topic Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income) in Credit Card Applications

Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 02:50:58 GMT

I screwed up my credit back when I didn't make a lot of money, carrying balances and I got popped with a few collections for things like medical bills and an unpaid utility bill.

All told I've got about 12k of CC debt (15k total limit across multiple cards) I'm slamming down on hard right now, and ideally will have completely paid off by the end of August.

I've been trying to get an Amex for ages now, and I'd happily settle for just a Green card, if nothing better. I basically intend to use it in place of my debit card for all my main purchasing throughout a month and smack it down to 0 on dueday, every single time.

My experian FICO is sitting at just barely 630 right now, but I'm pulling down over 200k a year USD.

I think my credit score will improve massively once I'm not sitting at like 80% utilization, but I (stupidly) pulled the trigger on applying for a Green card last week.
They denied, but I called in and asked for a recon.
Gotta wait until Monday to find out, but do y'all think there's a decent chance, even with my credit being crap, that they'll see the income and go "yeah okay we want her as a cardholder"?
Avg age of accounts is 3 and a half years, 0 missed payments on the cards and my 2 auto loans themselves, last screwup was a bill 4 years ago (and paid off).

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Pikaboo-icu — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 03:06:00 GMT

Welcome to My Fico

Sorry but with that uti, the chances are slim.

Yes, you have the income but they will wonder: "with that income why your cards are at 80% uti and in addition have a couple derogs"..

I would pay that uti way down- and then try again.

Good Luck..

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 03:18:50 GMT

Thanks for the welcome, and the heads up!

Bummer to hear but I figured that'd be the situation. I mean, we'll see on Monday but I don't have my hopes up.

I guess pay everything off, wait a month for everything to catch up and report as not terrible anymore, and then try again (or rather, start checking the pre-approval link every few months)?

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Gmood1 — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 03:31:11 GMT

Once denied, it's 90 days before you can apply again under normal circumstances.
Your scores should really jump after paying down the debt to 9% or less.

Allow at least one card to report a balance, so not to ding your scores.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 03:42:35 GMT

Why does it have to be an American Express? Why not an NFCU Visa?

Your credit score rises slow and falls quick. Are you looking for a statement card which shows people what your annual income is? That's kinda bluffing if you have a low credit score.

Pay off your current CC debt with your high income and don't worry about prestigious credit cards. AmEx cards are not accepted at many retail establishments. Yes, I have one coming in the mail but I realize it's much like RayBan Wayfarers when Miami Vice was a huge hit. No, I'm not buying a Delorean with my AmEx.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 03:57:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Why does it have to be an American Express? Why not an NFCU Visa?

Your credit score rises slow and falls quick. Are you looking for a statement card which shows people what your annual income is? That's kinda bluffing if you have a low credit score.

Pay off your current CC debt with your high income and don't worry about prestigious credit cards. AmEx cards are not accepted at many retail establishments. Yes, I have one coming in the mail but I realize it's much like RayBan Wayfarers when Miami Vice was a huge hit. No, I'm not buying a Delorean with my AmEx.

It's stupid, but it's more of a statement to myself that I finally got my **** together.

A friendly reminder every time I look in my purse that I'm a long way away from my days of couch surfing and begging for scraps.

I realize there are significantly less stupid ways of going about it, but it's the one card I don't currently hold, and I'm something of a completionist, I guess. I've got visa, MC, Discover, but no AmEx. (I'm aware I'm also missing DC, UP, etc, but those aren't exactly something you typically come across in the states anyway.)
90 days... got it. Seems like that'll be more than enough time to start reporting well under 10% utilization.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 04:06:23 GMT

Don't take it personal. I come off as abrasive sometimes. I live at the coast. I ride a bicycle everywhere. I wear t-shirts and board shorts.

I see many women walking down Ocean Blvd in stilettos and what they think is evening wear which mimics "The Real Housewives Of".

I don't know you from Adam but I just kinda react to some posts. I'm not good at getting likes.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Pikaboo-icu — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 04:12:22 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Don't take it personal. I come off as abrasive sometimes. I live at the coast. I ride a bicycle everywhere. I wear t-shirts and board shorts.

