topic Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved in Credit Cards

Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

CreditPacMan — Mon, 15 May 2017 20:31:25 GMT

After 5 years with AMEX , and 4 cards with them. I have finally closed all of them.

Something about AMEX did not work for me. Maybe their continuous refusal to increase my limit past the $1000 mark on each card I have with them ( I had 4 cards all sitting at $1000 each).

It's not like I have any bad things on my credit. I have ZERO damage and a score of 690 ( ~ 10 years of history). But something in their corporate thinking process isn't right - I mean come'on .. have a reconsideration line .. let people talk to the underwriter and reason with him/her.

Right now .. Capital One is my best friend. They have awesome cards with great benefits. I never really used AMEX buyer's protection or any of their other perks.

Maybe sometime in the future I will get into AMEX again.

I'm just sharing my thoughts with you .. I'm happy because I got rid of them and not the other way around.

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

AverageJoesCredit — Mon, 15 May 2017 20:44:28 GMT

Thanks for sharing. Sometimes one doesnt fit with a certain lender and no reason we cant choose who is best for us. Best of luck with credit choices

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

wasCB14 — Mon, 15 May 2017 20:46:55 GMT

A 690 seems pretty low for someone with 10 years of history. Do you have high utilization or something?

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

CreditPacMan — Mon, 15 May 2017 20:58:12 GMT

No .. my CC utilization is 11%. But I have a car loan that's quite big.

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 21:43:39 GMT

Agree, something is killing your score that Amex doesn't like. UTI is aggregate (all cards) AND individual on each credit card. So one card at 90% (or so) is considered maxing out that card even tho overall you're only at 11% And if you have multiple cards with 31% or more it's only going to hurt the score more. Not sure how auto/installment/LOC play into the score. But if it were me, I'd be going over my reports with a magnifying glass to see what doesn't add up. Best of luck with your other lenders.

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

CreditPacMan — Mon, 15 May 2017 21:52:43 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Agree, something is killing your score that Amex doesn't like. UTI is aggregate (all cards) AND individual on each credit card. So one card at 90% (or so) is considered maxing out that card even tho overall you're only at 11% And if you have multiple cards with 31% or more it's only going to hurt the score more. Not sure how auto/installment/LOC play into the score. But if it were me, I'd be going over my reports with a magnifying glass to see what doesn't add up. Best of luck with your other lenders.

That's the problem .. there isn't a thing killing my score as in late payments or anything. Before I closed all my cards, everytime I requested an increase the denial reason stated "our internal score of your credit". If they consider installment loans, then yes I do have a rather large installment loan that is recent.

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 22:18:33 GMT

I get it, sometimes you just dont mesh. I have no issue with Amex, but I cant get Citi to give me a decent credit line. What cracks me up is they send me BT offers for this CL and they arent even offering 0%. Guess there is something in my profile they dont like.

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

JoeLuvsHisCredit — Mon, 15 May 2017 22:26:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I get it, sometimes you just dont mesh. I have no issue with Amex, but I cant get Citi to give me a decent credit line. What cracks me up is they send me BT offers for this CL and they arent even offering 0%. Guess there is something in my profile they dont like.

Sorry OP

I agree with Myrwyn. However I love Amex but I HATE YES HATE Discover AZZ!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel the same way as you OP but to Discover lol

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

CreditCuriosity — Mon, 15 May 2017 22:35:31 GMT

something else has to be holding your scores down with a strong AAoA regardless of a big car loan.. If you have an installment loan (car loan) and no missed payments and low utilization and various other CC's and a decent credit history your scores should be in the 750-800 range. Have you actually pulled your report/reports lately? 690ish is . still an ok score for AMEX back when I had a 670 score I got a 25k CL with them.. Could be your income or your overall DTI as well.. Granted the scores you listed with what you have still don't quite make sense.

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

JoeLuvsHisCredit — Mon, 15 May 2017 22:32:31 GMT

@CreditCuriousity wrote:
something else has to be holding your scores down with a strong AAoA regardless of a big car loan.. If you have an installment loan (car loan) and no missed payments and low utilization and various other CC's and a decent credit history your scores should be in the 750-800 range. Have you actually pulled your report/reports lately? 690ish is . still an ok score for AMEX back when I had a 670 score I got a 25k CL with them.. Could be your income or your overall DTI as well.. Grnted the scores you listed with what you have still dont quite make sense.

