FIRST AND FOREMOST I AM NOT A CPA/TAX PROFESSIONAL!!!!!
Based on the application itself:
Include income from all sources including employment, retirement, investments, rental properties, etc. Alimony, child support, or separate maintenance need not be revealed if you do not wish to rely upon it.
In my opinion, scholarships could be considered...although you would have a hard time proving scholarship income since you did not file last year. Scholarships can be considered income, in fact most furnish you a 1098-T form for tax purposes at the end of the year. The only real official proof of income that can be considered by a financial institution are IRS forms.
Now as far as my recommendation! Explain to them your situation, see what they say. If they say they do not recognize scholorships (which they should) or if they can't do anything since you didn't file last year (more probable) then I'd HIGHLY SUGGEST looking into obtaining a co-signer. If you fail this FR, you have a HIGH chance of being blacklisted never being able to obtain an American Express card for quite some time (or possibly even your entire life). My two cents. Good luck 
@migliogiorni wrote:What is it with all these FR's from Amex lately. Never hear a peep about other lenders doing FR's, but amex does it religously. Amex is ruthless and know what your signing up for folks.
Close to same incidence rate as AA's from other lenders, simply Amex is admittedly more intrusive about it.
It's a legimate question for Amex to be asking in this case for some sort of income verification with an 18 year old. I mean no offense by that statement, it's just a reality given the current legal issues regarding issuing cards to young adults, and generally most freshman don't have much in the way of income during their first semester.
FWIW pretty much all the FR's I've seen that have had details posted about it were absolutely legit (people blatantly lying on their application); this is one of the few that I've seen where the income in my mind is plausible, but Amex may have a different definition of it. It'll be interesting to see what documents they ask for in this scenario, it could be as simple as providing two paystubs and the scholarship letter... and that's right in line with any other lender's inquiry for income verification, without the full monty FR which is decidedly less fun.
@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
This really sucks.... You prob are going to get it canceled on you... The auto system prob approved you and they caught it. It's prob because you are <21 that they did this. So unless you can provide substantial income for your age...or get a cosigner, don't count on Amex. I hate that this happens, but Amex seema legit in some cya action :-/ Best of luck !!
Nah, when Amex airstruck the Zync, presumably they didn't want to leave qualified students out in the cold. Much like Chase does with their $500 Freedom even though it's not a student card; also, Amex can stick whatever internal limit they wish on a card. From that standpoint since they're largely profitable on transactions, I don't know why they wouldn't offer some charge card for students. Now that I think of it, I think it's a mistake for Amex not to be marketing to them as they desperately need a foothold in the younger generations and the college educated are a good place to start, but maybe there's something I'm not seeing.
@navigatethis12 wrote:
Revelate wrote
It's a legimate question for Amex to be asking in this case for some sort of income verification with an 18 year old.
I had not thought about that. Under the new laws, anyone under 21 is supposed to provide income verification before obtaining a credit card. If you have a co-signer I do not believe that you need to provide anything. So any other lender would probably require the same thing .
It's widely believed that if you are under 21 you have to provide income verification. In fact you only have to provide a written statement of personal income and/or assets that indicate an ability to make minimum payments on the card. Check out the CFPB's rulemaking on this. It's not nearly as restrictive as one might think. They are also addressing the issue of non-working spouses and increasing the flexibility to encompass funds normally availalbe. For instance, joint checking where the paychecks of the working spouse are deposited into the joint account.
