to quickly pay small purchase amounts throughout the month.
Pay Over Time
Want to make payments on your own timeline?
With Pay Over Time, you can carry a balance with interest and pay down the balance at your own pace, as long as you pay at least your minimum due each month.
Split up large purchases into monthly payments with a fixed fee, up to your Pay Over Time Limit. Plus, you’ll always know upfront exactly how much you’ll pay each month.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS
Choose up to 10 purchases of $100 or more to combine into a plan in your online account, or select one purchase if using the American Express® App.‡
Select the length of your plan. There are up to three plan duration options to choose from.**
Make monthly payments. Your monthly plan payment will automatically be included in your Minimum Payment Due each month.
Manage your everyday expenses by quickly paying small purchase amounts… and still earn rewards the way you usually do.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS
• Pay It lets you make small payments under $100 throughout the month in the American Express App‡... and still earn rewards the way you usually do.
You can carry a balance with interest, up to your Pay Over Time Limit.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS
Activate Pay Over Time. View your Pay Over Time setting in your online account to confirm it’s set to active.
Make purchases like you normally do. Eligible charges will automatically be placed into your Pay Over Time Balance, up to your Pay Over Time Limit.
Choose how you pay. When it’s time to pay your bill, you can pay your balance in full, the minimum due, or any amount in between.
Whether you’re looking to...
Offers Carousel
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Upgrade your kitchen.
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Catch the big game.
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Shop for groceries.
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Grab a bite.
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Refresh your home office.
Choose a payment option that backs you and your lifestyle.
Not Sure Where to Start?
Pay Over Time Limit
There is a limit to the total amount that you can carry as a balance or put in a plan with Plan It. This is called your Pay Over Time Limit. But, it is not a spending limit. So, you may be able to spend beyond your limit while still earning rewards – you’ll just need to pay for any new purchases in full when your bill is due. To view your Pay Over Time Limit, log into your account and click “Balance Details.”
Spending Capacity
Unlike a traditional credit card, your Card has no preset spending limit, a unique feature that gives you flexible spending capacity.* This means the amount you can spend adapts based on factors such as your purchase, payment and credit history. If you’re ever unsure if a large purchase will be approved, just use the Check Spending Power tool in your online account or mobile app.
Watch This Video to Explore These Options
Frequently Asked Questions
These payment options are available on all Consumer Green, Gold and Platinum Card Accounts acquired on or after 08/01/2020.
For Card Accounts opened prior to 08/01/2020: You have been or will be notified if Pay Over Time and/or Plan It are added to your Account.
The Pay Over Time Limit is the total amount that you can carry as a balance with interest or move into a Plan with a fixed monthly fee.
Unless you’ve been previously notified, your Card has no preset spending limit, a unique feature that gives you flexible spending capacity. The amount you can spend adapts based on factors such as your purchase, payment, and credit history. This means you may be able to keep spending beyond your Pay Over Time Limit – you’ll just need to pay for any new purchases in full when your bill is due.
If you’re ever unsure if a large purchase will be approved, just use the Check Spending Power tool in your online account or mobile app.
No. Your Pay Over Time Limit is not a spending limit. Unless you have been previously notified, your Card has no preset spending limit. This means the spending limit is flexible. In fact, unlike a traditional credit card with a set limit, the amount you can spend adapts based on factors such as your purchase, payment, and credit history.
If you’re ever unsure if a large purchase will be approved, just use the Check Spending Power tool in your online account or mobile app. Although you may be able to keep spending even after reaching your Pay Over Time Limit, keep in mind that any purchase you make that takes you over your Pay Over Time Limit will need to be paid in full when your bill is due.
Your Pay Over Time Limit can be found in “Balance Details” on your account home page.
The Pay Over Time Limit is the total amount that you can carry as a balance with interest or move into a Plan with a fixed monthly fee. This limit applies to the total of your Pay Over Time, Cash Advance, and Plan balances. This is not a spending limit. Your Pay Over Time balance cannot exceed your Pay Over Time Limit. When there is a delay in posting cash advances or plans to your Account, the total of your Pay Over Time, Cash Advance, and Plan balances may exceed your Pay Over Time Limit.
While you may be able to spend beyond your Pay Over Time Limit, keep in mind that charges that are not added to a Pay Over Time, Cash Advance, or Plan balance must be paid in full by your Payment Due Date. In the event that a charge would cause your Pay Over Time balance to exceed your Pay Over Time Limit, that charge will not be added to your Pay Over Time balance. For example, if you have a $1,000 Pay Over Time available limit and you have made a $1,500 purchase on your Card, that purchase will not be added to your Pay Over Time balance. Instead, it will be due in full on your Payment Due Date.
