AMEX weight on FICO score

[Anonymous]

I think the OP is asking about a sotre card versus a credit card.  Throw out the term "major." 

Yes, FICO treats them differently, though terms like "more weight" may be misleading.  FICO likes to see a mix of credit types, credit cards and store cards being two of them.  Then installment loans, mortgages, etc.

[webhopper]

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@natasjlp wrote:

I have heard more than once that for some reason AMEX has more weight as a CC when determining your credit score. Is there any truth to this? has anyone else heard anything about this?

I know that 'major' cc count for more than say a store card from Macys - or is that correct as well? I know it does for Experian (have a credit watch account with them and they say so). Is this also true with FICO?

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The only weight it has is if your file ever has to be manually reviewed.  Customers with Amex accounts are seen as less risky than customers with Credit One or First Premier.

[webhopper]

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@webhopper wrote:

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@natasjlp wrote:

I have heard more than once that for some reason AMEX has more weight as a CC when determining your credit score. Is there any truth to this? has anyone else heard anything about this?

I know that 'major' cc count for more than say a store card from Macys - or is that correct as well? I know it does for Experian (have a credit watch account with them and they say so). Is this also true with FICO?

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The only weight it has is if your file ever has to be manually reviewed.  Customers with Amex accounts are seen as less risky than customers with Credit One or First Premier. 

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Also the charge card is classified as Other under revolving, so it gives you a greater "mix" of credit, which positively can impact your score.

[Revelate]

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@webhopper wrote:

Also the charge card is classified as Other under revolving, so it gives you a greater "mix" of credit, which positively can impact your score.

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Really?  I hadn't heard that previously.  Would be useful if so, but what source is that information from?

[LS2982]

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@webhopper wrote:

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@webhopper wrote:

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@natasjlp wrote:

I have heard more than once that for some reason AMEX has more weight as a CC when determining your credit score. Is there any truth to this? has anyone else heard anything about this?

I know that 'major' cc count for more than say a store card from Macys - or is that correct as well? I know it does for Experian (have a credit watch account with them and they say so). Is this also true with FICO?

---

The only weight it has is if your file ever has to be manually reviewed.  Customers with Amex accounts are seen as less risky than customers with Credit One or First Premier. 

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Also the charge card is classified as Other under revolving, so it gives you a greater "mix" of credit, which positively can impact your score.

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I'm waiting for my AMEX to report, I'm wondering if i'll get a small increase.....

[webhopper]

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@Revelate wrote:

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@webhopper wrote:

Also the charge card is classified as Other under revolving, so it gives you a greater "mix" of credit, which positively can impact your score.

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Really?  I hadn't heard that previously.  Would be useful if so, but what source is that information from?

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On a flyertalk thread from march 2012 a forum member reported a 4 pt increase on months when the charge card reported a balance and a 4 pt decline. Now he may not be using myfico to get his scores... I have seen a definite boost from adding amex to my wallet...

[Revelate]

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@webhopper wrote:

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@Revelate wrote:

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@webhopper wrote:

Also the charge card is classified as Other under revolving, so it gives you a greater "mix" of credit, which positively can impact your score.

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Really?  I hadn't heard that previously.  Would be useful if so, but what source is that information from?

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On a flyertalk thread from march 2012 a forum member reported a 4 pt increase on months when the charge card reported a balance and a 4 pt decline. Now he may not be using myfico to get his scores... I have seen a definite boost from adding amex to my wallet...

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It's hard to say what the boost came from though: I wouldn't have thought it would be counted as a completely seperate entry for the "mix of credit" portion than a typical national bank card.  That said charge cards are a strange animal, maybe they do have their own category but 4 points is a pretty small difference and that's difficult to attribute to any given factor without a lot more anecdotal evidence.

[dharalex]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think the OP is asking about a sotre card versus a credit card.  Throw out the term "major." 

Yes, FICO treats them differently, though terms like "more weight" may be misleading.  FICO likes to see a mix of credit types, credit cards and store cards being two of them.  Then installment loans, mortgages, etc.

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+1

This is what I always understood.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@webhopper wrote:

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@webhopper wrote:

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@natasjlp wrote:

I have heard more than once that for some reason AMEX has more weight as a CC when determining your credit score. Is there any truth to this? has anyone else heard anything about this?

I know that 'major' cc count for more than say a store card from Macys - or is that correct as well? I know it does for Experian (have a credit watch account with them and they say so). Is this also true with FICO?

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The only weight it has is if your file ever has to be manually reviewed.  Customers with Amex accounts are seen as less risky than customers with Credit One or First Premier. 

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Also the charge card is classified as Other under revolving, so it gives you a greater "mix" of credit, which positively can impact your score.

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Sorry, this is a long-held belief, and many of us (including me) repeated it here back in the day, but the myFICO admin confirmed that it isn't true.

Credit mix means the presence of both revolving and installment accounts.

Revolving needs to have some bank cards in there, as opposed to just store-only cards. Store-only cards (no VISA, MC, etc logo, just the store) used to be called charge cards. If all you had were charge cards, which was not uncommon 20 or so years ago, it helped your mix to add revolving (bank logo like VISA, MC, AmEx, Discover) cards.

So now the store version of "charge" card has blurred into the pay-up-monthly, aka AmEx, version of "charge" card, and thus the confusion.

So:

1. If all you had were store-only cards, it would help your mix to add some bank cards.
2. If all you had were bank cards, it would NOT help to add store cards. i.e., they're not an upgrade.
3. Adding an American Express charge card like Zync, Green, the Golds, etc. will not add anything special to your score, other than representing an additional and presumably healthy TL (tradeline.)

[haulingthescoreup]

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@natasjlp wrote:

ok, then it is fair to say that major cc all get same weight regardless of lender however do the major cc have more weight than store cards?? again the reason I bring this up is because with my EX account and a few other credit websites mention this as the case. 

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On some older FICO scoring models, you're marked down if all your bank cards are from credit unions (including USAA, which isn't a CU, but it's kinda) or local banks. You would "need" to have a card from a national-level bank to improve your scores.

When we found this out about 4 years ago, I protested bitterly on the forums that a First Preemie card carried more weight than my $30K USAA card, but there it was.

However, among the national-level banks, there is no scoring difference among BofA - Chase - Citi - First Premiere - AmEx - CapOne - Merrick, etc.

Before everyone asks, I can't remember which scoring formula had this snippiness about CU-only cards.