So I've had three Amex Cards in my lifetime thus far. A Green back in in the late 80's for 4 years, cancelled by me paid in full when I was going through my divorce. A Corporate billed directly to my address from 1995 until 2001 when I left the company and Gold Corporate billed to my employer from 2006 until 2010 when I left that company.
My sorted credit history has had it's ups and downs but the last 7years goes like this.
1 Charge off in 2005
1 paid in full Judgment
1 Verizon collection listed as Installment Loan (fighting it now)
4 30 day lates
2 60 day lates
7 good accounts including mortgage, home equity, auto, self closed credit card.
Sold house 2007
Today's Scores: EQ 661 ,TU 656, EX 627 (from lender) Fako is 662.
Open now:
Kohls $600 / bal $0 (5 years old)
Orchard $500 / bal $225 (2 years old)
Cap1 $1000 / bal $0 (New account to re-establish)
Paypal Smart ?something? $500 / bal $0 (New account to re-establish)
Now Amex has been teasing me a bit. I've received 2 offers in the last few months "Inviting" me to apply for the Amex Gold. I went to creditcards dot com CARDMATCH tool and it matched me with Cap1 No hassle Rewards which I just received and a couple of others they have. It also matched me with The Amex gold I've been 'Invited' to apply for twice and a Platinum. Now I did the Amex "Offer" review on their site and nothing shows up from Amex...not even their Zync.
The question is....does my favorable history with Amex trump potentially harmful historical data and lower scores in my reports? I wouldn't expect to be approved for an Amex with mid 600 scores but I have read a few posts here that would indicate it's not all about scores.
I realize I have limited present open accounts, low limits and mediocre scores.
My EX report shows 4 soft pulls from Amex over the last 2 years including a "account review" back in late 2009.
The other soft pulls are listed as Amex 2, Amex 3 and Amex. 3 of them are from El Paso TX and 1 is from Ft Lauderdale Fl.
Any insight would be helpful. I'm very tempted to take them up on an "offer" but I don't want to waste a hard pull on a pipe dream.
Thanks
Starting Score: EQ 590
If you got an RSVP invite in the mail, I wouldn't necessarily throw it away. I opened a thread saying something similiar, because AMEX sent me an invite for PR Gold in the mail. Everybody said not to apply, because I have such low scores. I ended up applying online with the RSVP code anyway and was instantly approved. I love this card and the service so far. They just gave me 5 free songs on Itunes for no reason at all. They pulled EXP only and that has always been lower than even my EQ when lenders pull it.
To start, I really don't expect an approval, hence my skepticism. My question was more about weather Amex holds more value in a past relationship than in a present score or report. As mentioned in my opening post, there seems to be quite a few approvals that don't make sense based on scores and furthermore, denial that don't make sense either as I read other posts here. As to the usefulness of the Amex card question, my answer is yes. If it serves the purpose of managing my monthly expenses and improving my scores simultaneously, while serving as a good travel card, I will find it very useful. As mentioned,I have already been approved for the Cap1 No Hassle Rewards card with a $1000 limit. No "credit steps" required. All baddies are due to fall off in the next 1.5 years. Verizon collection is valid according to Verizon for early termination fees because of my cancelling an 8 year account due to their breach of contract (story for another day). Cancelled 6 years ago. Collection company all of a sudden appeared 1.5 years ago reporting the debt as a "installment loan" (illegal). Many posts on the subject. Did I miss anything? Other than not acquiring new credit in the last years, my report is not the worst I've seen with Amex approvals.
i dont think they are teasing you and given the past history with them im confident you might get an approval.
but if not then atleast their denial letter will give u good detail on what exactly needs to change. i wish you the best
So against my better judgment I went to AMEX wesite once more and did the prescreen offers web-site again and behold, they offered me the Blue Sky card.
I pulled the trigger. I've got a few inq's on the reports but they are spread around. The Amex website was being a bit fickle so the screen after submitting my application locked up. I didn't want to refresh or anything so I closed the screen and went right to my e-mail.
Received the response below and tried the link to check the status. It stated they couldn't find my application after I entered my SS# and zip......perhaps the system has not updated.
The e-mail address this e-mail came from is "AmericanExpress@welcome.aexp.com" and it mentions that this email comes from the "new accounts" customer service department.
Does anyone have an opinion on what might be the status? Would this indicate some kind of approval, denial or otherwise?
Thanks
Notification
Your Application Status
Reference Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Dear XXXXXXX X XXXXX
Thank you for applying for Blue Sky from American Express.
We have completed the processing of your application. To view your application decision, please go to www.americanexpress.com/myappstatus
Sincerely,
American Express Customer Service
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