topic Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP in Credit Cards

Oh dear, Amex BCP

Revelate — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:06:30 GMT

Well this was frankly unexpected; my FICO is around 650 which I "knew" to be lower than their underwriting criteria which is commonly held to be around 680 for this particular card.

When I found out my mortage process is now delayed by a year, I simply decided to make the "annual application until approved" expecting fully to be denied, and abusing Amex's SP policy to receive my EX FICO to figure out where I stood. Didn't get the expected instant denial, and instead got the 7-10 day pending message... so checking the well known application link for pure giggles:

01/13/13

BLUE CASH PREFERRED(SM)

Approved

Congratulations! Your application has been approved and you should receive your new card within 7-10 days.
If you requested a balance transfer to this card, <click here> to view the status of that transfer

Time to go reset my gardening date. Also time to update my own long-held misconceptions about the underwriting criteria for this card, perhaps it really is as easy to qualify for as the Delta one now... also getting one of my end-game cards while still clearly rebuilding, um, priceless!

Edit: CL $1000, approved FICO score still not known.

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

jsucool76 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 23:47:56 GMT

Congrats!

Did you find out your limit?

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Duncanrr — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 23:48:43 GMT

How long of history do you have with Amex. I think their internal score is more important to them than your FICO.

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Revelate — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 23:52:23 GMT

@jsucool76 wrote:
Congrats!

Did you find out your limit?

Not yet, don't think going to poke the bear either. Granted my "Amex understanding" has been laughably proven wrong today, but I'd guess it's in the 1-2K range. Nothing spectacular but if I can get a couple CLI's over the next year to somewhere above 5K, I'll be ahead of where I was expecting to be from a limit standpoint.

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 23:53:37 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
@jsucool76 wrote:
Congrats!

Did you find out your limit?
Not yet, don't think going to poke the bear either. Granted my "Amex understanding" has been laughably proven wrong today, but I'd guess it's in the 1-2K range. Nothing spectacular but if I can get a couple CLI's over the next year to somewhere above 5K, I'll be ahead of where I was expecting to be from a limit standpoint.

Nice, congrats. This is a great step in the right direction.

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Revelate — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 23:54:35 GMT

@Duncanrr wrote:
How long of history do you have with Amex. I think their internal score is more important to them than your FICO.

I was approved for the Zync 9/18/12, so not quite 4 months.

On average I spent around ~2200/month during that time on the Zync.

Put down the same information as I did for Zync, 125K income and 25-50K assets.

I'm really very surprised by this, and more than a little amused too.

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Open123 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 23:54:50 GMT

Congrats!

Awesome card! With Amex, they value the relationship with a cardmember and their own internal risk scoring model much more so than a vanilla Fico score. I've always felt Amex is the best at taking data points to the future risk profile of a cardmember.

You picked the right month to app!

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

android01 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 23:58:58 GMT

Congrats, Revelate! I know you've been eyeing this card for quite a while.

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

chnceit — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 23:58:59 GMT

Congrats! In no time you will have a higher limit with AMEX

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Revelate — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:00:44 GMT

@Open123 wrote:
Congrats!

Awesome card! With Amex, they value the relationship with a cardmember and their own internal risk scoring model much more so than a vanilla Fico score. I've always felt Amex is the best at taking data points to the future risk profile of a cardmember.

You picked the right month to app!

No doubt regarding January; be a slight boost to my AAoA even.

It'll be interesting to see what the limit is and also what the APR is as well; I'll also need to check my EQ report and CK/TU to see if any additional inquiry was lodged for a borderline app which wouldn't surprise me in the slighest.

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:01:07 GMT

Let us know the limit, give them a call

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Rhaeny — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:04:33 GMT

Awww chucks....Well now Congratulations!

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Cdnewmanpac — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:04:56 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
@Duncanrr wrote:
How long of history do you have with Amex. I think their internal score is more important to them than your FICO.
I was approved for the Zync 9/18/12, so not quite 4 months.

On average I spent around ~2200/month during that time on the Zync.

Put down the same information as I did for Zync, 125K income and 25-50K assets.

I'm really very surprised by this, and more than a little amused too.