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

CreditPacMan — Mon, 15 May 2017 22:34:23 GMT

The score I mentioned is just a reference .. lenders usually don't just look at the score.The reason my score is low, is because I have a lot of recent credit, and evidently lots of inquiries (over 25). But in this situation I did not request an increase from AMEX - I just closed them all because I think starting fresh with them in a year or so could give me higher limits.

@CreditCuriousity wrote:
something else has to be holding your scores down with a strong AAoA regardless of a big car loan.. If you have an installment loan (car loan) and no missed payments and low utilization and various other CC's and a decent credit history your scores should be in the 750-800 range. Have you actually pulled your report/reports lately? 690ish is . still an ok score for AMEX back when I had a 670 score I got a 25k CL with them.. Could be your income or your overall DTI as well.. Grnted the scores you listed with what you have still dont quite make sense.

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

CreditCuriosity — Mon, 15 May 2017 22:41:39 GMT

@CreditPacMan wrote:
The score I mentioned is just a reference .. lenders usually don't just look at the score.The reason my score is low, is because I have a lot of recent credit, and evidently lots of inquiries (over 25). But in this situation I did not request an increase from AMEX - I just closed them all because I think starting fresh with them in a year or so could give me higher limits.

@CreditCuriousity wrote:
something else has to be holding your scores down with a strong AAoA regardless of a big car loan.. If you have an installment loan (car loan) and no missed payments and low utilization and various other CC's and a decent credit history your scores should be in the 750-800 range. Have you actually pulled your report/reports lately? 690ish is . still an ok score for AMEX back when I had a 670 score I got a 25k CL with them.. Could be your income or your overall DTI as well.. Grnted the scores you listed with what you have still dont quite make sense.

I agree scores are not everything.. I also have alot of inquiries and credit.. Granted not 25 inquiries (although after about 5 inquiriies in a yearthey no longer impact your score FYI although it might be 6, but you get the point).. I have around 260k in available credit.. I am guessing it is your DTI ratio.. Can you calcuatie that for us? That is Rent+Car Payment+Min CC bills each month divided by your monthly gross income and that will be your DTI. As sttated I had meh scores when I got in with Amex, but low DTI and high income and now have 65kish in credit across 3 cards with them. My Exp is currently at 702 I believe with old baddies being lates and paid charge offs all around 6ish years old. This is why I say something else has to be surpressing your scores.. People with BK's on their profiles have 730ish scores as their BK's age.

Not meaning to disagree with you, something just doesn't look right or add up as I have seen a TON I mean a TON of data points on this site over the years and consider myself to know Amex fairly well.. Granted certain lenders like certain profiles.. Such as most of my CC's are around 15k then Discover started at 1k and now is at 4.5k (they clearly don't like my profile)

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

CreditPacMan — Mon, 15 May 2017 22:47:39 GMT

At a rough estimate , I'd say my DTI ratio is about 40%.

@CreditCuriousity wrote:
@CreditPacMan wrote:
The score I mentioned is just a reference .. lenders usually don't just look at the score.The reason my score is low, is because I have a lot of recent credit, and evidently lots of inquiries (over 25). But in this situation I did not request an increase from AMEX - I just closed them all because I think starting fresh with them in a year or so could give me higher limits.

@CreditCuriousity wrote:
something else has to be holding your scores down with a strong AAoA regardless of a big car loan.. If you have an installment loan (car loan) and no missed payments and low utilization and various other CC's and a decent credit history your scores should be in the 750-800 range. Have you actually pulled your report/reports lately? 690ish is . still an ok score for AMEX back when I had a 670 score I got a 25k CL with them.. Could be your income or your overall DTI as well.. Grnted the scores you listed with what you have still dont quite make sense.

I agree scores are not everything.. I also have alot of inquiries and credit.. Granted not 25 inquiries (although after about 5 inquiriies in a yearthey no longer impact your score FYI although it might be 6, but you get the point).. I have around 260k in available credit.. I am guessing it is your DTI ratio.. Can you calcuatie that for us? That is Rent+Car Payment+Min CC bills each month divided by your monthly gross income and that will be your DTI. As sttated I had meh scores when I got in with Amex, but low DTI and high income and now have 65kish in credit across 3 cards with them. My Exp is currently at 702 I believe with old baddies being lates and paid charge offs all around 6ish years old. This is why I say something else has to be surpressing your scores.. People with BK's on their profiles have 730ish scores as their BK's age.

