Centurion Payments

[Mr_Fitz]

Frequent Flyers,

I am hoping for some feedback regarding making payments onto Centurion.

As you know the max payment AMEX will accept in one go is $100K... THEN (if the payment is coming from the same bank account) AMEX will only allow an additional amount to be paid after 76 hours has expired before accepting another payment coming from the same bank account.

This obviously is a problem when the balance is above $100K.

I have previously got around this by paying $X amount onto one Centurion, then $X amount onto one of the 4 supplementary plat cards (coming from the same bank account) - as the payment is attributed to the Centurion facility and zeroing out the total facility balance.

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I've got a new RM in the last 8 weeks - and at first - he claimed he was having trouble understanding how to process the payments onto separate cards. (Even though I emailed him examples of how I have been delegating the payments onto 6 different cards - 2 x Centurion and 4 x Platinum for the last 4 years).

Now he is telling me I can't make payments onto any of the other 5 x cards which are attached to the Centurion if the cash is coming from the same bank account - until 76 hours has expired after each $100K payment.

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Has anyone else used the above method previously (paying over $100K per day by delegating payments to separate cards attached to the same facility) or is anyone else now having trouble making payments of over $100K per day?

 

[Mr_Orange]

This isn't even a first world problem, LOL. Centurion problems .

 

[Daver6]

I have a solution. For a 1% fee, you can transfer $100k to my bank account and I'll then transfer the amount minus my fee to your charge account. That should get around the problem nicely. I'm sure others would be willing to assist

 

[Saltywings]

I have a solution. For a 1% fee, you can transfer $100k to my bank account and I'll then transfer the amount minus my fee to your charge account. That should get around the problem nicely. I'm sure others would be willing to assist

Sign me up!

(On a more serious note, I'm not sure how much help most of us will be here hahaha!)

 

[ftm]

Are you paying it off via BPay? I know they have a $40k per payment limit, but they don't have a limit on the number of BPay payments per day, as far as I have found.

 

[Mr_Fitz]

Thanks for the feedback

Unfortunately $50K limit and both AMEX and BPay claim 'up to 3 days' to process payments via BPay, so I have avoided.

Another obvious work around would be to open multiple bank accounts, but would be a bookkeeping nightmare.

This new policy (of not being able to pay the statement by allocating payments onto supplementary cards) only came into place when my RM changed (and the same month the devaluation was announced).

If the statement is $250K, payments have to start 10 days prior to the due date, which means the credit facility drops from 30 days to 20 days and the rule is exponential (the higher the spend, the earlier payments have to start).

If anyone has the same problem or a solution (one which does not require me to wire six figures to the undoubtedly trustworthy and esteemed members of the Oz Frequent Flyer community ... for a nominal fee) please let me know

 

[Daver6]

I find it really strange that they would impose such a limit. It makes no business sense to me. Any idea what the reasoning is behind this?

As for taking several days, surely they would be moving to the NPP (new payments platform) which will resolve that problem.

 

[potm]

Your relationship manager is cough. I've never had an issue making the payments to the sup cards as you describe from any frontline Amex staff. Just call up and you should be able to do it.
Also your bank's 50k limit should be able to be increased with a call. A lot of bank's should have automatic higher limits for approved bpay billers which amex would definitely be one.
Bpay payments made during the day usually arrive before midnight that same day. In any case they'll be dated the same day so no need to worry about missing the payment date.

 

[dec540]

I find it really strange that they would impose such a limit. It makes no business sense to me. Any idea what the reasoning is behind this?

As for taking several days, surely they would be moving to the NPP (new payments platform) which will resolve that problem.

NPP is not currently in place for credit card facilities and even then currently has a daily limit of $2,000.

 

[JQ29]

You should be able to use BPAY with $100k per transaction, maybe talk with your bank...

 

[teebow]

Have you tried setting up a direct debit instead? This is how i got around payment limits.

 

[mrtupperware]

Hi Fitz,

Why dont you max out the Amex payment then use bpay for the balance? My bpay to Amex gets processed same day (around 10-11pm) if I make a payment before 5pm

 

[albyd]

Hi,

I’m contemplating a property transaction. Assuming the vendor is prepared to accept Amex as payment at a fee acceptable to me, I’m inclined to put it on my Centurion as a prepayment then go ahead and make the payment.

