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Oldest Amex "Member Since" Date you've seen?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Oldest Amex "Member Since" Date you've seen?

One reason why I'm a fan of Amex is that both my parents are longtime members. I'm curious to hear your stories about people you know with long-ago MSDs on their American Express cards.

My dad is 90 years old and was actually a "charter member" in 1958. He was a radio DJ in Chicago back then and as a minor celebrity, he was invited to be one of the first to apply for the new Amex charge card. Unfortunately he lost that job soon after, and got a divorce from his first wife; he let the Amex charge off and never paid it.

My mom, on the other hand, has been an Amex cardholder since 1971. She added my dad as an AU shortly after they got married in the 1970s, and both parents now have a PRG card with a MSD of "71" printed on the front.

I was an AU on my parents' Gold card when I was in college, and I'm sure I got a big FICO boost from the backdating in place at that time. They cut me off after a short time, though, as I was not responsible with spending and didn't understand the value of a dollar at age 18.

I got my very own Amex in 2001 (a Blue with $2000 limit) followed by a Green charge card in 2003. I still didn't understand how to manage money, and eventually burned Amex in my 2006 bankruptcy to the tune of $6000.

When I got back in with Amex this year, I was thrilled to see they still recognize my MSD as 2001. This time I'm much older, wiser and wealthier so will never repeat my past mistakes with credit. If only my dad had paid his first Amex card, he'd be one of the very few living charter members today for what it's worth.

Has anyone seen any Amex cards with an MSD in the 1950s or 60s? It must be quite rare since anyone with a card that old is going to be elderly today.
Message 1 of 12
11 REPLIES 11
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Oldest Amex "Member Since" Date you've seen?

Not really, for a long while Amex would backdate to the original account holder's date for AU's... and so Member Since (and at the time the open date) often would be before the cardholder was born.

 

This got changed finally, but there are a number of people walking around with "absurd" member since dates who still get carded at bars.




        
Message 2 of 12
pipeguy
Senior Contributor

Re: Oldest Amex "Member Since" Date you've seen?

Mine says 1978, but that's "new" compared to what you are looking for Smiley Sad

Message 3 of 12
Thomas_Thumb
Senior Contributor

Re: Oldest Amex "Member Since" Date you've seen?


@Revelate wrote:

Not really, for a long while Amex would backdate to the original account holder's date for AU's... and so Member Since (and at the time the open date) often would be before the cardholder was born.

 

This got changed finally, but there are a number of people walking around with "absurd" member since dates who still get carded at bars.


That's just wrong. Backdating accounts the primary card holder closed and re-opened is one thing. Granting this to AUs is something else entirely.

 

Good to see AU backdating was changed. Unfortunately (for some) so was primary card holder backdating.

Fico 9: .......EQ 850 TU 850 EX 850
Fico 8: .......EQ 850 TU 850 EX 850
Fico 4 .....:. EQ 809 TU 823 EX 830 EX Fico 98: 842
Fico 8 BC:. EQ 892 TU 900 EX 900
Fico 8 AU:. EQ 887 TU 897 EX 899
Fico 4 BC:. EQ 826 TU 858, EX Fico 98 BC: 870
Fico 4 AU:. EQ 831 TU 872, EX Fico 98 AU: 861
VS 3.0:...... EQ 835 TU 835 EX 835
CBIS: ........EQ LN Auto 940 EQ LN Home 870 TU Auto 902 TU Home 950
Message 4 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Oldest Amex "Member Since" Date you've seen?

1958 is the first year they printed, and I can definitely say there are a fair number of people that have them Smiley Happy I've seen it all.. As you start seeing a lot more in about the 70's and prevelence increases in the 80's, 90's, and 2000's as you may expect. Also, the card itself is easy enough to backdate, but they've definitely enforced stricter rules regarding the actual account and how it reports.
Message 5 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Oldest Amex "Member Since" Date you've seen?

My pops has one from 1990.

Obviously not even close to the 'oldest' you can see but still pretty darn good. I rarely see ANY credit card from the 90s.
Message 6 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Oldest Amex "Member Since" Date you've seen?


@Anonymous wrote:
My pops has one from 1990.

Obviously not even close to the 'oldest' you can see but still pretty darn good. I rarely see ANY credit card from the 90s.

Good lord ... you are still a babe in the cradle Smiley Happy

Message 7 of 12
tussking
Established Contributor

Re: Oldest Amex "Member Since" Date you've seen?

My dads card says 1966.
Discharged BK7 - 7.16.15
Current Fico8 - (8.2022) EX - 744/EQ - 728/TU - 740
Message 8 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Oldest Amex "Member Since" Date you've seen?

There is a guy who comes into the restaurant I bartend at and I'm 98% sure that the date on his Centurion is 58. My boss grew up with his kids and my boss is 54 so I'm sure he's old enough to have that date.
Message 9 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Oldest Amex "Member Since" Date you've seen?

Cool... If he has a Centurion after 58 years he must still be a big spender with Amex!

Message 10 of 12
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