Riddle me this Amex back dating

Anonymous · ‎12-03-2016

Amex offered me the Oasis Optima last April and I jumoed on the chance. Been using the card and paying monthly. Riddle me this: Once I get to next April and app for any one of the full fledged Amex cards, will Amex back date new cards to orginal 1990 Membership date? Here's why I'm aksing: My Optima card says member since 2016. When I log into my Amex account or check balance or pay online it says member since 1990.

Anyone with recent experince that can enlighten me?

NRB525 · ‎12-03-2016

Sadly, it used to be that you would get another "born in 1990" card reported on your credit report when apping with AMEX. That is no longer the case.

The 'Member Since" on the face of your card is indeed when your relationship with AMEX started.

The "Card Opening" date on your credit report, for new AMEX cards, is now the true date you opened the card, not backdated for credit reporting purposes.

Hang on to that 1990 card. Nice age to that one!

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longtimelurker · ‎12-03-2016

@NRB525 wrote:
.

Hang on to that 1990 card. Nice age to that one!

I think OP only has the 2016 one (for age purposses)

Anonymous · ‎12-22-2016

Same deal here.

I was just approved for the Amex BCP, and I defaulted many years ago.

IDK what the card will say when it arrives, but when I log in to my acct, it reads MEMBER SINCE 1988.

I guess I'll have to wait for Amex's first reporting to find out...

Anyone????

Anonymous · ‎12-22-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Same deal here.

I was just approved for the Amex BCP, and I defaulted many years ago.

IDK what the card will say when it arrives, but when I log in to my acct, it reads MEMBER SINCE 1988.

I guess I'll have to wait for Amex's first reporting to find out...

Anyone????

You don't need to wait. It will not report to the credit bureaus as opening in 1988. It will say opened in 2016. Whatever it says on the card or on the web site is meaningless. Amex stopped backdating to credit bureaus almost two years ago and nothing has changed.

longtimelurker · ‎12-22-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Same deal here.

I was just approved for the Amex BCP, and I defaulted many years ago.

IDK what the card will say when it arrives, but when I log in to my acct, it reads MEMBER SINCE 1988.

I guess I'll have to wait for Amex's first reporting to find out...

Anyone????
You don't need to wait. It will not report to the credit bureaus as opening in 1988. It will say opened in 2016. Whatever it says on the card or on the web site is meaningless. Amex stopped backdating to credit bureaus almost two years ago and nothing has changed.

Yes, I guess some people still hold out hope!

Anonymous · ‎12-22-2016

I'm pretty sure the thread right next to this discussed this very topic:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Amex-member-since-question/td-p/4815948

longtimelurker · ‎12-22-2016

Looking more carefully through my reports, I see something I hadn't really thought about.

I oepned an Amex in 2007. In 2009, I applied for a new Amex, and they pointed out that I hadn't been using the other card, so they closed that and gave me the new one, as a new account. On my CR, the card they closed shows an open date of 2007, the card that replaced it is backdated to 1987 (when I had my first Amex)

So I wonder if they adjusted the open date to the actual open when they closed the card, or if the first card was never backdated because (as I didn't know about it), I never asked.....

Revelate · ‎12-22-2016

@longtimelurker wrote:
Looking more carefully through my reports, I see something I hadn't really thought about.

I oepned an Amex in 2007. In 2009, I applied for a new Amex, and they pointed out that I hadn't been using the other card, so they closed that and gave me the new one, as a new account. On my CR, the card they closed shows an open date of 2007, the card that replaced it is backdated to 1987 (when I had my first Amex)

So I wonder if they adjusted the open date to the actual open when they closed the card, or if the first card was never backdated because (as I didn't know about it), I never asked.....

That would be my guess... lot of threads from when it was still around of people having to call in to get their Member Since date corrected (in our small niche population) so presumably it happened to a lot of folks.

Backdating, oh how we miss thee.

SunriseEarth · ‎12-22-2016

Unfortunately, the backdating ship has sailed on, at least in terms of your CRs. The web site and cards may use the correct MSD, but this no longer has any bearing on the opening date reported. That's a shame, since it would make AMEX a lot more attractive.