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American express, be afraid, be very afraid

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ibm650
Established Member

Re: American express, be afraid, be very afraid

I am writing to add some info that was requested.  I was surprised at some of the hostility and annoyance that was shown by a few.  I got the letter explaining, it was all internal AE stuff, ratio of credit to payments , etc.  My post was just to show what might happen. BTW my FICO is 734 today, thanks to the advice here.

Message 21 of 64
Wolf3
Senior Contributor

Re: American express, be afraid, be very afraid


@ibm650 wrote:

I am writing to add some info that was requested.  I was surprised at some of the hostility and annoyance that was shown by a few.  I got the letter explaining, it was all internal AE stuff, ratio of credit to payments , etc.  My post was just to show what might happen. BTW my FICO is 734 today, thanks to the advice here.


Many on this site worship AMEX, so hostility is to be expected, whenever someone reports their bad behaviour.    AMEX, they don't have your back! 

Message 22 of 64
GangnamFICO
Valued Member

Re: American express, be afraid, be very afraid

It's not personal, its just business.

Walmart TU Score 740
Chase Freedom($5000); CitiThankYou Preferred($5000); GEWM Discover($3500); Walmart Store($1300); AMEX Gold; AMEX BCE($6000); GE Discount Tire($1500); Mor Furniture ($4700);Cap1($750)
Message 23 of 64
drkaje
Senior Contributor

Re: American express, be afraid, be very afraid


@Wolf3 wrote:

@ibm650 wrote:

I am writing to add some info that was requested.  I was surprised at some of the hostility and annoyance that was shown by a few.  I got the letter explaining, it was all internal AE stuff, ratio of credit to payments , etc.  My post was just to show what might happen. BTW my FICO is 734 today, thanks to the advice here.


Many on this site worship AMEX, so hostility is to be expected, whenever someone reports their bad behavior.    AMEX, they don't have your back! 


FWIW, Amex is relatively conservative and seems to infer conclusions from data to a far greater extent than any other company.

 

For many; it's still the "I've arrived!" card or journey's end for credit rebuilding.

 

They also have a lot of brand recognition and loyalty. Personally, I don't know if it's deserved at this point. The degree of giddiness people get over an Amex is a little over the top considering they're no-longer offering simply a charge product. The entire point of Amex (back in the day) was not really needing the float because one's finances were already together. Now they're basically marketing to the feeling of having things together.

 

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate having two Amex cards but will definitely be closing one in a year or two when my needs change. I'll keep the BCP but that's it.

 

 

 


Starting Score: 675
Current Score: EX 753 FICO, EQ 737FICO, TU 738
Goal Score: 776 FICO


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Message 24 of 64
Repo-ed
Senior Contributor

Re: American express, be afraid, be very afraid


@Wolf3 wrote:

@ibm650 wrote:

I am writing to add some info that was requested.  I was surprised at some of the hostility and annoyance that was shown by a few.  I got the letter explaining, it was all internal AE stuff, ratio of credit to payments , etc.  My post was just to show what might happen. BTW my FICO is 734 today, thanks to the advice here.


Many on this site worship AMEX, so hostility is to be expected, whenever someone reports their bad behaviour.    AMEX, they don't have your back! 


Personally I do not worship them, but I am thankful that they gave me a 2nd chance.  That doesn't mean I wouldn't drop them like a bad habit, if they tried to screw me.  but if they screwed me because of something I did - well, then I'd just have to suck-it-up buttercup.

5/2012: 560 credit scores across the board
12/2014: 750+
3/2017: 780+
11/2019: 833
2/2023: Experian via Chase United Explorer CC pull - 891
Message 25 of 64
youngandcreditwrthy
Senior Contributor

Re: American express, be afraid, be very afraid

Haha Amex is def'ly prestigious, esp in my case...being 23 with a $10,500 BCE..which I earned 100% by myself. No AU trickery!

Amex has pretty good rewards..

