@joeyoey wrote:So, after being denied a CLI on Jan. 3rd I finally got a letter in the mail today from AMEX with the explanation...
"One or more of your American Express accounts currently has a cash advancr balance."
What the?? Yes, it's true I did take out about $200 a few weeks before Christmas but at the time I submitted the request I had already sent them a payment to pay the account in full. Stupid me, I should have waited for that to post before putting in the request.
So, to anyone else out there about to try this, this is one more thing to be aware of. Even if you've paid in full every month, made multiple payments, & never come close to your limit...apparantly using the cash advance feature (which is something that comes with the card) will possibly throw up a red flag with them.
So, I'm at the back of the line again until sometime in April.
Thanks for this datapoint. I will add it to OP.
@Anonymous wrote:According to AMEX 12/20/2014, they do not require the full 60 days for a CLI request to be approved or denied anymore. Even though this has been told to me by AMEX reps there still seems to be discrepancy regarding rather this is true or not. I would like to believe AMEX but then again as I continue reading there are plenty of people that are getting denied and maybe it's from pulling the trigger early. Or maybe from having too many credit inquiries on their profile.
If you pulled the trigger early and you happen to be one of the unlucky ones that received a dreadful 7-10 business day message I would urge you to call their CLI team at 1-800-927-0632 to find out exactly why you're receiving such message. This is also the number where you can cancel a CLI request. "Hint HInt" Canceling a CLI request on your own gives you the ability to not have to wait an additional 90 days. If you believe that you may be denied because you pulled the trigger to early or whatever may be then canceling the previous request and waiting until the full 61 days from CARD OPENING to give it another shot may be a really great option. Keep in mind if you cancel the previous request and try it again online you may still receive the 7-10 day message but you would simply call the number above and explain you canceled your previous request. You may be seeing that message this time because it still registers you recently applied for a CLI withing the last 90 days. After the Rep verifies you did cancel the previous request then they will manually push the request to be considered.
Last thing you want is to be denied and have to wait an additional 90 days until you can try another CLI.
So to sum it all up. If Amex denies you then you'll probably have to wait an additional 90 days until you can try another request, BUT If you cancel the request before the denial "maybe because you've receive the 7-10 business day message" then you can reapply whenever you feel you qualify.
I don't believe the AMEX Rep who told me that the 60 day rule doesn't exist anymore. Just my gut feeling.
I don't work for AMEX and I am only telling you the experiences I've had. I did everything above. Good Luck Everybody
Well I have just been catching up to the thread after a big break and this one seems significant. I really doubt the 61 day rule changed and until we start seeing lots and lots of pre 61 day approvals throughout this year, there is no point to spreading this possible misinformation. In fact even after your post there are at least 3 posts complaining that they were denied due to jumping the gun and one person posting that they got approved in 52 days. I am going to assume the 52 day approval is a bad sample point, and they are not givcing the true picture of their CR. It is posts like that created the mess in the forum over the years. Reminds of another thread where the OP used some poor language to try to discredit the overall credit limit rule for potential 4506T situations without giving his own background.
There are wide groups of people who post here, right from students to filthy rich multi millionaires. They will all have different experiences when it comes to their credit card applications. To really help others, post your sample data points with as much information and evidence as possible. We owe it to others.
@Anonymous wrote:I posted a couple times which may have added confusion. In an attempt to clear up what happened, here's my situation:
Initial CL: $5,000
61 day/181 day CLI: under 61 days
@Anonymous Utilization @ CLI: 2%
@Overall Utilization @ Last EX Soft Pull: 92% if my 4+ year $40k CO counts against it and its CL counts for it (closed account). 1% if the CO balance and limit are not factors.
Ratio of Income/(Overall Available Credit) (4 decimal places): 13.6323
Number of new credit lines opened since opening Amex account or last Amex CLI: 0
Total $$ value of all transactions since Amex account opening or last Amex CLI: $3,700 (all on Amex, paid on account several times to keep balance low)
Here's what happened:
Day 31: Requested 3x cli online. Received 7-10 day message.Day 32: Called CS and asked for status of CLI. They said nothing was in the system showing that I asked for one. They said this is because I asked before my account was open for 60 days, and suggested I ask again at Day 61 and she gave me that date. Later received a denial letter in the mail with this date stating "Your recent payments are too low in relation to the balances on you account".
Day 39: Requested 3x cli online. Received 7-10 day message. A couple hours later I got an email allowing me to view my results online. Unable to approved CLI because "You were declined for a credit limit increase on one or more of your American Express Cards in the last 90 days." Then I called CS and mentioned the above. They were unable to see my Day 39 request, but said my Day 31 request was denied because "Your recent payments are too low in relation to the balances on your account". I could see being denied for many other reasons, but not that one. My balance was $100 with a $5000 limit, and I just sent another $100 payment that should arrive any day. They said they would do a manual review.
Day 41: Called CS asking status of manual review. They said it didn't show up in there system, and would start a new manual review.
Day 42: Letter in the mail with this date arrives in regards to the cli denial "We have carefully reviewed your account and found that at this time we must abide by our original decision". I believe this was for the 1st manual review on Day 39.
Day 44: Statement #2 was generated. Still original credit line.
Day 45: Logged onto my account and saw my CL was $15,000, which is a 3x CLI approval. This must have been a result of the 2nd manual review on Day 41.
I'm glad it worked out for me, but I was pushing the limits. I was trying to get the CLI before AMEX reported to the CRA, but missed it by 1 day. Maybe that's why I was initially denied; perhaps the new standard is a CLI approval after 2nd statement is generated. Today is Day 50 and my CL is still showing up as $15,000 online. I bet another letter is in the mail with the CLI approval.
Congrats on your great success 
Looks like AX keeps a tight rein on dates for CLIs. Believe I read another opportunity at six months (is that 181 days?). Good luck!
That's correct....61 days & I believe every 180 days after that you can try again (although, once you hit $24k you run the risk of a fr).
Starting Score (02/01/2014): EQ 548 EX 548 TU 564