topic Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT in Credit Cards

AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

Isacking97 — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 19:32:23 GMT

Is this normal now? A friend was approved with almost no credit (Blue Cash Everyday). AoYY: "1 month"

I personally checked is credit file and theres only 2 account, one from Discover 1 month old and the new AMEX Account.

I fill this is so strange bacause to be approved by amex I had to wait 6 months

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

Cleaningitup2016 — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 19:32:38 GMT

What product was it?

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 19:34:53 GMT

Over 20 years ago my first card was the gold and the only thing I had on my file was an auto loan for a couple of months.

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

Revelate — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 19:38:41 GMT

Approved for what and what limit?

Everyone's been digging into the underbanked recently because that's still an incomplete market... and pretty much where Chase goes Amex follows and vice versa TBH and Chase has been refactoring some of their products too though more on the checking side to my knowledge.

Ultimately everyone is talking about being "banks for life" or whatever, where they grow with the financial capabilities of their consumers rather than just offering one product that fits initially at the consumer's credit/financial tier and fails later and they wind up losing the consumer as a result to someone else (hi Penfed)... kind of like modern corporate America come to think of it and that's starting to change too.

Anyway the lenders have already sorted the higher end tiers, so it makes sense they're going to start pushing into the lower tiers as there's clearly room beneath the traditional checking account / credit card underwriting and someone just starting out or in college or whatever.

Secured cards filled that role before but banks are trying to find more inroads into that and have been for the last decade or so.

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

K-in-Boston — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 19:37:52 GMT

It really depends on the product and whether identity can be verified. Just because the Discover was only a month old doesn't mean there wasn't already a credit file with Experian. Did you have to wait 6 months because you had no Experian credit file?

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

dragontears — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 19:37:23 GMT

It happens, Amex can be very thin file friendly.
It frequently seems that as long as you have a pulse and a job with no recent baddies they will approve you lol (as long as you never burned them)

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

wasCB14 — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 19:38:52 GMT

I'm not sure if it would be legal for Amex to consider these...but maybe the customer lives in an affluent ZIP code? Or with relatives who have been good customers?

Do you have some ballpark idea of your friend's income?

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

Isacking97 — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 19:47:41 GMT

@Cleaningitup2016 wrote:
What product was it?

Blue Cash Everyday

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

Isacking97 — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 19:51:50 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
It really depends on the product and whether identity can be verified. Just because the Discover was only a month old doesn't mean there wasn't already a credit file with Experian. Did you have to wait 6 months because you had no Experian credit file?

Personally I had a credit card with my local bank back then and it reported on experian, but that was about 4 years ago, that's why I was surpriced.

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

K-in-Boston — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 20:00:01 GMT

@Isacking97 wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
It really depends on the product and whether identity can be verified. Just because the Discover was only a month old doesn't mean there wasn't already a credit file with Experian. Did you have to wait 6 months because you had no Experian credit file?
Personally I had a credit card with my local bank back then and it reported on experian, but that was about 4 years ago, that's why I was surpriced.

What was the reason for the 6 month wait? My apologies if I wrongly assumed it was due to lack of a credit file.

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

Isacking97 — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 20:09:56 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
@Isacking97 wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
It really depends on the product and whether identity can be verified. Just because the Discover was only a month old doesn't mean there wasn't already a credit file with Experian. Did you have to wait 6 months because you had no Experian credit file?
Personally I had a credit card with my local bank back then and it reported on experian, but that was about 4 years ago, that's why I was surpriced.
What was the reason for the 6 month wait? My apologies if I wrongly assumed it was due to lack of a credit file.

It was for me xD, they sad that I only had 3 months and that I needed to have 6 months that was back in 2016. "Not enough credit history"

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 20:11:36 GMT

Perhaps you should look into Astrology to time your apps just right. Every little bit helps!

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

KJinNC — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 20:32:23 GMT

I've had a theory for some time that the "reasons" you get when denied (whether on a form, or from a human reading from a form) may not be the actual reasons. They probably have a point system, and if you don't meet the internal point requirement, you are denied, and then they simply auto-generate FICO reasons. Not to say those reasons are unrelated, but you might actually have 10 positive reasons and 12 negative reasons and you're only seeing a limited selection of the negative reasons.

Anyway, in this specific situation, I think some lenders including Amex are eager to grab people just starting out, even with very thin history, as long as there's no negative history. They probably have studied the odds and determined that it's worth the risk in hopes of building loyalty for decades. Besides which, despite the image they have, Amex is not a particularly selective card issuer in general. Congrats to your friend!

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 21:12:14 GMT

I had a blue cash something from Amex in 2004, it was my 2nd or third card, just after my first clout visa. Not sure if I had 1 year AAoA.

Sadly amex dashboard doesn't recognize this history, my gold card is labeled "member since 2018".

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

KJinNC — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 21:45:54 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I had a blue cash something from Amex in 2004, it was my 2nd or third card, just after my first clout visa. Not sure if I had 1 year AAoA.

Sadly amex dashboard doesn't recognize this history, my gold card is labeled "member since 2018".

If you ask in chat, Amex will change it to "member since 2004." It makes no difference for credit, though, it's just cosmetic on your card and in their app/web site. How I know: I had a Green Card from about 1990-1995, then no Amex until 2019, and I now have a wallet full of cards that say "Member since 1990" after requesting them to do that. Amex membership is separate from Amex accounts. Once a member, always a member.

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 21:55:15 GMT

@Isacking97 wrote:
Is this normal now? A friend was approved with almost no credit (Blue Cash Everyday). AoYY: "1 month"

I personally checked is credit file and theres only 2 account, one from Discover 1 month old and the new AMEX Account.
I fill this is so strange bacause to be approved by amex I had to wait 6 months

It is normal for Amex to take chance on thin files. The usually give out small SL, so not a big loss if things go south.

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

AverageJoesCredit — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 22:37:52 GMT

It is normal. Amex hooked me up with a cc when i started with credit over 20 years ago. So long as you have a job and pay on time Amex is a visble option. You dont have to be elite to get an Amex.

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

M_Smart007 — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 00:45:36 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
It is normal. Amex hooked me up with a cc when i started with credit over 20 years ago. So long as you have a job and pay on time Amex is a visble option. You dont have to be elite to get an Amex.

Let Me tell you Son, 35+ years ago ..I was sportin A Gold Charge

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 01:50:28 GMT

OP, what is your friend's educational background, and what line of work is (s)he in?

This most certainly would have an impact.

I was prequalified for a card in college way back, with a CL up to $12,000 (in today's dollars). I didn't go for it, and if I remember correctly, I got a card pretty easily after graduation. No secured cards, and no weak CLs. I remember the CL was more than I ever needed back then. I just don't remember who it was through.

Some people with thin files need to go the route of secured cards or other starter cards.

Re: AMEX Reducing their standards? Friend approved with NO CREDIT

vwgrrc — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 02:27:51 GMT

Nothing new. I was approved for my BCE even before I had my SSN (international student), no income or no credit file at all. I couldn't remember the CL. But it's not too low I think.