American Express Charges $25 for Reinstating Closed Cards

When you close a credit card, you sometimes have the option of reopening it within a certain time period. This varies from one issuer to another, and some will not allow this at all. This is a useful feature when you close an account by mistake, or if you see added benefits to the card that might make sense for you.

Chase and American Express are two of the issuers that are more lenient with reopening closed card. They usually give you 30 days, but you can try even later than that. Other issuers like Discover, Bank of America or Citi will not let you reinstate a card or will initiate a hard pull on your credit.

$25 Charge

Now American Express is telling customers that there is a $25 fee to reopen a credit card. Doctor of Credit reports the charge from a customer who contacted Amex by chat. Additionally, Amex said the the decision to reopen the card would be subject to approval and it would take up to 10 business days.

There is no hard pull when reopening an American Express credit card. Even for new application, American Express only does a soft pull on your credit report most of the time, when you already have one of their products.