Def agree with repo-ed though...
If Amex were to screw me in a variety of ways, I would close that account asap!
Ain't nobody got time for that!
Marriott PR$25k | BCE $24.5K |BankAmericard Visa $25k| BOA Better Bal $17.5k |Wmt Discover $12.5k | BR Visa $17.5k | Amex Delta Gold $10k | Discover IT $10k | Paypal Extras MC $15k | Amazon Store $10k|Smile Gen $7.25k | Dillard's $10k | West Elm $4k| Express $3.05K | Mypoints.com Visa $4.5k | Freedom Visa $1k| Amex Surpass $1k
Message 26 of 64
cashnocredit
Valued Contributor

Re: American express, be afraid, be very afraid


@GangnamFICO wrote:

It's not personal, its just business.


Yep, and it always is. Amex has something other lenders don't, a history of charge card, pif, funding. They have added a smaller, balance carrying capable, set of cards of which some do and some don't carry a balance.

 

Looking at the patterns of payment, profit, and default on each of these gives Amex high quality analytics that lets them, in real time, adjust SLs or shut down charge cards. The upside of this wealth of statistical info is the ability to raise CLs and hidden limits on NPSL cards considerably more than other issuers.

 

Simply, the cost of Amex extending hgh CLs and spending ability is increased AA frequency from patterns associated with risk.


I have reestablished credit over the last couple years
so my moniker is, well, rather out of date.

WM Discover $1800, WF Plat 12k, Chase Freedom Siggy18k, Amex Plat (60k H/B), Citi AA EWMC 25k
Message 27 of 64
lithium78
Established Contributor

Re: American express, be afraid, be very afraid

AMEX is a business, but I am a business too.  Since time is money, I don't have time to deal with AMEX's antics, so I don't carry AMEX.  There are a lot of people on here who seem to think AMEX is something special, but it really isn't.  You can get better rewards these days without dealing with their ridiculous business practices.  As long as you are somebody who doesn't care about "keeping up with the Joneses" and you aren't self-absorbed, there really is very little need for AMEX.


Starting Score: TU: 566
Current Score: TU: 741 (Discover FICO); EQ: 755 (MyFico) EX: 774 (FAKO)
Goal Score: 800

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Message 28 of 64
jake619
Frequent Contributor

Re: American express, be afraid, be very afraid


@lithium78 wrote:

AMEX is a business, but I am a business too.  Since time is money, I don't have time to deal with AMEX's antics, so I don't carry AMEX.  There are a lot of people on here who seem to think AMEX is something special, but it really isn't.  You can get better rewards these days without dealing with their ridiculous business practices.  As long as you are somebody who doesn't care about "keeping up with the Joneses" and you aren't self-absorbed, there really is very little need for AMEX.


I hardly see how carrying AMEX means somebody is "keeping up with the Joneses" or how it qualifies them as "self-absorbed".  Admittedly, to many it means "I've arrived" but even that's become diluted with the increased ease of approval in recent times.

 

Are you just perpetuating general forum fears or did you actually have AA levied against you?

Message 29 of 64
lithium78
Established Contributor

Re: American express, be afraid, be very afraid


@jake619 wrote:

 

 

Are you just perpetuating general forum fears or did you actually have AA levied against you?


I've heard enough horror stories from this forum to know what kind of shenanigans AMEX likes to pull.  As far as I'm concerned, credit/charge card companies should feel privileged that I've decided to make them some money and as long as I am doing that and paying my bills on time and not carrying massive balances all the time, the rest of my personal financial information is none of their darn business.  As long as AMEX is the kind of company that is going to hit people with FR and other nonsense, they aren't going to get my business.  There are plenty of other companies who would enjoy making money from me that aren't going to make me jump through hoops.  Since I care primarily about the service that credit/charge card companies provide and the benefits they give me, I could care less what somebody thinks about the "brand" of card I carry.

 

As a side note, I've gotten a lot of entertainment from businesses misinterpreting my financial status based on my pragmatic ways.  It's really funny when someone misjudges me and then they miss out on sales.  I make sure they are well aware of what they missed out on as well.  It's really amusing.


Starting Score: TU: 566
Current Score: TU: 741 (Discover FICO); EQ: 755 (MyFico) EX: 774 (FAKO)
Goal Score: 800

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Message 30 of 64
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