topic Re: AmEx underwriting criteria question in Credit Cards

AmEx underwriting criteria question

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 14:41:32 GMT

I’ve seen this question posed or commented on in the past without a definitive answer (not sure we here even have a definitive answer) but I thought it was worth addressing.

It’s known that the UW criteria for AmEx charge cards is about the same whether the card in question is green, gold, or platinum. It seems logical to assume this extends to families of revolvers as well but I wanted to see if anyone knew for sure.

Do the cards in a particular Amex family all share UW criteria? That is, would qualifying for a no-AF BCE automatically qualify one for the BCP, or vice versa? I ask because the wonder has come in regarding whether an AF card is easier or harder to get than a no-AF card. I know when my prequal Page in my account showed me approved for the Delta and Hilton cards, it was for all of them regardless of fee. But is this also the case for the core revolvers like it is for the charge cards? Or do some of the fee cards have different UW criteria than their no-AF counterparts?

Also, once one qualifies for a core revolver, for those of you who have them, did you find you were Pre-Approved for all core revolvers? Or have you seen that you were approved for, say, a Cash Magnet card but not a BCE or ED?

Just a curiosity but one I’m hoping to lay to rest. TIA...

Re: AmEx underwriting criteria question

AverageJoesCredit — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 16:45:37 GMT

All i know is once i got a revolver, that did not open me up to preapprovals or prequalify for other revolvers. I never have prequals with Amex

Re: AmEx underwriting criteria question

xaximus — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 16:46:22 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I’ve seen this question posed or commented on in the past without a definitive answer (not sure we here even have a definitive answer) but I thought it was worth addressing.

It’s known that the UW criteria for AmEx charge cards is about the same whether the card in question is green, gold, or platinum. It seems logical to assume this extends to families of revolvers as well but I wanted to see if anyone knew for sure.

Do the cards in a particular Amex family all share UW criteria? From my understanding (I may be wrong), the no-AF cards may be easier to get depending on your scores. I think your CP really differentiates whether or not you'll be approved. If someone has a lower score, then my understanding is that they have a higher chance of getting approved for the no-AF versions vs. approvals for the AF versions. That is, would qualifying for a no-AF BCE automatically qualify one for the BCP, or vice versa? I ask because the wonder has come in regarding whether an AF card is easier or harder to get than a no-AF card. I know when my prequal Page in my account showed me approved for the Delta and Hilton cards, it was for all of them regardless of fee. But is this also the case for the core revolvers like it is for the charge cards? Or do some of the fee cards have different UW criteria than their no-AF counterparts? I don't believe it's the same. A few months ago, in my prequal page, I had pre-approvals for both the Gold and Platinum Delta but not the Reserve, I checked earlier and I see it there now. That leads me to believe, a few months ago, I may have had to cold-app for a Reserve while now, I actually see it in my pre-approvals.

Also, once one qualifies for a core revolver, for those of you who have them, did you find you were Pre-Approved for all core revolvers? Or have you seen that you were approved for, say, a Cash Magnet card but not a BCE or ED?

Just a curiosity but one I’m hoping to lay to rest. TIA...

See above in red - as before, this is just my experience and that may vary with other people.

Re: AmEx underwriting criteria question

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 17:08:56 GMT

Good info xaximus, thank you. I have always seen posts saying “I’ve never had preapprovals but today I’m Pre-Approved for everything”, rather than experiences like yours. Maybe a few more replies will begin to clarify the picture more concretely, although Amex definitely seems to be CP-specific. I mean I got two cold-app approvals in the same month as seeing others with higher scores turned down...

Joe, maybe after you finish messing with us all and spill the beans, you’ll start seeing them too!

Re: AmEx underwriting criteria question

AverageJoesCredit — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 20:38:12 GMT

Hee hee😏

Re: AmEx underwriting criteria question

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 23:53:04 GMT

I'm not sure why it would really matter. If they'll approve a person for the BCE with a $5-10K CL, why not the BCP and get an AF from them?

After all, once you have the no AF version for 6 months, they start pushing you to upgrade. As a consumer I'd rather get one card I want and keep it, rather than upgrading two or three times. All that does is add unneeded accounts to your profile, or do PC's not count?

Re: AmEx underwriting criteria question

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 00:17:22 GMT

Janus, that’s the flip side to the thought process that made me ask. As to whether a PC changes anything, it’s hard to say. Doing a PC on my CapOne Plat to a Quicksilver didn’t alter anything in the reporting, so it may be lender-specific. But I wondered because the AF cards seem to have a better SUB with AmEx than the no fee cards, and the SUBs get better among AF cards as the AF increases. Offering better SUBs costs them more and if a user knows how to churn they may get less of a return on those cards even with the fee. That’s part of why I wondered if they built in a difference in approval criteria - better profiles merit better SUBs and rewards.

Re: AmEx underwriting criteria question

NRB525 — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 00:16:07 GMT

OP from your siggy, you have two AMEX revolvers already. What are their limits? How long have you had them?

Once you have approved cards with AMEX, I will guess the “preapproval” game is changed. Now you are showing AMEX your ability to handle the cards. With good payment history, at a certain point (soon) you will be able to get any of their cards. Just be prepared for the AF

Re: AmEx underwriting criteria question

Loquat — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 00:22:52 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
All i know is once i got a revolver, that did not open me up to preapprovals or prequalify for other revolvers. I never have prequals with Amex

I'm with @AverageJoesCredit here. I've never had a pre-qual and getting one revolver didn't make the second one any easier. Initially I had better luck with their co-brand revolvers than that of their core products (i.e. ED/EDP/BC/BCE).

Re: AmEx underwriting criteria question

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 00:31:43 GMT

NRB525 and Loquat, yes I have the two in my sig but I kind of edged in with the $1k starter SLs. I’ve had them 3-1/2 months and have run probably $2k through each, with both cards now back in their grace periods and balances around 23-25% on each. I’ve been showing them heavy use and heavy payments (7-10x the minimums, more than one per month per card). I’ve still held off on trying for a CLI as I had heavier aggregate UTI after the holiday season, which has since fallen considerably. Soon enough I’ll go for it but I’m waiting for EX to update in my account, and waiting to see what may shake loose for preapprovals. Last week I became Pre-Approved for BonVoy as well as all of the Hilton and Delta cards. Not pulling the trigger on them right now though - I’d rather see if the BCE/BCP becomes available after scoring and UTI update and I don’t want to delay or affect that possibility by taking another cobranded card or increasing my exposure on a CLI when I’ve only been with AmEx since November.

Re: AmEx underwriting criteria question

NRB525 — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 00:41:20 GMT

I would continue to use the Delta and Hilton cards quite heavily, pay once per month, for about 6 more months.

Then just app the BCE if that is what you want.

Keep in mind AMEX does not like churners, so keeping these cards a couple years is advisable. Those who start a pattern of getting SUB, then closing AMEX cards are now finding disappointment on other SUB apps.

Re: AmEx underwriting criteria question

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 01:34:33 GMT

That’s definitely the plan. I actually get value from the HH card as I travel to Cleveland from upstate NY with my wife for medical reasons and we stay at Hampton Inns quite a bit. My local airport is a Delta hub so the DG makes sense as well if we want to fly.

Neither card will go away anytime soon - I plan to keep using them as daily drivers for quite some time, both to preserve future SUBs and to continue to earn miles/Hilton points that will be put to use.

Hopefully the BCE comes up Pre-Approved in the not too distant future, I’ll app as soon as I see that, but yeah if it doesn’t I’ll cold app this summer most likely. Hopefully it’ll work out as did these two, which were also cold apps.