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I applied for a business card with Amex since I received their pre-approved mailer. I went ahead and did the app online. I was told that they would have to look things over and that they'd send me something in the mail regarding whether or not I was accepted.
I received a letter indicating a few different things including what my FICO score was. I had a FICO score of high 600s. I was also told I had negative items on my credit report. Last but not least they said that I had too many inquiries within the past 12 months.
All of the above info came from Experian. I went through annualcreditreport.com and did my Experian report and found NO negative items. I know there were items from the year 2001-2002 which was already paid in full and closed. I have not had any delinquent items on my credit report since the year 2002. I am wondering what exactly the Amex card is seeing since I looked at the exact same Experian report and found nothing out of the ordinary.
Also, they said I had excessive inquiries for credit. I had 3 total, 1 which was in the earlier part of this year (2011). The other two were recent but that's it, nothing else.
Any ideas?
Call them back up & confront them. Make sure that you explain that you have pulled your own experian credit report which showed no negative accounts.
I have had experience with American Express myself. They are very picky. How much credit experience do you have? In other words how long, on average, have you had other accounts opened for or one's that you have closed but have no adverse issues? Each company is different as far as what is considered having too many inquiries? If the hard pulls from your credit report where for credit cards then they may look at you as being a high risk.
I would definitely give them a call & ask them everything. Also, ask them what would be the difference in you getting approved????
Definately call for a recon, but before you do:
1. Have you ever had a card with american express in the past?
2. 3 inquiries is considered a lot by some lenders, especially if they are very recent. Some cards will automatically deny you for more than 2 inquiries.
3. Although the high 600s is a decent credit, it isn't great. AMEX is a very picky lender, and they use their own internal scoring algorithm in addition to your credit score. If the numbers don't play out the way they like, then it is bad news bear.
Also - a score in the high 600s indicates you do have negatives on your report (unless your utilization is at 100% or something). What is your util, any missed payments, what is your AAOA?