Top Reasons Why American Express Lowered Your Credit Limit (2024)

American Express may have lowered your credit limit due to late payments, inactivity on your card, or a change in your credit history. American Express will periodically review how you’re managing your current limit and may lower it if they don’t think you can afford the full thing.

You can call American Express at 1-800-528-4800 to ask about the particular reasons why your credit limit was lowered. You can also learn more about the most likely causes and how to avoid future credit-limit decreases below.

Reasons Why American Express Might Have Lowered Your Credit Limit

• Missed payments:If American Express detects a number of missed or latepayments, they may assume you are experiencing financial difficulties and reduce your limit to minimize their risk.
• High credit utilization:Yourcredit utilization is the ratio of the amount you’re borrowing compared to your credit limit. If your balance is frequently close to your limit, American Express may see you as risky, and they’re likely to limit how much you can spend – especially if other aspects of your credit profile seem shaky.
• Inactivity: If you aren’t using any of the limit that’s available to you, your issuer might eventually lower your credit limit accordingly.
• Changing market conditions: American Express may have lowered your credit line to limit its risk in response to changes in the economic environment. Many people’s limits got lowered by credit card companies during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example.

While your card activity might not always be the reason for a credit limit decrease, you can reduce the chances that your limit will be lowered in the future by using your card regularly and responsibly.

How to Prevent Your American Express Credit Limit From Being Lowered

• Never miss a due date. Missed payments are one of the main reasons why American Express might lower your credit limit. You should always pay at least the minimum amount required by your due date. Setting up automatic monthly payments from a bank account can help with this.
• Use your card once a month. American Express may reduce your credit limit due to inactivity, so it helps to make at least one purchase with your card each month to keep it active.
• Keep your balance low. Ideally, you should keep your balance below 30% of your credit limit in order to keep your credit score headed in the right direction and avoid seeming desperate to borrow. Maxing out your card could result in your spending limit getting slashed.

In most cases, American Express isn’t legally required to inform you before they change your credit limit. The exception is if your new limit would result in an over-the-limit fee, which you generally must opt-in for.

If your credit limit has already been lowered, you can try requesting a credit limit increase, especially if your account has been in good standing for several months.