And this is where all that "get in with Amex" advice comes from. I think it highly unlikely you would have gotten this card without the opportunity to see you "in action" that the zync provided. Yes, they still use FICO scores, but they also use an internal algorithm that favors income (which you have) and spending (which you did). Sure, lots of people get the BCP without any other amex cards. But for those with a decent income, some lingering bad history and a habit of using the cards, the zync will be sorely missed (and the green will be a much more expensive way to achieve the same thing). Congrats. Enjoy the card.

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Revelate — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:05:33 GMT

@android01 wrote:
Congrats, Revelate! I know you've been eyeing this card for quite a while.

Yeah, it's been on my list since I first wrote one when I joined this forum .

Now I need to go see about getting my BOFA card PC'd to their Travel Rewards one as the 1-2-3 Cash Rewards doesn't do me any good anymore.

Entertaining downside to this one, now I am going to have to carry 3 cards, oh the horror! (BCP / Zync / some random MC or Visa)

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Repo-ed — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:06:32 GMT

Great work, grats!

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

toppers555 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:11:51 GMT

Congrats!!

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Open123 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:13:22 GMT

@Revelate wrote:

It'll be interesting to see what the limit is and also what the APR is as well; I'll also need to check my EQ report and CK/TU to see if any additional inquiry was lodged for a borderline app which wouldn't surprise me in the slighest.

If your avg spend on your Zync was approximately $2k per month, I'd say your CL will be around $5 - $10k, at least. The higher the "transaction" score of your spend and payment score (assuming you paid in lump sum as opposed to 5 payments per month), the higher the CL.

My guess would be around $10K. All things being equal, Amex rewards high spend and income, which fits with their spend-centric model.

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:13:27 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
@android01 wrote:
Congrats, Revelate! I know you've been eyeing this card for quite a while.
Yeah, it's been on my list since I first wrote one when I joined this forum .

Now I need to go see about getting my BOFA card PC'd to their Travel Rewards one as the 1-2-3 Cash Rewards doesn't do me any good anymore.

Entertaining downside to this one, now I am going to have to carry 3 cards, oh the horror! (BCP / Zync / some random MC or Visa)

US bank flexperks or cash+. Will take a manual review and some major work with underwriting, but they may grant you the card. Or they may give you a lower tier product and give you the card you want in 6 months.

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:14:04 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
@jsucool76 wrote:
Congrats!

Did you find out your limit?
Not yet, don't think going to poke the bear either. Granted my "Amex understanding" has been laughably proven wrong today, but I'd guess it's in the 1-2K range. Nothing spectacular but if I can get a couple CLI's over the next year to somewhere above 5K, I'll be ahead of where I was expecting to be from a limit standpoint.

Hey Revelate you can call New Account without poking the bear ( 1-888-826-3471 ) all the system ask for is your SS # and Zip.

Re: Oh dear, Amex BCP

Revelate — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:32:53 GMT

@Open123 wrote:
@Revelate wrote:

It'll be interesting to see what the limit is and also what the APR is as well; I'll also need to check my EQ report and CK/TU to see if any additional inquiry was lodged for a borderline app which wouldn't surprise me in the slighest.
If your avg spend on your Zync was approximately $2k per month, I'd say your CL will be around $5 - $10k, at least. The higher the "transaction" score of your spend and payment score (assuming you paid in lump sum as opposed to 5 payments per month), the higher the CL.

My guess would be around $10K. All things being equal, Amex rewards high spend and income, which fits with their spend-centric model.

Hah, if I get a 10K tradeline I'd be through the roof and over the moon. The application being approved period is a short cut, but that sort of tradeline would be a rather substantial acceleration of my credit building. I'm not nearly so optimistic even with lump sum payments (only way to fly) given the relative lackluster tradelines I have currently.

Dustin: Cash+ is way down the line, I think the only reason I got approved for the BCP is as cdnewman correctly points out: my internal score and being a current Amex cardholder apparently in good standing (however Amex defines that) is what got me the approval for this one. I'm not even so certain I could get the Flexperk card now, nor do I need nor want it currently. My credit report isn't pretty by anyone's standards.

Newportguy: Apparently still have to talk to a live person on that, I'll probably sit on my hands and wait the week or so it takes for me to get the card. At this point the less I have to talk to an actual human with an opinion, the better . Automated processes FTW in this case as I know I'm a marginal application.