AmEx Green, Gold and Platinum Cards Add Flexible Payment Options

New payment options are coming to three flagship American Express cards.

For starters, the issuer's Pay It Plan It® feature, which has been an option for some AmEx cards since 2017, is being extended to the following products:

• The American Express® Green Card (see rates and fees).

• The American Express® Gold Card (see rates and fees).

• The Platinum Card® from American Express (see rates and fees).

Pay It Plan It® gives cardholders the option to immediately pay off small purchase amounts one at a time (Pay It®) or arrange monthly payment plans for qualifying large purchases (Plan It®). If you choose the latter option, there are no interest charges, although a monthly fee is assessed. Terms apply.

In addition to this change, as of Aug. 3, The Platinum Card® from American Express is also making AmEx's Pay Over Time feature immediately available to new applicants. Previously, new Platinum cardholders had to wait a few months to receive an invitation to use the feature. (The Green and Gold products had no such wait time.) Terms apply.

The Pay Over Time option changes how the Green, Gold and Platinum cards have historically worked. These products were initially rolled out as charge cards, not traditional credit cards. And unlike credit cards, charge cards don't have preset spending limits or ongoing APRs because, typically, you must pay your bill in full each month. You generally can't carry a balance on a charge card.

But Pay Over Time lets you choose to finance purchases, with interest. Terms apply.

With any of these three cards, there's still technically no preset spending limit. There will be a Pay Over Time limit for cardholders, but AmEx notes customers may still spend outside of that amount as long as they pay off their bill in full that month. The amount you can spend is based on factors such as your purchase, payment and credit history. Terms apply.

Notably, the Platinum and Gold cards allow you to use the Pay Over Time option only for eligible transactions of $100 or more. Green customers will have more flexibility. Terms apply.

All charges not added to a Pay Over Time balance, monthly payment plan or cash advance balance must be paid in full each month by the payment due date.

If you prefer not to use Pay Over Time, you can switch off the feature by logging into your account online or by calling American Express.

All information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by NerdWallet. The American Express® Green Card is no longer available through NerdWallet. To view rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, see this page. To view rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, see this page.