topic Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE in Credit Cards

CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Jutz — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 16:32:46 GMT

Hey all, maybe you can shine some light on this. I was hoping to make the BCE my secondary "go to" card, behind my Freedom. I got it back in July and have since been denied a 61 day CLI, and then the subsequent 90 day CLI. Now, it's AMEX's perogative to deny me of those, and on one hand I can't blame them. Looking just at the numbers, 2013 was an incredibly busy year for me credit-wise. I bought a house, a car, and added four cards, including the BCE. On the other hand, it's also my perogative to look in another direction.

My question then is...do you think that I will eventually overcome this "stall" from AMEX (which I no longer use at all, although I still put a few hundred through my AMEX Gold each month)? Given that I'm stuck at $1k with them, and all my other cards are slowly surpassing the 5k mark, is this going to take another full year to see any real progress?

Should I look into just nabbing a Discover IT or Citi Preferred? Both have sent me numerous pre-approvals, with Discover sending at least one a week. What are the CLI terms on them (SP or HP?). Which tends to start or grow quicker?

Thanks for any advice. Once my credit rebuild hit warp speed last year, so did my new products, which were kind of at a standstill for a few years. I fully understand how that can look to a creditor, especially AMEX who is pretty smart with their risk analysis.

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

gdale6 — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 16:38:23 GMT

I would look to the negative items on your report, your score seems to be low for what you have obtained over the last year. Discover It over a Citi is my recommendation, Discover will do sp increases if they are available and will give you the option to a hp for CLI if needed.

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Jutz — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 16:41:27 GMT

@gdale6 wrote:
I would look to the negative items on your report, your score seems to be low for what you have obtained over the last year. Discover It over a Citi is my recommendation, Discover will do sp increases if they are available and will give you the option to a hp for CLI if needed.

Thanks for the reply, the SP info on the IT is good news.

As far as negatives, my most recent is almost exactly 24 months ago, and it was a 30 day late. Prior to that was a bevy of lates, including a 90 day. Depending on what bureau, there may also be a Collection/Charge Off, but more than likely AMEX is looking at Experian, which would not have one.

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

phillyguy12 — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 18:50:29 GMT

could be a usuage issue, my scores were around yours when i got my bce about a yr ago, and i also started w/ a 1k limit, got 61 day then the 6 month approvals so i am upto 9k. my yr end summary shows i ran just under 5500 on the bce and 3700 on my zync in 2013, i paid the bce in full most months, rarely carry a balance if i do its only a few hundred for a max 3 months, zync is a charge so thats always pif. so i assume i have a good internal score w/ them. try putting more on it and pif even if it means making multiple payments a month to do so, and if after 6months they dont give you any love then prehaps it would be better to shift your spend else where

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Creditaddict — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:00:07 GMT

I would move your spending back to blue if you are not getting the bonus category on Chase.

you could get a discover but don't get excited about frequent sp CLI... they tend to be a bipolar mix, some get auto CLI, some get huge starting CL's, some can get decent jumps with hp, others get nothing... they seem to favor medium to bad credit more than great credit... they more than likely will never be your $25k card in the wallet and if you want proof of that you can read the thread "What is your discover limit" people posted on that 10+ year history with smaller lines then a simple starting line with chase or amex.

since you have been denied, I think you can keep trying for the CLI's every 45?? days or something, just start using the blue and gold for everything that doesn't meet your bonus on another card and see what happens in next few months.

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Jutz — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 15:21:33 GMT

@Creditaddict wrote:
I would move your spending back to blue if you are not getting the bonus category on Chase.
you could get a discover but don't get excited about frequent sp CLI... they tend to be a bipolar mix, some get auto CLI, some get huge starting CL's, some can get decent jumps with hp, others get nothing... they seem to favor medium to bad credit more than great credit... they more than likely will never be your $25k card in the wallet and if you want proof of that you can read the thread "What is your discover limit" people posted on that 10+ year history with smaller lines then a simple starting line with chase or amex.
since you have been denied, I think you can keep trying for the CLI's every 45?? days or something, just start using the blue and gold for everything that doesn't meet your bonus on another card and see what happens in next few months.

Didn't expect usage to be an issue with AMEX, that's interesting that you and philly mentioned this.

Using a $1k limit card is so frustrating. It's so easy to charge it up to near max, and I'd hate to mis-time a payment and have it cut at like 90% util. I know it's only a temporary ding, but I don't enjoy it. I guess I'll just use my Freedom for gas and Starbucks for the rest of this month, and flow everything else through BCE for a few months.

AFAIK, it's still 90 days between CLI requests for AMEX. 61 days for the first, 90 days for each subsequent. I don't know if being rejected for a standard 90 day warrants me to get a CLI any sooner, but I'm pretty sure I asked the rep and she told me 90.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll hold off on Discover for now, I really don't want to add new credit for the sake of adding new credit.

EDIT: I should mention, my last collection rolled off last month, I was wondering why I saw a big jump on EQ. 24 months ago, I had 5 collections accounts listed, and today I have none. Woohoo.

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Swapmeet — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 15:28:27 GMT

What has your util been like at 61 days, then after 90 more? This could certainly be a factor.

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Jutz — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 15:37:22 GMT

20% max, generally 10% or under. Definitely not a UTIL factor, as it wasn't even listed on the AMEX letter. New credit and having derogatory marks definitely seem to be the pieces that are still holding me back. (Which I can't totally blame them for; for a risk adverse company like AMEX I'm sure my amount of new credit is a bit unsettling.)

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Jazzzy — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 15:37:51 GMT

My Amex is a Delta Skymiles. I got the $2k starting limit. A few months later I wanted to cover (and get miles for) expenses for daughter's wedding, so I requested CLI and was given $6k.