I ran this past my RM Monday to ensure there wasn’t anything I’d missed and after a day or so ‘researching’ it, she came back with a ‘no’ as there was a risk to Amex from me changing my mind. Having limited experience in these matters, I was a little miffed about all this.

I know we shouldn’t believe everything we read on the internet ... but I think my proposed transaction would be at the very small end of some Centurion ‘folk lore’ transactions I’ve read about.

My question: has anyone else done something like this to buy a big ticket item with their Amex charge/Centurion? Am I being led astray by my RM?

 

[SOPOOR]

Hi,

I’m contemplating a property transaction. Assuming the vendor is prepared to accept Amex as payment at a fee acceptable to me, I’m inclined to put it on my Centurion as a prepayment then go ahead and make the payment.

I ran this past my RM Monday to ensure there wasn’t anything I’d missed and after a day or so ‘researching’ it, she came back with a ‘no’ as there was a risk to Amex from me changing my mind. Having limited experience in these matters, I was a little miffed about all this.

I know we shouldn’t believe everything we read on the internet ... but I think my proposed transaction would be at the very small end of some Centurion ‘folk lore’ transactions I’ve read about.

My question: has anyone else done something like this to buy a big ticket item with their Amex charge/Centurion? Am I being led astray by my RM?

I'd be very surprised if any vendor accepts amex or credit card, unless its a commercial build or a off the plan purchase

 

[Chicken]

So the solicitor for the vendor can take AmEx? The vendors bank OK with taking AmEx? They OK with you to do a charge back after title is transferred?

 

[mrtupperware]

I used my card for a house deposit using Reward pay, it was in the 6 figures and no issue (did it in 2-3 payments from memory)

 

[danpez]

I do the multi-card payment thing all the time with the online portal or app. I have all the supps are linked to the same account and you can only use each card once in 76 hours. So it you have 6 cards on your account you can make 6 payments. Having said that I've not attempted over $100k in one day but funnily I have about that to pay in the next few weeks so I could test it out.

I recently changed my business bank account used for direct debits and lost my supp card payment ability. It becomes unavailable on the website with a little exclamation mark where the amount entry would be. It took a fair few calls to get it fixed and the account people were quite surprised I knew about it. I don't think it's known much because people probably stick within a specific usage total and just pay it off once a month.

 

[33kft]

I used my card for a house deposit using Reward pay, it was in the 6 figures and no issue (did it in 2-3 payments from memory)

Deposit and settlement are vastly different. Deposit is usually to the realtor's trust account and for the purpose of expediency, they'll accept it a multitude of ways. It is also regularly refunded, or at least was back in the days when being "gazumped" on a property purchase was not unusual. I had already left the city when I bought my last property and paid a deposit over the phone with a credit card (and with the associated fees).

Conveyancers who are present for settlement will not accept a bank deposit. The instrument used is a cashier's/bank cheque, because it can be held by one party's representative and produced to the other party at the point that all costs have been agreed upon and settlement is enacted. Until that point, it can be withdrawn if settlement falls through. I can't see how a bank deposit would provide this level of assurance for the parties in the transaction. Remember that banks are involved in most of these transactions as the lender and mortgage/lien holder of property bought or sold with finance, they aren't the type to play around with flexible payment options.

If this is an entirely private sale between two parties that trust each other, you can ignore the above, however that would constitute a very small percentage of sales and I doubt asking for general advice would garner much useful feedback. I've certainly never exchanged property this way.

 

[33kft]

Mind you, all of the above is only after the payment processor has done their part. They need to have accepted a large credit card payment to then offer the cash on the other end in the first place. Perhaps they would offer a cashier's check if one were required for the purchase, in place of a bank deposit. That said, you might need your conveyancer to explain at settlement why the name on the cheque differs or who the party is. It all just seems a bit far fetched to me, that pulling off such a maneuver would look like anything but fraud to a bunch of entities that conduct these sort of activities day in and day out and expect the i's and t's to be dotted and crossed.

 

[SOPOOR]

I've never seen an agent accept a credit card for settlement or deposit.

As I previously said, different if its commercial or a off the plan deal