I see many women walking down Ocean Blvd in stilettos and what they think is evening wear which mimics "The Real Housewives Of".

I don't know you from Adam but I just kinda react to some posts. I'm not good at getting likes.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 04:18:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Don't take it personal. I come off as abrasive sometimes. I live at the coast. I ride a bicycle everywhere. I wear t-shirts and board shorts.

I see many women walking down Ocean Blvd in stilettos and what they think is evening wear which mimics "The Real Housewives Of".

I don't know you from Adam but I just kinda react to some posts. I'm not good at getting likes.

Personal? Dude, abrasive is my middle name, haha.
I might be a Southern girl now but I'm Jersey through and through.
That's our lifesblood right there.

Don't you worry about it. I find that angry and abrasive folks are the best ones to drink with. My kinda people.

> stilettos and what they think is evening wear which mimics "The Real Housewives Of".

Oh god don't even get me started on that crowd.

I work in tech. I'm a geek who's greatest joy in life is tearing down a highway at 3 am going well over any sane speed in my bare bones bottom of the line stick shift mustang. I wear sneakers until they fall off my feet, and keep my wardrobe pretty basic. Death metal t-shirts, comfortable jeans, hoodies. I have 0 desire to bare my wealth, so to speak.

My biggest reason for a charge card is to earn some kind of rewards while keeping my spending well in check.

Having to pay in full every month will help keep me from going overboard ever again.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Shadowfactor — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 04:40:30 GMT

I would try the prequalified site before applying again.

Amex recons don’t usually have positive results and it’s another HP.

Get your Util down and work on attacking any negative items you have on your reports.
Pay down the cards you have, try to work on PFD on any negatives and then reapply.

I believe it’s 30 days since a denial for any credit product with Amex. The 90 days is for CLI denials, not new cards

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Remedios — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 05:08:10 GMT

How on earth does a question about CC choice ends up being a critique on what women should wear?

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 06:40:52 GMT

Go to the soon to be defunct shopping malls.

Women's clothing at the main entrance of Macys and Nordstrom. As well as their cosmetics and jewelry I might add.

Men's clothes in the far back corners of the store.

Women control finances. They shop for their husband's clothes. Stop acting like you don't know.

Sparkle Bunny approves this message. He thinks some other poster spiked his champagne.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Gmood1 — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 09:09:16 GMT

@Shadowfactor wrote:
I would try the prequalified site before applying again.

Amex recons don’t usually have positive results and it’s another HP.

Get your Util down and work on attacking any negative items you have on your reports.
Pay down the cards you have, try to work on PFD on any negatives and then reapply.

I believe it’s 30 days since a denial for any credit product with Amex. The 90 days is for CLI denials, not new cards

I believe you are correct on the 30 days, but Amex seems to have a moving rule on the CLI denial. In most cases you can go right back in a day later and request a increase, as long as it's on the same card.

I think it depends on the on the way you request a CLI. I wonder if my reallocation was considered a limit increase?

I was denied a reallocation and received two different letters.

One stated I cant reallocate but one card in a 30 day period.

The other was a denial for CLI. It stated 90 days between.I believe this is because I had already performed one reallocation. And tried to do it with some other Amex cards.

Amex is all over the map with these rules and very confusing at times.

It was the first time I have ever seen a 90 day denial CLI from Amex.

OP, I wouldn't worry about applying again until you get your EX score up to at least a 675.

Anything below that is a shot in the dark. The higher the better with those guys. And as soon as your utilization comes down. Once reported to the credit bureaus, which normally lags by a month. Your scores will rise.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

CreditInspired — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 09:18:28 GMT

Welcome OP to MyFICO

Ditto on everyone else’s suggestions.

One thing that caught my eye was that you said you would use AmX as your daily driver instead of your debit card. IMHO, that is telling me if you were fortunate enough to get approved on recon, you would run up the AmX and then you would have accumulated additional debt.

Keep in mind that if you were approved on recon, which yes I also believe is slim, the CL would probably be a stingy $1K. Another reason to reduce your utilization.

Yes, really work on AZEO (all card at zero except one), and that one card at less than 9%.

