Manage your credit card balance with American Express™ Plan It™

This post was sponsored by Amex Bank of America. The views and opinions expressed in this blog, however, are those of Borrowell. American Express^® is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. Read our advertiser disclosure.

With winter quickly approaching, you might be thinking of making some big purchases to prepare for the cold weather. You might want to invest in a home-office setup. Maybe you want to treat yourself to new furniture, like a couch or home entertainment.

If you make any purchases like the ones above, you’ll likely be using a credit card. To protect your credit score and make sure your financial health doesn’t suffer, It’s important that you make on-time payments towards your credit card balance or other bills you may have. Making a late payment towards your credit card balance can hurt your credit score; Borrowell’s internal data suggests that one missed payment can sometimes decrease your credit score by 150 points.

American Express® has a solution to help you better manage your credit card bills. If you are an American Express Cardmember (or you plan on getting an American Express Card), you may be able to use the new installment payment plan feature: Plan It™.

How Plan It Works

Plan It™ is a new feature on select American Express® Cards which offers you more flexibility and choice for paying off your credit card balance. If you’re an eligible American Express Cardmember, you can create a plan to defer portions of your credit card balance into fixed monthly installments. This can make outstanding balances from big purchases, like furniture or winter gear, easier to manage. 

Plan It is an embedded feature exclusive to American Express Cardmembers. If you are an eligible Cardmember, you do not need to sign up or enroll in the program. It’s automatically available to you through your online account. Whether you’re on your desktop or your mobile app, you can quickly and easily set up an installment plan that suits your needs. 

Setting up a plan involves 3 simple steps:

1. Choose an amount from your newly billed outstanding credit card balance that you want to put into an installment plan (the minimum plan size is $250)

2. Select the plan option that suits your needs; you will be offered up to 3 plan options based on your balance amount and account history

3. Review and confirm your installment payment plan

Plan durations can be 3, 6, 9, or 12 months. When creating a plan, you will be shown 3 of the 4 options that you qualify for. Based on the option you choose, you’ll have a specific amount to pay each month. When you get your credit card statement each month, the Plan It installment amount will be in the minimum payment which you have to pay off. Any new purchases you make can be paid off entirely or carried over to the next month.

Splitting your credit card balance into installment payments can help you effectively manage your balance and monitor your spending. If you’re an eligible Cardmember, you can get started through your online services account. Interested in Plan It but not a Cardmember? Find an American Express card that suits your needs to get started.

Make Big Purchases Manageable

If you plan on making big purchases this winter, make sure you can manage your payments and cover outstanding credit card balances. If you’re an American Express Cardmember, create a Plan It installment plan today to pay off your balance your way.