topic Re: AMEX Backdate Update! in Credit Cards

AMEX Backdate Update!

phoenix_one — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 22:48:18 GMT

After much struggle to get my Credit Reports cleaned out, I finally was approved for an AMEX PRG.

My card arrived today and the card showed Member Since 2013.

I called the number on the back of the card and I spoke with a very friendly CSR, explained to her that I had an AMEX Green Card back in the 80's and tried to give her my addresses back then, after searching, she told me that she could backdate me to 1997.

That was when I was issued a Corporate Green Card for my military travel expenses.

I'll take that. It's better than 2013 that's for sure.

New Card has been issued and the Member since 1997 already shows on the website.

I got to keep searching in my records to see if I can find info on that original Green Card.

I am assuming that if I apply for a revolving card with AMEX it will also show that 1997 date. Correct?

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 22:54:42 GMT

Congrats! And correct no more need to call them to backdate. It'll automatically happen now! Love Amex!

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 22:55:14 GMT

I've got a Macy's Amex wonder if they'll backdate that 1

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

Cageym — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 22:58:03 GMT

Congrats, I did the same thing. That government card got mine backdated to 1993. And yes, any Amex you get will show the 97 member since date now.

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

RyVision — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:00:10 GMT

@phoenix_one wrote:
After much struggle to get my Credit Reports cleaned out, I finally was approved for an AMEX PRG.

My card arrived today and the card showed Member Since 2013.

I called the number on the back of the card and I spoke with a very friendly CSR, explained to her that I had an AMEX Green Card back in the 80's and tried to give her my addresses back then, after searching, she told me that she could backdate me to 1997.

That was when I was issued a Corporate Green Card for my military travel expenses.
I'll take that. It's better than 2013 that's for sure.

New Card has been issued and the Member since 1997 already shows on the website.

I got to keep searching in my records to see if I can find info on that original Green Card.

I am assuming that if I apply for a revolving card with AMEX it will also show that 1997 date. Correct?

Yes

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

RyVision — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:04:17 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I've got a Macy's Amex wonder if they'll backdate that 1

No, because it's not issued and backed by AMEX, it's issued and backed by Department Stores National Bank ("DSNB") out of Sioux Falls South Dakota.

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

HiLine — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:40:25 GMT

@RyVision wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I've got a Macy's Amex wonder if they'll backdate that 1
No, because it's not issued and backed by AMEX, it's issued and backed by Department Stores National Bank ("DSNB") out of Sioux Falls South Dakota.

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:56:42 GMT

I pulled my EQ credit report today and was still amused at Amex. I had a card in 1987, cancelled by 1989, and got another in 2007 that was moved to a BCP in Feb 2012.

As expected, my CR shows "Date opened: Sep 1987" but "Months Reporting: 12" but better, the 84 month payment history shows green squares going back to mid 2006, so I was paying as agreed on an account that didn't exist. And while in some sense the contrapositive is true (I wasn't late paying on the account in 2006), I STILL don't see how Amex is allowed to do this! It's bad data.

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

android01 — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:21:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I pulled my EQ credit report today and was still amused at Amex. I had a card in 1987, cancelled by 1989, and got another in 2007 that was moved to a BCP in Feb 2012.

As expected, my CR shows "Date opened: Sep 1987" but "Months Reporting: 12" but better, the 84 month payment history shows green squares going back to mid 2006, so I was paying as agreed on an account that didn't exist. And while in some sense the contrapositive is true (I wasn't late paying on the account in 2006), I STILL don't see how Amex is allowed to do this! It's bad data.

I'm pretty sure that you'll only find this on EQ, not EX or TU.

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

RyVision — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:22:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I pulled my EQ credit report today and was still amused at Amex. I had a card in 1987, cancelled by 1989, and got another in 2007 that was moved to a BCP in Feb 2012.

As expected, my CR shows "Date opened: Sep 1987" but "Months Reporting: 12" but better, the 84 month payment history shows green squares going back to mid 2006, so I was paying as agreed on an account that didn't exist. And while in some sense the contrapositive is true (I wasn't late paying on the account in 2006), I STILL don't see how Amex is allowed to do this! It's bad data.

