topic Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular in Credit Cards

Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

timmis1127 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:26:07 GMT

Recently I have been seeing a lot of threads open up about the Amex pre-paid card I am curious why that is.

Will Amex give you a pre-approved letter for an unsecured card?

Do people just like having the card because its an Amex?

Thanks..

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

LS2982 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:27:12 GMT

@timmis1127 wrote:
Recently I have been seeing a lot of threads open up about the Amex pre-paid card I am curious why that is.

Will Amex give you a pre-approved letter for an unsecured card?

or

Do people just like having the card because its an Amex?

Thanks..

If you hold the card and treat it right for 6 months if your file looks good to them you will receive an invite to apply for AMEX Zync.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

CS800 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:28:09 GMT

@LS2982 wrote:
@timmis1127 wrote:
Recently I have been seeing a lot of threads open up about the Amex pre-paid card I am curious why that is.

Will Amex give you a pre-approved letter for an unsecured card?

or

Do people just like having the card because its an Amex?

Thanks..
If you hold the card and treat it right for 6 months if your file looks good to them you will receive an invite to apply for AMEX Zync.

I think thats a good move by AMEX. They are not risking their money but they are observing what youre doing with yours. At the same time you're using their product. its a win win for them.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

smc733 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:28:26 GMT

@timmis1127 wrote:
Recently I have been seeing a lot of threads open up about the Amex pre-paid card I am curious why that is.

Will Amex give you a pre-approved letter for an unsecured card?

or

Do people just like having the card because its an Amex?

Thanks..

There you go.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

CS800 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:42:23 GMT

@timmis1127 wrote:
Recently I have been seeing a lot of threads open up about the Amex pre-paid card I am curious why that is.

Will Amex give you a pre-approved letter for an unsecured card?

or

Do people just like having the card because its an Amex?

Thanks..

I agree with this too. AMEX is considered prime of the prime, prestige maybe, status

I am also a believer that it encourages other creditors to 'trust' you when they see you ahve an AMEX account in good standing.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

ccb2115 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:17:15 GMT

@timmis1127 wrote:
Recently I have been seeing a lot of threads open up about the Amex pre-paid card I am curious why that is.

Will Amex give you a pre-approved letter for an unsecured card?

or

Do people just like having the card because its an Amex?

Thanks..

I have the card, but I can't say that I like having the card because it's an Amex. I like the card because it's been said that it can eventually help with getting an Amex in the future. If another card could help me get an AMEX, I'd maybe try that too. The card looks so different from a normal Amex card that people don't even notice it when I pay. There's no prestige in a pre-paid card. I just want (hope) to reap the benefits 6 months from now.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

LS2982 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:26:57 GMT

@ccb2115 wrote:
@timmis1127 wrote:
Recently I have been seeing a lot of threads open up about the Amex pre-paid card I am curious why that is.

Will Amex give you a pre-approved letter for an unsecured card?

or

Do people just like having the card because its an Amex?

Thanks..
I have the card, but I can't say that I like having the card because it's an Amex. I like the card because it's been said that it can eventually help with getting an Amex in the future. If another card could help me get an AMEX, I'd maybe try that too. The card looks so different from a normal Amex card that people don't even notice it when I pay. There's no prestige in a pre-paid card. I just want (hope) to reap the benefits 6 months from now.

Exactly why I have it.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

Revelate — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:49:04 GMT

Amex backdates, Amex backdates, Amex backdates.

I don't even know if Amex backdates to the debit cards, and I realized it doesn't matter in my case, though it'd be even better if it does.

It's simple math for me: I'm having to build credit from what would be a thin file if I didn't have some silly (and one outright stupid) negative lines on it. There's no way I qualify for an Amex now, and not in six months, *maybe* I'd have a small shot in a year, but it's probably more like two years.

The pre-paid debit card risks and downsides: it costs me next to nothing besides a little bit of time and some annoyance that I'll get over. It's money I was going to spend anyway, and it's not my entire monthly spend, only 1/2 to 1/3 of it depending how much I eat... so I'm not really even risking that much on the rest of my credit building, as I'm still using the credit cards I have for everything else. Come to think about it, I have a few $350ish one-time expenses coming up, I could use the debit card for that too.

The pre-paid debit card, well let's call it what it is, prayer: if it cuts six months or maybe even a year on my conservative estimate out of my time to get a *real* Amex (by definition: one that they will backdate to), at some point that statistically buys me probably another half year on my AAoA when I start transitioning my rebuilder cards if I manage it right. Given that I need a mortgage in the next year and a half, and then probably will need another one five or so years after that, that's a non-trivial benefit from a scoring perspective on those timelines.

I don't care about Amex from a prestiege perspective, I never cared about material things of any sort probably as a defense mechanism from my youth; however, I do care about my credit report and the corresponding credit score. That's the only reason I'm doing this, is just for the possible chance, no matter how ridiculous it looks, to try to improve my financial standing when it comes to the big ticket items in my life over the next decade.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

CS800 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:49:50 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
Amex backdates, Amex backdates, Amex backdates.

I don't even know if Amex backdates to the debit cards, and I realized it doesn't matter in my case, though it'd be even better if it does.