Fast forward....I have never asked for another CLI, but they have gradually given me a limit of $19.5k without request.

I believe this is because I use the card a lot and (until the limit creeped up) paid them 2-3 x per month. I truly believe they like to see usage, and they like to see that you are bumping up against your limit. I don't pay them interest, but I do let the monthly amount show on the statement and then pay it.

My next highest limit card is $19k, and I don't think it is coincidence that AmEx went above that limit for me.

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Jutz — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 19:18:58 GMT

That's good to know, although I don't know anything about your credit profile. I'd assume since you hit $19k without asking that you have some tradelines that are quite worthy of that consideration.

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

yudeology101 — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 19:26:38 GMT

@Jazzzy wrote:
My Amex is a Delta Skymiles. I got the $2k starting limit. A few months later I wanted to cover (and get miles for) expenses for daughter's wedding, so I requested CLI and was given $6k.

Fast forward....I have never asked for another CLI, but they have gradually given me a limit of $19.5k without request.

I believe this is because I use the card a lot and (until the limit creeped up) paid them 2-3 x per month. I truly believe they like to see usage, and they like to see that you are bumping up against your limit. I don't pay them interest, but I do let the monthly amount show on the statement and then pay it.

My next highest limit card is $19k, and I don't think it is coincidence that AmEx went above that limit for me.

Good to know, thanks for the info. I was denied for my 61day 3x CLI, but i averaged around $800 per month on a $2k limit. I hope i can get the full 3x in April, we'll see...

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Shock — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 21:35:47 GMT

OP, I hate to be THAT guy...but...

Lots of people on here will sock drawer some cards (mainly Capital One) and give them virtually no use.

You said that you no longer use your BCE..

How can one expect a CLI if it's not getting any spend? People will complain abut not getting a CLI and then threaten to or actually sock drawer it because somehow they have been done a disservice by not getting more credit.

I can honestly feel for people with 400-500 dollar credit lines because I've been there. I did the EO with Cap1 and they told me no on the CLI, and that they won't extend credit to someone who doesn't look like they need it. So I made it my main card for a month and a half and tried again and they bumped me.

Then they bumped me again after I put like 400 bucks worth of gas and a rental car on a road trip.

So..use your card lol

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Jutz — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 16:10:07 GMT

@Shock wrote:
OP, I hate to be THAT guy...but...

Lots of people on here will sock drawer some cards (mainly Capital One) and give them virtually no use.

You said that you no longer use your BCE..

How can one expect a CLI if it's not getting any spend? People will complain abut not getting a CLI and then threaten to or actually sock drawer it because somehow they have been done a disservice by not getting more credit.

I can honestly feel for people with 400-500 dollar credit lines because I've been there. I did the EO with Cap1 and they told me no on the CLI, and that they won't extend credit to someone who doesn't look like they need it. So I made it my main card for a month and a half and tried again and they bumped me.

Then they bumped me again after I put like 400 bucks worth of gas and a rental car on a road trip.

So..use your card lol

I used it during the period prior to my 61 day request. After the 61 day request I used it no more than a couple times. I've now started using it regularly and realized why I stopped in the first place; dealing with a low limit is incredibly annoying. I don't mind working with it a little bit, but I have better things to do than baby a credit card and hope it rewards me for it. Your point about the Cap 1 response is a little odd. Credit card companies don't assume you don't need or want to use credit just because you're not using that particular card. It would be pretty easy to deduce that I'm actively using credit by looking at balances of other revolving accounts. If AMEX felt I was worth the risk and wanted the usage to shift to their products instead of other products, they would have extended the credit. Obviously in this case they felt I wasn't worth the risk.

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Shock — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 17:13:03 GMT

Perhaps I should clarify...

If I worked as an analyst and someone with a low limit asked for a CLI, I'd look at their profile. If they aren't spending the credit that we gave them, then we have no reason to extend them more.

Now if they did use their card heavily, the risk assessment would reflect on their reports, and I'd be more likely to extend credit to the if they were a profitable customer, which makes the risk worth it.

The point is, a dormant card will not yield any results. I agree that babysitting a card ca be a hassle, but you gotta work with it. At least then you have a shot at a CLI, rather than no shot at all.

"You miss 100 percent of the shots you dont take"

- Wayne Gretzky

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

kroberts67 — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 19:42:58 GMT

I thought Amex was initially 61x, but then 181x after that? Check the Amex CLI thread. I could be wrong.

EDIT: my bad, it's 3 mos from a denial, 6 mos from a CLI.

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Shock — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:15:14 GMT

181x is unheard of...lol

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

kaskuli — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:34:17 GMT

Zero the bce balance and sock drawer, request paper statements and live chat with a CSR discussing trivial things when you get bored

Put the bulk of your spend on the Freedom, reward the lenders that trust you and condemn the rest to lifetime of solitude, misery

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Shock — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:53:03 GMT

@kaskuli wrote:
Zero the bce balance and sock drawer, request paper statements and live chat with a CSR discussing trivial things when you get bored

Put the bulk of your spend on the Freedom, reward the lenders that trust you and condemn the rest to lifetime of solitude, misery

Yeah..this will clearly fix the problem

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Josh2942 — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 01:05:00 GMT

I feel your pain. I was denied twice for my blue card and I have no derogs I will wait till December I have switched to my freedom because I rather get that limit up

Re: CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

Anonymous — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 02:13:00 GMT

AMEX cares more about income and less about credit score. They have their internal scoring anyways. If the income you provided doesn't support the desired CLI, they will decline it.