topic Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX in Credit Cards

In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

laboi_22 — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:09:15 GMT

So I've been gardening right. Loving it. And actually I didn't have the desire to obtain any new credit. In a year I was going to try for the BCE. Today my fridge went out and so did my stove. They were both old and I knew this was coming. I went to Lowes with the intention of using my current credit cards to make the purchase. I could not pass us the 18 months 0% offer. I applied and was approved with a CL of $2400. Plenty to buy what I needed. Now I'm feeling guilty and I'm worried about my AMEX account. I love that account more than any of my accounts and don't want to damage anything.

What do you guys think? I have a new account (Macy's in December last year) and now this new one. Will they have a problem with that?

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

ArisGreek — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:10:38 GMT

I think we should block FR/AA conversations because it's freaking a lot of people out on this board. I would say you don't have much to worry about. Just enjoy it. Keep gardening now!

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

laboi_22 — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:12:40 GMT

Not worried about FR. Worried about them questioning my recent accounts and closing my card. I'm open to FR since I have nothing to hide. Once they see I have high income on paper I'm sure they'd be ok. I just don't want to them to close my account down for good.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:15:05 GMT

@ArisGreek wrote:
I think we should block FR/AA conversations because it's freaking a lot of people out on this board. I would say you don't have much to worry about. Just enjoy it. Keep gardening now!

If that ever comes to a vote you'll get a "Yes" from me.

People who actually get one from any bank should be able to post about their experiences, though.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

Creditaddict — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:17:46 GMT

Yes really I thought I was obsessed with credit but the postings on getting FR, Closed, CLD, etc. because of other things happening is insane to me... Yes it's frustrating if such a thing were to happen but after I calm down from it it's not a bank I want to be with any way.... and Amex (especially) dealing with the charge cards, I don't think they care if you apply for a 100 new credit cards, what they are looking for is if you all of a sudden went from $100 debt to $50k in debt, they might hard limit your account but they don't usually close....

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:35:23 GMT

@Creditaddict wrote:
Yes really I thought I was obsessed with credit but the postings on getting FR, Closed, CLD, etc. because of other things happening is insane to me... Yes it's frustrating if such a thing were to happen but after I calm down from it it's not a bank I want to be with any way.... and Amex (especially) dealing with the charge cards, I don't think they care if you apply for a 100 new credit cards, what they are looking for is if you all of a sudden went from $100 debt to $50k in debt, they might hard limit your account but they don't usually close....

I would be very skeptical of a CCC that doesn't investigate their CC holder when something like that happens. From, what I have read on these forms it seems that Amex is pretty conservative, conservative is good - well in this economy that is .

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

laboi_22 — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:25:59 GMT

I couldn't agree more. I respect AMEX and the way the run their business. There aren't many things today that I can be certain of but I know that AMEX will always be around and it's because of their conservative lending practices. If home lenders would have been as conservative as AMEX we wouldn't be taking about the state of our current economy.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

LS2982 — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:17:10 GMT

@laboi_22 wrote:
So I've been gardening right. Loving it. And actually I didn't have the desire to obtain any new credit. In a year I was going to try for the BCE. Today my fridge went out and so did my stove. They were both old and I knew this was coming. I went to Lowes with the intention of using my current credit cards to make the purchase. I could not pass us the 18 months 0% offer. I applied and was approved with a CL of $2400. Plenty to buy what I needed. Now I'm feeling guilty and I'm worried about my AMEX account. I love that account more than any of my accounts and don't want to damage anything.

What do you guys think? I have a new account (Macy's in December last year) and now this new one. Will they have a problem with that?

I wouldn't worry about it. Your not apping just to app, you needed the credit.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:26:17 GMT

@laboi_22 wrote:
So I've been gardening right. Loving it. And actually I didn't have the desire to obtain any new credit. In a year I was going to try for the BCE. Today my fridge went out and so did my stove. They were both old and I knew this was coming. I went to Lowes with the intention of using my current credit cards to make the purchase. I could not pass us the 18 months 0% offer. I applied and was approved with a CL of $2400. Plenty to buy what I needed. Now I'm feeling guilty and I'm worried about my AMEX account. I love that account more than any of my accounts and don't want to damage anything.