It's not bad data, you essentially just said the CR shows the facts behind the account. Behind those "Green squares" is a zero payment that any first line CSR can see and know the meaning of.

The green squares do NOT mean a payment was made, they mean a LATE payment wasn't made, there was no balance or activity (essentially an account oh hold) or payment required, ie: you were paying as agreed "nothing on an account that was on hold in AMEX's files and not accessible during that time." Why is it so hard for people to grasp that simple concept?

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:29:52 GMT

I am new to this forum, and have been reading with great interest. I do not presently have AmEx, but I did have a card issued to me in 1982. I wonder if they would actually back-date a new account that far back in time - thirty years ago? Of course I no longer have any paper documentation from that time, but I still have the actual plastic card, if they would accept that as adequate proof.

I don't know why they are doing this, but my first thought is that they might be gearing up for a new advertising campaign, in which they could make a statement about the average length of membership of their cardholders.

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:32:05 GMT

@RyVision wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I pulled my EQ credit report today and was still amused at Amex. I had a card in 1987, cancelled by 1989, and got another in 2007 that was moved to a BCP in Feb 2012.

As expected, my CR shows "Date opened: Sep 1987" but "Months Reporting: 12" but better, the 84 month payment history shows green squares going back to mid 2006, so I was paying as agreed on an account that didn't exist. And while in some sense the contrapositive is true (I wasn't late paying on the account in 2006), I STILL don't see how Amex is allowed to do this! It's bad data.
It's not bad data, you essentially just said the CR shows the facts behind the account. Behind those "Green squares" is a zero payment that any first line CSR can see and know the meaning of.

The green squares do NOT mean a payment was made, they mean a LATE payment wasn't made, there was no balance or activity (essentially an account oh hold) or payment required, ie: you were paying as agreed "nothing on an account that was on hold in AMEX's files and not accessible during that time." Why is it so hard for people to grasp that simple concept?

It's hard to grasp because it is just convoluted thinking to justify the end-result? I WASN'T paying as agreed, my account had been closed in 1989 and with it all payment obligations and agreements ceased. With your reasoning, my file could be full of such annotations, for accounts that had been closed by other issuers. Or to generalize, my account should be full of records for accounts that were "on hold" because while I had never actually applied for any account from that issuer, I might one day, and, since, apparently, I was "paying as agreed" and certainly wasn't late, they should all show up.

Basically, it is meant to show my payment record. Since I was bankrupt/on death row/in an insane asylum in 2006, it is not an accurate reflection of my payment history.

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:34:01 GMT

[Duplicate post]

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:37:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I am new to this forum, and have been reading with great interest. I do not presently have AmEx, but I did have a card issued to me in 1982. I wonder if they would actually back-date a new account that far back in time - thirty years ago? Of course I no longer have any paper documentation from that time, but I still have the actual plastic card, if they would accept that as adequate proof.

I don't know why they are doing this, but my first thought is that they might be gearing up for a new advertising campaign, in which they could make a statement about the average length of membership of their cardholders.

So what happened with me is that I couldn't remember when I had the card and certainly didn't have any records. I told them it was sometime between 1986 and 1988.

My card got backdated to 1987. I don't know if they really found it (since I now think it was 1986!) or just took the middle value, but I would assume that there was some verification.

And I assume the plastic would be more than adequate proof.

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:41:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I am new to this forum, and have been reading with great interest. I do not presently have AmEx, but I did have a card issued to me in 1982. I wonder if they would actually back-date a new account that far back in time - thirty years ago? Of course I no longer have any paper documentation from that time, but I still have the actual plastic card, if they would accept that as adequate proof.

I don't know why they are doing this, but my first thought is that they might be gearing up for a new advertising campaign, in which they could make a statement about the average length of membership of their cardholders.

Re your last past. This is a long standing practice, nothing new. In the past, if you had been an AU on someone's Amex, when you got your Amex you could backdate to the Member Since date of the other user. This leads to people getting Member Since dates from when they were 2, or even before they were born. THis has now mainly stopped, you can now get the date when you were added as an AU.