This is my old standby and keeps me in check:
“A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove you don’t need it.” ~Bob Hope.

The first time I read this quote was when my utilization was high. I had never heard it before, but it rings sooooo true.

So once you get that utilization way, way down, the preapprovals will come knocking at your door.

And I love your sense of humor!

You can do it!

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 17:40:09 GMT

@CreditInspired wrote:
Welcome OP to MyFICO

Ditto on everyone else’s suggestions.

One thing that caught my eye was that you said you would use AmX as your daily driver instead of your debit card. IMHO, that is telling me if you were fortunate enough to get approved on recon, you would run up the AmX and then you would have accumulated additional debt.

Keep in mind that if you were approved on recon, which yes I also believe is slim, the CL would probably be a stingy $1K. Another reason to reduce your utilization.

Yes, really work on AZEO (all card at zero except one), and that one card at less than 9%.

This is my old standby and keeps me in check:
“A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove you don’t need it.” ~Bob Hope.

The first time I read this quote was when my utilization was high. I had never heard it before, but it rings sooooo true.

So once you get that utilization way, way down, the preapprovals will come knocking at your door.

And I love your sense of humor!

You can do it!

Haha, thanks
Glad someone appreciates it. Usually I get "shut up Jesse, go away".

> Yes, really work on AZEO (all card at zero except one), and that one card at less than 9%.
this is the goal. Mostly. Amex as a daily driver that gets paid down once a month, so I can more easily manage my spending and expenses.
My higher limit revolving Cap1 for the occasional big purchase (like that rackmount Kemper I've had my eye on...) with a goal of using no more than 30% at any given time and giving myself a hard 3month limit to pay everything off.
Everything else at 0. Closing out my 3 sub-prime cards I got back when I was in the low 500's and just starting to build my credit.

I've got the income to do it. I'm implementing my plan. Goal is to live really lean all of august, and have my debt down from 12k to 1k total by the end of august (not including my car loan, that'll simply take time. Can't exactly drop 20k in a single month yet. I'm doing good, but not THAT good, heh.)

Give it until the middle of October for the reports to refresh, and then I should, if I've got everything right, see a gnarly jump in my score.
Then maybe reconsider apping for the Amex, and call it a day for a few years on applications.
I don't need any more cards right now. That's what got me into this mess. I almost had everything paid off in January, but then my employer went under and I got laid off. Thankfully I'm making twice what I made there now, so I can build a savings safety net while still paying down aggessively.

> “A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove you don’t need it.” ~Bob Hope.
That's a really good quote. And so true.

> Keep in mind that if you were approved on recon, which yes I also believe is slim, the CL would probably be a stingy $1K.
Oh I'm well aware. And perfectly fine with that. Outside of rent, CC payments, and my car note, my spending isn't exactly high on a regular basis. If they give me anything, I'll be pretty freakin stoked.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 17:44:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Go to the soon to be defunct shopping malls.

Women's clothing at the main entrance of Macys and Nordstrom. As well as their cosmetics and jewelry I might add.

Men's clothes in the far back corners of the store.

Women control finances. They shop for their husband's clothes. Stop acting like you don't know.

Sparkle Bunny approves this message. He thinks some other poster spiked his champagne.

I wouldn't know about any of this. My girlfriend and I tend to avoid malls. And shopping. We're both tomboys, and tend to go for the simpler things in life. My wardrobe is literally target jeans and tshirts I pick up at death metal shows.
Hers is about the same, but she's less into metal. We're stereotypical lesbians, I guess.
I never groked fashion. It seems stupid to spend 500 dollars on a pair of pre-shredded jeans.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 05:45:34 GMT

I had close to 200k income and 700 FICO score when I got both of my Amex revolvers and I got 1k starting limits on both. And 1 percent utilization. I think they don't like derogatory stuff. A year later with my Experian FICO at 739 they are only up to 5k and 2k.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 06:00:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I had close to 200k income and 700 FICO score when I got both of my Amex revolvers and I got 1k starting limits on both. And 1 percent utilization. I think they don't like derogatory stuff. A year later with my Experian FICO at 739 they are only up to 5k and 2k.