What do you guys think? I have a new account (Macy's in December last year) and now this new one. Will they have a problem with that?

Can't imagine why they'd care.

I've added accounts after getting two, no three different AmEx cards, and they never blinked.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

Platinum — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:34:02 GMT

You should not be worried about it. Since November 2011 I have opened: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Marriott, Chase Continental, Discover More and Barclays Lufthansa, all just to get nice bonuses. My FICO tanked from 806 in October 2011 to 786 and AmEx is just fine with it. I did it in the past and I will do it again. AmEx never took any adverse action. Member since 1998.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

pipeguy — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 05:14:49 GMT

@laboi_22 wrote:
So I've been gardening right. Loving it. And actually I didn't have the desire to obtain any new credit. In a year I was going to try for the BCE. Today my fridge went out and so did my stove. They were both old and I knew this was coming. I went to Lowes with the intention of using my current credit cards to make the purchase. I could not pass us the 18 months 0% offer. I applied and was approved with a CL of $2400. Plenty to buy what I needed. Now I'm feeling guilty and I'm worried about my AMEX account. I love that account more than any of my accounts and don't want to damage anything.

What do you guys think? I have a new account (Macy's in December last year) and now this new one. Will they have a problem with that?

Tell you what, if AmEx calls and wants to know why you have a new Lowes Card tell them "when you offer me 18 months at 0% interest I'll use your card, until then I'll do what's in my best interest." (don't worry they won't call).

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:59:03 GMT

So many people think AmEx is like a girlfriend that'll get all jealous if she sees you talking to another girl. AmEx knows they're not the only CCC on the block so they'll do what they can to entice you to use their card while still maintaining conservative lending practices. They know people will take a Lowe's card for home stuff and they can't really compete in that category so they stick to what they can compete in.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

smc733 — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:07:32 GMT

@laboi_22 wrote:
I couldn't agree more. I respect AMEX and the way the run their business. There aren't many things today that I can be certain of but I know that AMEX will always be around and it's because of their conservative lending practices. If home lenders would have been as conservative as AMEX we wouldn't be taking about the state of our current economy.

Not at all true. Amex gave people credit that had no business getting credit, and gave way too large of lines pre-credit crisis. There's a reason they slashed many people's limits by 80-90%. They gave someone I know with no job, 18, in college back in 2005 a $2,000 Blue card... This is only a recent development of theirs to extend credit more conservatively...

They took plenty of bailout money. IMO, Discover is running how a lender should run, some call them "stingy", but they only hand out lines that even if you max them out, you could probably still pay back.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:13:31 GMT

@smc733 wrote:
@laboi_22 wrote:
I couldn't agree more. I respect AMEX and the way the run their business. There aren't many things today that I can be certain of but I know that AMEX will always be around and it's because of their conservative lending practices. If home lenders would have been as conservative as AMEX we wouldn't be taking about the state of our current economy.

Not at all true. Amex gave people credit that had no business getting credit, and gave way too large of lines pre-credit crisis. There's a reason they slashed many people's limits by 80-90%. They gave someone I know with no job, 18, in college back in 2005 a $2,000 Blue card... This is only a recent development of theirs to extend credit more conservatively...

They took plenty of bailout money. IMO, Discover is running how a lender should run, some call them "stingy", but they only hand out lines that even if you max them out, you could probably still pay back.

That's interesting. I make well over 6 figures and they have only deemed me worthy of $5000 CL since 2006? I'm not buying it!

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

Open123 — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:21:45 GMT

Unless there's something amiss with your credit reports, I wouldn't be concerned.