It's simple math for me: I'm having to build credit from what would be a thin file if I didn't have some silly (and one outright stupid) negative lines on it. There's no way I qualify for an Amex now, and not in six months, *maybe* I'd have a small shot in a year, but it's probably more like two years.

The pre-paid debit card risks and downsides: it costs me next to nothing besides a little bit of time and some annoyance that I'll get over. It's money I was going to spend anyway, and it's not my entire monthly spend, only 1/2 to 1/3 of it depending how much I eat... so I'm not really even risking that much on the rest of my credit building, as I'm still using the credit cards I have for everything else. Come to think about it, I have a few $350ish one-time expenses coming up, I could use the debit card for that too.

The pre-paid debit card, well let's call it what it is, prayer: if it cuts six months or maybe even a year on my conservative estimate out of my time to get a *real* Amex (by definition: one that they will backdate to), at some point that statistically buys me probably another half year on my AAoA when I start transitioning my rebuilder cards if I manage it right. Given that I need a mortgage in the next year and a half, and then probably will need another one five or so years after that, that's a non-trivial benefit from a scoring perspective on those timelines.

I don't care about Amex from a prestiege perspective, I never cared about material things of any sort probably as a defense mechanism from my youth; however, I do care about my credit report and the corresponding credit score. That's the only reason I'm doing this, is just for the possible chance, no matter how ridiculous it looks, to try to improve my financial standing when it comes to the big ticket items in my life over the next decade.

I agree with the backdating and dont worry, it takes time to rebuild but it's time well spend. You will reap the benefits big time. WE have all been there. But the satisfaction of having good scores and the world that it opens is priceless.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:57:21 GMT

@timmis1127 wrote:
Recently I have been seeing a lot of threads open up about the Amex pre-paid card I am curious why that is.

Will Amex give you a pre-approved letter for an unsecured card?

or

Do people just like having the card because its an Amex?

Thanks..

The Benefits! The purchase protection alone is worth having this prepaid card over a credit card that doesn't offer it. It would be nice if Amex did report the prepaid card to the CRA's for the purpose of establishing or rebuilding credit.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

CS800 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:28:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

The Benefits! The purchase protection alone is worth having this prepaid card over a credit card that doesn't offer it. It would be nice if Amex did report the prepaid card to the CRA's for the purpose of establishing or rebuilding credit.

They may as well create a secured card that can report to all 3. At least it would be of benefit

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:50:15 GMT

Where do you get the prepaid/6 month program card? I didn't see it on the amex web site. Thank you.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

-Cain- — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:51:18 GMT

Google "American Express make your move". It should give you some links.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

cashnocredit — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:54:34 GMT

@CS800 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

The Benefits! The purchase protection alone is worth having this prepaid card over a credit card that doesn't offer it. It would be nice if Amex did report the prepaid card to the CRA's for the purpose of establishing or rebuilding credit.
They may as well create a secured card that can report to all 3. At least it would be of benefit

After a decline they have, on occasion, offered secured cards. However few took it because the minimum security deposit was 10k. This really differs from other banks that promote secured cards as credit builders and is designed for higher income types with marginal credit but who could become good customers. However, Amex is loathe to damage it's high end image so I don't expect them to publicly promote secured cards and I haven't seen this recently. It's worth a call if your credit is marginal but you can front 10k or more. They might still be offering something.

Citi used to have a 25k secured card but they dropped it down to 5k max. WF still offers 10k cards.

Amex's prepaid card is limited to 2.5k so it's very limited.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

-Cain- — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:59:09 GMT

CS800, I'm posting from my phone so I can't quote, but in message 5, you said it encourages other creditors trust you when you have an Amex in good standing. I don't think the prepaid reports though.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

corymcd88 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:42:18 GMT

Has anyone gotten this offer?

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

-Cain- — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:46:09 GMT

corymcd88, it's a general offer.

https://www212.americanexpress.com/dsmlive/dsm/dom/us/en/personal/cardmember/additionalproductsandservices/giftcardsandtravelerscheques/makeyourmove.do?vgnextoid=7a9795bfd8134310VgnVCM5000003cb3ad94RCRD&vgnextchannel=95ddb81e8482a110VgnVCM100000defaad94RCRD&appInstanceName=default&vgnextnoice=1&name=makeyourmove&type=intbenefitdetail

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

CS800 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:48:12 GMT

@-Cain- wrote:
CS800, I'm posting from my phone so I can't quote, but in message 5, you said it encourages other creditors trust you when you have an Amex in good standing. I don't think the prepaid reports though.

Oh i didnt mean the prepaid. I meant a regular AMEX. Having an AMEX on one's report could work in your favor when other creditors see it.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

-Cain- — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:50:04 GMT

In that case, +1.

Probably just as AmEx sees some of the subprimes and frowns on them.

Re: Why is the Amex Pre-Paid card so popular

CS800 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:53:05 GMT

@-Cain- wrote:
In that case, +1.

Probably just as AmEx sees some of the subprimes and frowns on them.

Since we know that some credit card companies dont like to see someone with high credit line and/or too many, if AMEX sees a cap one with a $1000, it might make them less nervous? I think it also works this way