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

RyVision — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:33:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@RyVision wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I pulled my EQ credit report today and was still amused at Amex.   I had a card in 1987, cancelled by 1989, and got another in 2007 that was moved to a BCP in Feb 2012.

As expected, my CR shows "Date opened: Sep 1987"   but "Months Reporting: 12"   but better, the 84 month payment history shows green squares going back to mid 2006, so I was paying as agreed on an account that didn't exist.   And while in some sense the contrapositive is true (I wasn't late paying on the account in 2006), I STILL don't see how Amex is allowed to do this! It's bad data.
It's not bad data, you essentially just said the CR shows the facts behind the account. Behind those "Green squares" is a zero payment that any first line CSR can see and know the meaning of.

The green squares do NOT mean a payment was made, they mean a LATE payment wasn't made, there was no balance or activity (essentially an account oh hold) or payment required, ie: you were paying as agreed "nothing on an account that was on hold in AMEX's files and not accessible during that time." Why is it so hard for people to grasp that simple concept?
It's hard to grasp because it is just convoluted thinking to justify the end-result?    I WASN'T paying as agreed, my account had been closed in 1989 and with it all payment obligations and agreements ceased. With your reasoning, my file could be full of such annotations, for accounts that had been closed by other issuers. Or to generalize, my account should be full of records for accounts that were "on hold" because while I had never actually applied for any account from that issuer, I might one day, and, since, apparently, I was "paying as agreed" and certainly wasn't late, they should all show up.

Basically, it is meant to show my payment record. Since I was bankrupt/on death row/in an insane asylum in 2006, it is not an accurate reflection of my payment history.

It's not my reasoning, it's simply reading a file by those that know what they're reading...... You had an original member ship date and all lenders in the World know that with AMEX that sticks for life. AMEX did not reserve an account for you before you applied the first time. Go read some credit reports with a credit analyst and they'll explain it to you.

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 02:06:13 GMT

OK, I am not saying that any lender would be fooled, or that people don't know this.

I am still arguing that the information presented doesn't reflect reality, there was, at that time, no payment arrangement existing, so I could neither pay as agreed or pay late. Only once I established a new account (June 2007) AND did the backdate (around Oct 2012) was this information added. So my credit report from June 2012 doesn't show this, today's does. What changed between those times to impact the status of "payments" in 2006? This is why I think of it as bad data.

Again, I am not saying this tricks lenders, merely arguing against your "paying as agreed" statement. It would be just as logical for them to charge me the annual fee for the period between 1989 and 2007, which would meet more resistance!

Re: AMEX Backdate Update!

RyVision — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 03:12:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
OK, I am not saying that any lender would be fooled, or that people don't know this.

I am still arguing that the information presented doesn't reflect reality, there was, at that time, no payment arrangement existing, so I could neither pay as agreed or pay late.   Only once I established a new account (June 2007) AND did the backdate (around Oct 2012) was this information added.   So my credit report from June 2012 doesn't show this, today's does.   What changed between those times to impact the status of "payments" in 2006?   This is why I think of it as bad data.

Again, I am not saying this tricks lenders, merely arguing against your "paying as agreed" statement.   It would be just as logical for them to charge me the annual fee for the period between 1989 and 2007, which would meet more resistance!

I may not have phrased it well. The translation would be something like this:

The "Paying as Agreed" on an AMEX that is not active (months\years of green in between active accounts, meaning 0 credit\closed acct), has no payments, no obligation by the Member, is seen as the "agreement" being "AMEX Member of verified record, no obligation\credit account or payment, first AMEX credit account opened 1987, Membership re-activated\new\re-instated credit line opened (month) 2012 (same as INQ by AMEX), payment history active past 12 months of 84 reported."

And that (in bolt italic) is why AMEX is the only lender that doesn't HP for anything other than a new account unless it happens by CSR\CA error. And yes, most computer scoring algorithms ignore 0 payment 0 balance 0 available credit months.

I hope that helps clear it up.

A person can actually call up another CC lender they have an account with and ask how their AMEX history is viewed (to verify the above) if I gave them the right script to ask questions from. If the CSR\CA will work with them on the question, not all will.