American Express New Account Question

[thebostonredsox]

I have been with AMEX for 30 years and want to apply for the Delta or BCE card. Since it would end up being backdated to my original year of membership, will other creditors consider it a new account when it begins to report to the CRA's? I realize the date opened that will be reported to the CRA's would be a 30 year old date, but the account itself would just start reporting and would the see that as a "new" account?

[OhioCPA]

On manual review they will see that the card has no history. Having no history can be for various reasons, e.g., such as Amex backdating, lost or stolen card reissue, etc.

I believe that after two years the card will look the same as your 30 year old card, even on manual review.

[TheConductor]

What OhioCPA said is correct, but it will typically only be apparent to a human analyst on recon or review.

Neither your FICO score nor the computer algorithms that make most credit decisions are going to care whether it's a "real" 30-year-old account or a backdated one.