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A little over a year ago after fixing my credit I was a approved for a amex ED 500CL and BC 1000cl. At the time I was happy just to be in with Amex but after a year I am still stuck on these CL's. During this period all my cards including Discover, BOFA Barclays and Capone have all increased significantly from their initial CL but from some reason I keep getting denied for CLI from Amex stating not enough history, Really how long do need to have these cards. It's come to the point that these cards have the lowest limits next to my Khols 700cl. I am considering just closing these accounts because I refuse to use them and believe me I did use these cards in hopes that they would grow. Now I don't even have these cards in my wallet there just sitting in my drawer. Has anyone has an experiences like this with Amex? Please share, this is really frustrating. FYI my scores are all around 670 UTL 8%
I had a collections from Progressive Insurance which I was able to clear off my CR. I prefer cash back, but at this point I'm not even using my amex cards.
@Anonymous wrote:I had a collections from Progressive Insurance which I was able to clear off my CR. I prefer cash back, but at this point I'm not even using my amex cards.
If you like cash back, then just go ahead and use the BCE and take advantage of the 3% on supermarkets with no AF.
You mention that you are at 6% utilization overall, but AMEX and your current CCC don't really care that much about utilization. They want you to use their cards, to generate swipe fees. If you are holding back in using a $500 or $1,000 card because you never want to go over 10% reported on any card, because of things you've read here, you are doing it wrong. With a $500 card, you can't avoid pushing the limit with daily spend if you want to show usage.
Will going over 50% utilization on a card ding your score? Yes, for me it causes about a 7 point drop for each card when I recently let both my $500 secured cards go over 50%. But in the long run, with your AMEX cards, your objective is to get the rewards from spend, and try to get a CLI down the road. The best way to accomplish that is to use the cards often, and show AMEX that you know how to charge and pay, charge and pay, rinse and repeat.
My Delta AMEX was issued with a $2,000 starting limit in July 2013. I was regularly running $500 - $600 per month through the card and PIF, then a year later, in June 2014, ran the card up with some significant purchases to $1,950 out of the $2,000 lmit. Before I could PIF that amount, they gave me an Auto CLI to $3,000.
Until you get the cards out of the SD, start showing usage, and pushing these limits, until then AMEX thinks you are just fine with the card, and they are very comfortable with the initial CL they have granted.
Your job is to show them more about your payment habits by using the cards. And not be so focused just on your FICO score.
Good luck!
@NRB525 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:I had a collections from Progressive Insurance which I was able to clear off my CR. I prefer cash back, but at this point I'm not even using my amex cards.
If you like cash back, then just go ahead and use the BCE and take advantage of the 3% on supermarkets with no AF.
You mention that you are at 6% utilization overall, but AMEX and your current CCC don't really care that much about utilization. They want you to use their cards, to generate swipe fees. If you are holding back in using a $500 or $1,000 card because you never want to go over 10% reported on any card, because of things you've read here, you are doing it wrong. With a $500 card, you can't avoid pushing the limit with daily spend if you want to show usage.
Will going over 50% utilization on a card ding your score? Yes, for me it causes about a 7 point drop for each card when I recently let both my $500 secured cards go over 50%. But in the long run, with your AMEX cards, your objective is to get the rewards from spend, and try to get a CLI down the road. The best way to accomplish that is to use the cards often, and show AMEX that you know how to charge and pay, charge and pay, rinse and repeat.
My Delta AMEX was issued with a $2,000 starting limit in July 2013. I was regularly running $500 - $600 per month through the card and PIF, then a year later, in June 2014, ran the card up with some significant purchases to $1,950 out of the $2,000 lmit. Before I could PIF that amount, they gave me an Auto CLI to $3,000.
Until you get the cards out of the SD, start showing usage, and pushing these limits, until then AMEX thinks you are just fine with the card, and they are very comfortable with the initial CL they have granted.
Your job is to show them more about your payment habits by using the cards. And not be so focused just on your FICO score.
Good luck!
On the other hand, I just got a CLI to $8000 on my Blue that was issued with a $3500. Total spend over 8 months: $440 on around 20 swipes . Previously denied twice.
If you want an Amex in your future, just sit tight and be patient.
@Anonymous wrote:A little over a year ago after fixing my credit I was a approved for a amex ED 500CL and BC 1000cl. At the time I was happy just to be in with Amex but after a year I am still stuck on these CL's. During this period all my cards including Discover, BOFA Barclays and Capone have all increased significantly from their initial CL but from some reason I keep getting denied for CLI from Amex stating not enough history, Really how long do need to have these cards. It's come to the point that these cards have the lowest limits next to my Khols 700cl. I am considering just closing these accounts because I refuse to use them and believe me I did use these cards in hopes that they would grow. Now I don't even have these cards in my wallet there just sitting in my drawer. Has anyone has an experiences like this with Amex? Please share, this is really frustrating. FYI my scores are all around 670 UTL 8%
I've had both ED and BCE for nearly six months and they tell me the same thing. Decided to wait again till the full year and try. Figure since my AAoA is less than 2 years that is holding me back. Do you have anything with them scheduled for autopay just to continue to show pay history. That's what I'm doing. My Cap 1 cards and Synchrony cards are the only one's growing right now, but that's okay since I didn't had any bankcard history until August of last year. Good luck whatever you do.
Keep cards, use cards. Try for CLI in 12 months.
Use your ED like a debit card and hit the 20 swipes necessary in a month. If you need to make payments on the account during the month while using it, do it. It's not that hard. You can't expect a CLI if you're not using the card. What's the point from Amex's standpoint? It sounds like you're holding yourself back by being stubborn.
Either use it, stick it in a drawer or close it. I'd say use it or just sit it aside since there's no AF.
And work on getting your scores up to 700. That would also help.
@icyhot wrote:
I've heard that people initially approved with low limits by Amex have a hard find getting CLIs, I have 2 Amexes and one that barely gets use and has an AF, when they allow me I'm gonna roll the CL over to the one I use. It'll still be a measly $2000, but it's better than 2 $1000 cards :-/
This may be a common occurence, but my experience is that AMEX wants to see usage, so utilizing nearly all of the $1k limit then PIF is a definite, likely successful, strategy to get a CLI from AMEX, and earn points at the same time. Others will see CLI with almost no usage, but I'm a believer in active credit strategies, not SD
The Delta AMEX is fairly easy to get, but yes, the $95 AF can be a problem if one is not flying Delta. Still, it only takes two Delta round trips per year to see the benefit in the $25 first bag free; 2 trips x 2 legs x $25 = $100.