AmEx knows they're never the only card a person carries (well, maybe for a very few) and understand they cardmembers do apply and use other cards especially when half the world doesn't take their card.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

Scene — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:31:23 GMT

I believe if you have an American Express savings account and a credit card account you would be immune to the dreaded FR/AA. When I applied for the Zync I opened a savings account with $1,000 in it the day before. When I was not instantly approved I called the department up and they approved me on the spot and noticed I had opened a savings account with them and congradulated me on both! This shows that the two systems are streamlined and if you have some money in the savings account then American Express will inevitably not FR your account.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

Open123 — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:35:21 GMT

@Scene wrote:
I believe if you have an American Express savings account and a credit card account you would be immune to the dreaded FR/AA. When I applied for the Zync I opened a savings account with $1,000 in it the day before. When I was not instantly approved I called the department up and they approved me on the spot and noticed I had opened a savings account with them and congradulated me on both! This shows that the two systems are streamlined and if you have some money in the savings account then American Express will inevitably not FR your account.

I don't think this is accurate.

I would say it may be less likely they FR you, but certain triggers will still lead to an FR. For instance, if you pay yourself through paypal, run your personal card on your own merchant account to make a cash payment, sell off AU accounts to help others build credit, or using cashlike transactions to accrue points, you could have 1 Million in their savings account and they will still FR and find a way to close your account.

However, all things being equal, having money with them certainly reduces the risk of FR associated with high utility, opening more credit lines, and heavy initial usage.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

smc733 — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:46:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@smc733 wrote:
@laboi_22 wrote:
I couldn't agree more. I respect AMEX and the way the run their business. There aren't many things today that I can be certain of but I know that AMEX will always be around and it's because of their conservative lending practices. If home lenders would have been as conservative as AMEX we wouldn't be taking about the state of our current economy.

Not at all true. Amex gave people credit that had no business getting credit, and gave way too large of lines pre-credit crisis. There's a reason they slashed many people's limits by 80-90%. They gave someone I know with no job, 18, in college back in 2005 a $2,000 Blue card... This is only a recent development of theirs to extend credit more conservatively...

They took plenty of bailout money. IMO, Discover is running how a lender should run, some call them "stingy", but they only hand out lines that even if you max them out, you could probably still pay back.
That's interesting. I make well over 6 figures and they have only deemed me worthy of $5000 CL since 2006? I'm not buying it!

2 things at play:

1. Your credit report

2. Your time of opening the account

If you opened it in 2006, but your credit was new or less than perfect, they may not have increased it then, now, despite better credit/income, they're still being stingy.

I know someone who makes $55k a year and has a $25,000 Blue and a NPSL Green... No way that much credit should be extended to that amount of income.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

Platinum — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:28:10 GMT

@Open123 wrote:
Unless there's something amiss with your credit reports, I wouldn't be concerned.

AmEx knows they're never the only card a person carries (well, maybe for a very few) and understand they cardmembers do apply and use other cards especially when half the world doesn't take their card.

Does it really matter that much ? Who cares about the rest of the world ? If US consumers are happiest with AmEx among other cards, I think that is all that matters.

Re: In a Pickle Worried about AMEX

Open123 — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 05:04:06 GMT

@Platinum wrote:
@Open123 wrote:
Unless there's something amiss with your credit reports, I wouldn't be concerned.

AmEx knows they're never the only card a person carries (well, maybe for a very few) and understand they cardmembers do apply and use other cards especially when half the world doesn't take their card.
Does it really matter that much ? Who cares about the rest of the world ? If US consumers are happiest with AmEx among other cards, I think that is all that matters.

Hey, I'm with you.

When I'm not travelling (which is most of the time), I couldn't care less what they think in the rest of the world. Like Michael Keaton in The Paper, "I don't live in the *fudging" world, I live in *fudging* NY City!"

When I do have to travel the one or two times per year, then I care a little more. Yeah, otherwise where I live, just having an AmEx will work fine--everyone takes it.