Pay Over Time and Plan It both provide added payment flexibility by allowing you to pay for eligible purchases over time, up to your Pay Over Time Limit. You can choose to use Pay Over Time, Plan It, or both depending on which option works best for you and your budget.
• With Pay Over Time you’ll pay for eligible purchases over time with interest. You might consider using this option when you need payment flexibility, without a predetermined timeframe to fully repay your balance.
• With Plan It you can split up large purchases into monthly payments with a fixed fee. This option may be best when you want the added structure of knowing upfront exactly when you’ll pay off large purchase amounts and how much it will cost.
• With both options, you’ll need to pay at least your Minimum Due each month when your bill is due.
Purchases (along with any associated foreign transaction fees) and Annual Membership Fees are eligible. For some accounts, a charge must also be equal to or more than a specified dollar amount (not including any foreign transaction fees) in order to be eligible. To obtain that amount, if there is one for your account, please check the Account Services tab or call the number on the back of your Card.
You can plan purchases of $100 or more except for cash or cash equivalents, purchases subject to foreign transaction fees, or any fee owed to us including Annual Membership Fees. Qualifying purchases include recent purchases posted to your account and purchases shown on your most recent billing statement.
No. Instead, you’ll pay a fixed monthly plan fee for the duration of your plan that will be disclosed upfront.
The plan fee is a fixed fee you’ll pay each month when you have an outstanding balance in a plan. The monthly plan fee is part of your monthly plan payment which is automatically included in the Minimum Payment Due each month.
• For purchase amounts in a Pay Over Time balance: Your monthly fee is a percentage of each purchase amount moved into a plan based on the plan duration, the APR that would otherwise apply to the purchase amount, and other factors.
• For purchase amounts in a Pay In Full balance: Your monthly fee is a percentage of each purchase amount moved into a plan based on the plan duration, the APR that applies to the Pay Over Time feature at the time you create the plan, and other factors.
You will be offered 1-3 plan duration options for qualifying purchases. The plan duration options can vary based on a variety of factors such as your creditworthiness, the purchase amount, and your Account history, and can’t be changed or modified.
If your account is in an introductory or promotional period with a promotional APR, you may see limited duration options.
No. Setting up a plan won’t increase your Pay Over Time Limit.
*In a small number of cases, we may assign a specific spending limit to a Card Member’s account. This can be due to a variety of factors such as credit score, past due payments with us or other creditors, or high balances on revolving credit accounts. If a preset spending limit is placed on your account, we will notify you, tell you why, and explain how it impacts how much you can spend.
** You will be offered 1–3 plan duration options. The plan duration options can vary based on a variety of factors such as the purchase amount, your account history, and your creditworthiness. If you are enrolled in an introductory or promotional APR, you may see limited plan duration options during the introductory or promotional period when you use Plan It on your account.
1Pay It®
Pay It® is only available in the American Express App® for your eligible Account. With the Pay It feature, you can make a payment equal to the amount of a billed purchase less than $100. Payments made with Pay It are not applied to that billed purchase but to your outstanding balance in accordance with how we apply payments.
Your account is eligible for Pay It if you are a Basic Card Member or Additional Card Member of a Card account issued by a U.S. banking subsidiary of American Express that is not canceled, excluding Accounts that do not have either a Credit Limit or the Pay Over Time feature. Prepaid Cards and products, American Express Corporate Cards, American Express Small Business Cards and American Express-branded Cards or account numbers issued by other financial institutions are not eligible.
2Plan It®
With Plan It®, you can create up to 10 active payment plans, each subject to a plan fee. The plan fee is a fixed finance charge that will be charged each month that the corresponding plan is active. You will be offered 1-3 plan duration options for the qualifying purchase. The plan duration options can vary based on a variety of factors such as the purchase amount, your account history and your creditworthiness. If you are enrolled in an intro or promotional APR, you may see limited plan duration options during the intro or promotional period when you use Plan It on your account.
To create a plan, select qualifying purchases of $100 or more and a plan duration. If you have a Card with a Credit Limit, you may also be able to select a qualifying amount of $100 or more and a plan duration. When creating a plan for purchases, you may select up to 10 qualifying purchases for each plan that you create in your American Express online Account. However, you may select only one qualifying purchase for each plan that you create in the American Express App. Qualifying purchases will be identified in your American Express online Account and American Express App. Qualifying purchases (or a qualifying amount, if you have a Card with a Credit Limit) do not include purchases of cash or cash equivalents, purchases subject to Foreign Transaction Fees, or any fee owed to us, including Annual Membership fees. Unless you are creating a plan at checkout, please allow 2-3 days for your purchase to post to your account. Once your purchase posts and is no longer pending, you can create a plan for that purchase.
