topic Re: Question about Amex relationship in Credit Cards

Question about Amex relationship

Anonymous — Thu, 26 May 2016 17:28:42 GMT

Hello!

So i've gotten myself into a mess these past few years and i'm finally on the path to rebuilding my credit score (which is currently sitting around 570) I have one card with Amex i've had since 2008 with a $2000 Credit limit. It was maxed out and I paid it off 2 months ago, and I used it again, and paid it off. I want to continue this cycle to improve my relationship with American Express.

My question is if I continue using it in this way, will it improve my chances of a CLI or will it still heavily depend on my credit score? How much does Amex look at your personal relationship with them over the score?

Re: Question about Amex relationship

Anonymous — Thu, 26 May 2016 17:36:42 GMT

TBH I don't think you have much chance with a CLI for a while. They big time look at score and your overall profile.

Re: Question about Amex relationship

SouthJamaica — Thu, 26 May 2016 18:29:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello!

So i've gotten myself into a mess these past few years and i'm finally on the path to rebuilding my credit score (which is currently sitting around 570) I have one card with Amex i've had since 2008 with a $2000 Credit limit. It was maxed out and I paid it off 2 months ago, and I used it again, and paid it off. I want to continue this cycle to improve my relationship with American Express.

My question is if I continue using it in this way, will it improve my chances of a CLI or will it still heavily depend on my credit score? How much does Amex look at your personal relationship with them over the score?

It's definitely helpful but probably not helpful enough to get you a CLI at this point in time, but I think you should keep on doing it.

Do you have other cards open? If so, if you give us limits and balances, we can give you utilization percentage targets to optimize your score.

Re: Question about Amex relationship

Rackham94 — Thu, 26 May 2016 18:32:40 GMT

Your best strategy would be to find out when your statement cuts because depending on the balance on the that date is what is reported to CBs.

e.g. statement cuts on 15th of each month but your balance is $2k then $2k would negatively impact your score vs. paying 1-2 days before statement cut date and letting a balance of $275 or so report would show usage but not overutilization.

Re: Question about Amex relationship

Anonymous — Thu, 26 May 2016 18:40:10 GMT

While that makes sense ^ a 570 isn't going to cut it with them.

Re: Question about Amex relationship

NRB525 — Thu, 26 May 2016 18:59:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello!

So i've gotten myself into a mess these past few years and i'm finally on the path to rebuilding my credit score (which is currently sitting around 570) I have one card with Amex i've had since 2008 with a $2000 Credit limit. It was maxed out and I paid it off 2 months ago, and I used it again, and paid it off. I want to continue this cycle to improve my relationship with American Express.

My question is if I continue using it in this way, will it improve my chances of a CLI or will it still heavily depend on my credit score? How much does Amex look at your personal relationship with them over the score?

Welcome to the forums.

While credit score will be a factor, I would suggest continued heavy use up to $1,950 along with paying the entire statement balance before the payment due date, but not before statement cut. My Delta Gold card, after a year of decent use, ran up to 1,950 of the $2k limit in 2014. I paid it off, and was running it up close to $2k again when they gave me an auto-CLI to $3k. It may take a bit longer with your scores, but you can't go wrong with heavy use and PIF.

Paying before statement cut might pick up a few points, but letting that balance report will build up a long string of evidence of borrowing with no payment problems, which might be helpful in a future manual review. The few points you gain with pay before statement are fleeting, I'd rather have the record of those good borrowings for future reference.

Good luck! Keep us updated on your journey and experiences as your scores improve!

Re: Question about Amex relationship

Anonymous — Thu, 26 May 2016 19:04:40 GMT

Thanks for the advice guys. My biggest issue right now is a delinquent account with BOA i'm trying to resolve. They want $1000 as a minimum payment to clear that deliquency, something I didn't have at the time. I'm up to date on every other account I have, and i'm slowly saving and almost at the point to pay BOA (they won't work with me, i have tried numerous times)

Thanks again for the pro advice, i've found these forums very helpful in this endeavor!

Re: Question about Amex relationship

The_Gazelle12 — Thu, 26 May 2016 20:00:34 GMT

Keep doing what you're doing and they just may surprise you one of these days.

Re: Question about Amex relationship

SouthJamaica — Thu, 26 May 2016 20:13:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the advice guys. My biggest issue right now is a delinquent account with BOA i'm trying to resolve. They want $1000 as a minimum payment to clear that deliquency, something I didn't have at the time. I'm up to date on every other account I have, and i'm slowly saving and almost at the point to pay BOA (they won't work with me, i have tried numerous times)

Thanks again for the pro advice, i've found these forums very helpful in this endeavor!

I wish you good luck in getting that worked out with BOA and getting back on track.