I heard they're really stingy with the revolver limits though.

I'm hoping my chances will be better with the lowest publicly available charge card.

Honestly, with as much as work has me traveling, the Platinum would have been genuinely useful and I wouldn't have minded the annual fee, but I thought there was no way in hell they'd actually give me the platinum, even if it made them more money off me to begin with.
So, fingers crossed for a Green charge.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

UncleB — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 06:25:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I had close to 200k income and 700 FICO score when I got both of my Amex revolvers and I got 1k starting limits on both. And 1 percent utilization. I think they don't like derogatory stuff. A year later with my Experian FICO at 739 they are only up to 5k and 2k.
I heard they're really stingy with the revolver limits though.
I'm hoping my chances will be better with the lowest publicly available charge card.
Honestly, with as much as work has me traveling, the Platinum would have been genuinely useful and I wouldn't have minded the annual fee, but I thought there was no way in hell they'd actually give me the platinum, even if it made them more money off me to begin with.
So, fingers crossed for a Green charge.

If this is the case, then a denial on the Green might have been a blessing in disguise.

The underwriting on the Green, Gold (PRG) and Platinum charge cards is thought to be very similar, if not identical. Keep in mind the color of the card isn't an indicator of what you can spend, it only denotes the AF you pay and the benefits attatched to the card. Remember, Warren Buffet carries a Green card.

If your recon doesn't work out, once your utilization is better (which will improve your scores) you'll probably have a good chance of getting the Platinum, which might be a better fit for you than the Green, anyway.

Re: Amex Chances (Meh Credit, High Income)

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 07:55:47 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I had close to 200k income and 700 FICO score when I got both of my Amex revolvers and I got 1k starting limits on both. And 1 percent utilization. I think they don't like derogatory stuff. A year later with my Experian FICO at 739 they are only up to 5k and 2k.
I heard they're really stingy with the revolver limits though.
I'm hoping my chances will be better with the lowest publicly available charge card.
Honestly, with as much as work has me traveling, the Platinum would have been genuinely useful and I wouldn't have minded the annual fee, but I thought there was no way in hell they'd actually give me the platinum, even if it made them more money off me to begin with.
So, fingers crossed for a Green charge.
If this is the case, then a denial on the Green might have been a blessing in disguise.

The underwriting on the Green, Gold (PRG) and Platinum charge cards is thought to be very similar, if not identical. Keep in mind the color of the card isn't an indicator of what you can spend, it only denotes the AF you pay and the benefits attatched to the card. Remember, Warren Buffet carries a Green card.

If your recon doesn't work out, once your utilization is better (which will improve your scores) you'll probably have a good chance of getting the Platinum, which might be a better fit for you than the Green, anyway.

It very well might be, but I'd still prefer to get my foot in the door now vs September.

I just finally made up a budget for myself and will have all my CC debt and my two negative remarks (medical collection that my insurance was supposed to pony up for but has been fighting me for 3 years on, and a utility bill for a service I cancelled after a single day because they lied to get me to become a customer in the first place...and then billed me for 2 months claiming I didn't close the account, which I've disputed but to no luck...) completely paid down, with a nice chunk of change left to stuff in savings and my brokerage account.

The payoffs should reflect by middle of August when most of my cards report, and the debts by the end of the month.

Ideally, by the end of September, Amex will see all this and go "oh hey she's not so bad after all", but if I can get a card now, and prove to them interally over the next 2 months (on top of the nice boost my score will see) that I'm actually responsible, I'm hoping it'll lead to some significantly better pre-approvals and offers shortly thereafter.

> The underwriting on the Green, Gold (PRG) and Platinum charge cards is thought to be very similar, if not identical.
Well if I'd known that, I would have just gone straight for the Platinum, heh.

> If your recon doesn't work out, once your utilization is better (which will improve your scores) you'll probably have a good chance of getting the Platinum, which might be a better fit for you than the Green, anyway.

Here's hoping! I should know by lunch today (10 hours or so) if I get the boot or I get in the door.
Fingers crossed. If not, I'll take that HP hit, and continue to execute on my plan to be (mostly) debt-free by end of August.