[Update] American Express Twitter & Media Team Support Confirms Limit of 4 Credit Cards & 10 Charge Cards Per Person (New Applications; YMMV)

Update 5/28/20: u/dbaseballfan heard from an Amex rep that this measure is only temporary due to COVID-19, and eventually they’ll bring the limit back up to 5. Somewhat makes sense, though I wouldn’t buy stock based on that projection. Just thought it’s worth noting since people are talking about their long-term Amex plans, and it’s possible this 4-limit is only temporary.

Update 5/19/20 from Will: This has also been confirmed by American Express’ media team by TPG. I usually find media teams to have the correct information more often than front line representatives such as Twitter. It is still strange that we are seeing approvals for over 4 cards.

Original Post: There have been grumblings of a new limit by American Express limiting us to 4 credit cards per person and 10 charge cards per person. Both of these have now been confirmed by American Express Twitter support @AskAmex in a reply to our friend Mark over at Milestomemories.

https://twitter.com/AskAmex/status/1262728875429281794

American Express used to allow 5 credit cards and unlimited number of charge cards. Now, they have reduced the limit to 4 credit cards (business and personal cards counted together) and 10 charge cards (presumably this counts together personal and business cards).

The new rule only applies to someone applying for a new Amex card, they won’t close down your existing cards. As an example, if you currently hold 5 Amex credit cards, you’ll need to close out 2 cards in order to get approved for a new card.

I’m pretty surprised that Amex confirmed it point-blank on Twitter. The confidence and clarity with which they gave the information makes me believe that the information is accurate, at least at some level.

It’s a bit perplexing given that there have clearly been data points going against both of the rules. There may be other variables which allow certain customers to get more than 4/10 cards or perhaps certain cards don’t count or after a certain point the cards don’t count or some other variable.

One reader suggests that this is a ‘soft’ rule, not coded into the system. According to this theory, your best bet at getting approved for a 5th card will be if you can get auto-approved by the system, and you’ll only run into issues if you need manual help of a representative to get approved. Almost all data points I’ve seen thus far would fit with this theory. (I wonder if it would work to apply while holding 5 credit cards, and then ask Amex over reconsideration to close out one card and swap in the new card, thus resulting in your keeping your total tally of 5 credit cards.)

Hat tip to Milestomemories