Not meaning to disagree with you, something just doesn't look right or add up as I have seen a TON I mean a TON of data points on this site over the years and consider myself to know Amex fairly well.. Granted certain lenders like certain profiles.. Such as most of my CC's are around 15k then Discover started at 1k and now is at 4.5k (they clearly don't like my profile)

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

JoeLuvsHisCredit — Mon, 15 May 2017 22:50:42 GMT

@CreditCuriousity wrote:
@CreditPacMan wrote:
The score I mentioned is just a reference .. lenders usually don't just look at the score.The reason my score is low, is because I have a lot of recent credit, and evidently lots of inquiries (over 25). But in this situation I did not request an increase from AMEX - I just closed them all because I think starting fresh with them in a year or so could give me higher limits.

@CreditCuriousity wrote:
something else has to be holding your scores down with a strong AAoA regardless of a big car loan.. If you have an installment loan (car loan) and no missed payments and low utilization and various other CC's and a decent credit history your scores should be in the 750-800 range. Have you actually pulled your report/reports lately? 690ish is . still an ok score for AMEX back when I had a 670 score I got a 25k CL with them.. Could be your income or your overall DTI as well.. Grnted the scores you listed with what you have still dont quite make sense.

I agree scores are not everything.. I also have alot of inquiries and credit.. Granted not 25 inquiries (although after about 5 inquiriies in a yearthey no longer impact your score FYI although it might be 6, but you get the point).. I have around 260k in available credit.. I am guessing it is your DTI ratio.. Can you calcuatie that for us? That is Rent+Car Payment+Min CC bills each month divided by your monthly gross income and that will be your DTI. As sttated I had meh scores when I got in with Amex, but low DTI and high income and now have 65kish in credit across 3 cards with them. My Exp is currently at 702 I believe with old baddies being lates and paid charge offs all around 6ish years old. This is why I say something else has to be surpressing your scores.. People with BK's on their profiles have 730ish scores as their BK's age.

Not meaning to disagree with you, something just doesn't look right or add up as I have seen a TON I mean a TON of data points on this site over the years and consider myself to know Amex fairly well.. Granted certain lenders like certain profiles.. Such as most of my CC's are around 15k then Discover started at 1k and now is at 4.5k (they clearly don't like my profile)

I also saw on my reports that after some inquiriies reported, I can't remember what number of inquiriies they started to stop counting against you. At least on my credit reports

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

JoeLuvsHisCredit — Mon, 15 May 2017 23:17:04 GMT

I am at $1100.00 on my Discover (6 months old) started out at $500.00 but I am at $18,000.00 on my Amex (2 1/2 months old) started out at $6000.00 and at 62 days I requested my 3X and got it but I am on the 90 days CLI cycle at Discover and I am closing it out on 06/13/2017 if they don't give me a higher CLI

My scores are 750 to 768 on all reports and Discover only gives me $300.00 CLI each time

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 23:09:01 GMT

I can't wait until I can get higher limits. *sighs*

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

JoeLuvsHisCredit — Mon, 15 May 2017 23:22:17 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I can't wait until I can get higher limits. *sighs*

CincyMazdaMan

WE all feel the same way at some point I know I did Just a year ago my highest Bank Card limit was $800.00 to $1000.00 and now I have up to $20,000.00 limits on my Bank Cards

Hang in there You will have higher limits soon

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

Anonymous — Tue, 16 May 2017 00:04:56 GMT

I feel you CreditPacMan, Amex is a odd duck. Funny I got my first card almost two years ago from them $1k limit, still sits there wtih odd reasons for no increase, one was limited or no usage, when it was being used often but a $1k limit and possible flagging for too many payments was a reason I just sock drawed it, after a year I applied for another card of theirs and boom a $8.4k limit. I didn't and don't understand how they wouldn't increase the one with the longest usage and history but approve me for a card with a way higher limit.

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

Teo — Tue, 16 May 2017 00:32:01 GMT

This is so interesting to me because I have the same complaint in reverse. Amex has given me generous limits and very generous increases. Same with NFCU. I pay everything off each month - always have UTI under 5%.

Capital One, however has me sitting at 500 bucks and says no to any cli request. They even have no upgrade for my Quicksilver One, which was my first card and thus is my oldest. In the last 6 months I've been given CLIs to 25 k on Amex and NFCU cards, been approved for excellent rates for car loans at NFCU and Honda Finance (.9%), but denied for a car loan, cli, upgrade, and new (Venture) card with Cap 1.

Re: Closed all my AMEX cards .. relieved

CreditPacMan — Tue, 16 May 2017 00:34:26 GMT

I've always treated lenders as they are the ones dying to get my business. Even though I am one of millions of card members but every dollar I put on that card is profit for them. We have to always balance our needs - I am not loyal to any single lender. I was patient enough , but I ditched AMEX in the blink of an eye when it was time.