Your ability to create plans will be based on a variety of factors such as your creditworthiness, and your Credit Limit or Pay Over Time Limit, as applicable. The Pay Over Time Limit applies to the total of your Pay Over Time, Cash Advance, and Plan balances. You may not be able to create a plan if it would cause you to exceed your Pay Over Time Limit or cause your Plan balance to exceed 95% of your Account Total New Balance on your last billing statement. You will not be able to create plans if your Pay Over Time feature is suspended or your Account is canceled. You will also not be able to create plans if one or more of your American Express Accounts is enrolled in a payment program, has a payment that is returned unpaid, or is past due. The number and length of plan duration options offered to you, the number of active plans you can have at a time, and your ability to include multiple qualifying purchases in a single plan, will be at our discretion and will be based on a variety of factors such as your creditworthiness, the purchase amount(s), and your Account history. After a plan is paid in full, it will be removed from your Account in the next billing period.
Plan It is available on Card Accounts issued by a U.S. banking subsidiary of American Express, excluding Accounts that do not have either a Credit Limit or the Pay Over Time feature. Only the Basic Card Member or Authorized Account Managers on the Account can create a plan. Prepaid Cards and products, American Express Corporate Cards, American Express Small Business Cards and American Express-branded Cards or Account numbers issued by other financial institutions are not eligible.
3 Pay Over Time
Eligible charges
Purchases (along with any associated foreign transaction fees) and Annual Membership Fees are eligible. For some accounts, a charge must also be equal to or more than a specified dollar amount (not including any foreign transaction fees) in order to be eligible. To obtain that amount, if there is one for your account, please call the number on the back of your Card. The following types of charges are ineligible: Cash Advances, including cash and other cash equivalents, certain insurance premiums, and any other fees owed to American Express.
Pay Over Time
The Pay Over Time feature on your account has two settings: Active and Inactive. If the Pay Over Time feature is active at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on the transaction date provided by the merchant or on the date when an eligible Annual Membership Fee is charged to your Account, then we will automatically add the charge to your Pay Over Time balance. The transaction date provided by the merchant may differ from the date you made the purchase if, for example, there is a delay in the merchant submitting the transaction to us or if the merchant uses the shipping date as the transaction date. If the Pay Over Time feature is inactive at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, no new charges will automatically be added to your Pay Over Time balance. To view or change your Pay Over Time setting, visit your online account or call the number on the back of your Card. (If you are enrolled in Pay Over Time Select, call the number on the back of your Card for information on eligible purchases, available limit and APR, and assistance moving purchases into your Pay Over Time Select balance.)
Pay Over Time Limit
We assign a Pay Over Time Limit to your Account. The Pay Over Time Limit applies to the total of your Pay Over Time, Cash Advance, and Plan balances. Your Pay Over Time balance cannot exceed your Pay Over Time Limit. When there is a delay in posting cash advances or plans to your Account, the total of your Pay Over Time, Cash Advance, and Plan balances may exceed your Pay Over Time Limit. We may approve or decline a charge regardless of whether your Card account balance exceeds or does not exceed your Pay Over Time Limit. This is not a spending limit. You must pay at least the Minimum Payment Due by the Payment Due Date each month. The Minimum Payment Due includes all charges that were not added to a Pay Over Time and/or Cash Advance or Plan balance, plus a portion of your Pay Over Time and/or Cash Advance balance, any interest accrued, and any Plan Payment Due.
Interest on Your Pay Over Time Balance(s)
For charges added automatically to a Pay Over Time balance, we will charge interest beginning on the date of each charge. We will not charge interest on charges automatically added to your Pay Over Time balances if you pay your Account Total New Balance by the Payment Due Date each month. However, if at the time you activate Pay Over Time you’re already carrying a Pay Over Time Select balance from your last billing period, you’ll be charged interest on new eligible charges added to a Pay Over Time balance starting on the transaction date. You must pay in full, by the Payment Due Date, all charges that are not added to a Pay Over Time, Cash Advance, or Plan balance. We will begin charging interest on cash advances on the transaction date.
‡ iOS and Android only. See app store listings for operating system info. Apple, the Apple logo, and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. iOS is a trademark or registered trademark of Cisco in the U.S. and other countries and is used under license. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Android, Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.