topic Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight. in Credit Cards

Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:28:28 GMT

So before I applied for the Citi Platinum Amex earlier tonight, I figured it would be a good time to request an Amex CLI. I had been planning on asking for one this month since my obligitory six-month wait came to an end on June 30, and I figured it would be best to get it out of the way before I pulled the trigger on the Citi app, just in case Citi ended up pulling EX. That way, there would be one fewer INQ for Amex to see.

Requested CLI from $2K to $5K on my Gold Delta Skymiles card. Got the "7-10 day" message of doom.

So I called Amex to find out why it was declined. EX is completely clean and has my longest history, and on my FICO pull earlier tonight it had gone from 725 to 732.

I found out there was only one reason for the decline: Too many inquiries in the last six months.

I have two of them. Apparently that is too many. A word to the wise.

The best part of the conversation I had with the credit limit specialist was when he explained to me that the decision was based upon my Experian report, and I said "Yes, I know. I only have two inquiries in the last six months." He asked me, "When was the last time you looked at your Experian credit report?" to which I responded, "Oh, trust me. You have no idea!"

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:50:44 GMT

don't sweat it, you're in with citi now. then again, amex likely knew about your intent to app and was taking presumptive aa on you.

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:54:38 GMT

imducky wrote:

don't sweat it, you're in with citi now. then again, amex likely knew about your intent to app and was taking presumptive aa on you.

LOLOL!

So Amex really knows that I like my BofA Amex better. Dang mind readers!

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:56:24 GMT

WhirledPeasPlease wrote:

imducky wrote:
don't sweat it, you're in with citi now. then again, amex likely knew about your intent to app and was taking presumptive aa on you.

LOLOL!

So Amex really knows that I like my BofA Amex better. Dang mind readers!

yep. the amazing kreskin (spelling) was actually an amex actuary who needed to pay off his cld'd amex that was killing his fico.

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:27:37 GMT

cheddar,

I bet that $11,000 limit from Citi made you care less about your Amex CLI denial lol!!!

Congrats!

Message Edited by Jubeyy on 07-11-2008 09:27 PM

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

aftermath — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:32:31 GMT

Cheddar, have you seen my latest post about my Amex CLI experience?

I honestly think they are throwing out EVERY single possible excuse out there to deny people of a CLI.

Just as with you, they based their decision solely on Experian credit report BS that they made up. I also don't think they take internal score into consideration anymore either. Either that or they just got rid of it completely.

Forget the sock drawer, that would be a luxury. I'm burying my Amex inside my kitty's litter box.

From earlier post today:

I called and spoke with a CLI Supervisor, and basically I was told that once a decision is made, it is final, and to try back in 6 months.

I asked about my internal history with them, I PIF every month, basically they told me internal history is worthless. She told me that when applying for a CLI, it is processed in the same manner as a credit card application. They look at score, history, balances, etc. etc.

The reasons listed for denying the CLI was soley based on the factors on Experian CR:

-Credit history too short (10 years of history with only 2 new cards within 2 years)
-Inability to pay down debts ( Amex is reporting only $15 as my last payment, even though I pay in full)
-Score too low ( I had scores in the mid 700's, when my Amex showed up on my CR, it dropped it down to the mid 600's)

Amex is the reason all 3 of the above mentioned reasons were the cause for my Amex CLI denial.

I tried to explain this to them, taht without all those factors caused by the Amex account alone, I would still be in the mid 700's without all the other above mentioned reasons, but all they told me was to keep pay on time and try back in 6 months. wtf??!?!

So I guess they don't really take into consideration your internal score with them too much anymore. Probably due to the messed up economy.

I officially hate Amex after 2 F/Rs and a $2000 CLI request denial on a card with a $13k limit.

I'm sock drawering this thing and pulling my $300 crap one out of retirement.

Message Edited by aftermath on 07-11-2008 09:32 PM

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:37:27 GMT

Those little chips in the Blue card are actually electrical circuits that read brain waves, so they know what your true intentions are and can FR you.

I heard Amex is going to start requiring psychiatric evaluations for new applicants in the near future, as well as requiring V-chips to be implanted in all cardholder's heads, with the exception of Centurion cardholders. This way they know ahead of time if you are going to max out their card or lose your job, so they can eliminate the FR process altogether!

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

fused — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:40:09 GMT

cheddar wrote:

I pulled the trigger on the Citi app, just in case Citi ended up pulling EX. That way, there would be one fewer INQ for Amex to see.

Do you mean CITI pulled EQ? I would expect them to yank EQ?

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:45:58 GMT

aftermath wrote:
Cheddar, have you seen my latest post about my Amex CLI experience?

Yes, actually your post was the reason I called to find out my denial reasons. I didn't know you could do that right away. I just always figured you'd have to wait for the letter.

I should clarify, though, that the person I spoke to did mention my internal risk score and that the reason my CLI was declined is that my internal risk score is too low. So I pressed him on that, and then he said that the reason my internal risk score is too low is that I have too many "requests to view my credit history" in the last six months. "So you're saying I have too many inquiries and that's the only reason?" I said. He said yes.

So it appears that they do still use an internal score that is the ultimate decision maker, but it's affected by all of those factors you mentioned, as well as the one I mentioned.

I'm not worried about it, though. Any other night I might have been a little ticked, but since I followed it up with a Citi approval, I can wait another six months for Amex.

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:47:12 GMT

cheddar wrote:

aftermath wrote:
Cheddar, have you seen my latest post about my Amex CLI experience?

Yes, actually your post was the reason I called to find out my denial reasons. I didn't know you could do that right away. I just always figured you'd have to wait for the letter.

I should clarify, though, that the person I spoke to did mention my internal risk score and that the reason my CLI was declined is that my internal risk score is too low. So I pressed him on that, and then he said that the reason my internal risk score is too low is that I have too many "requests to view my credit history" in the last six months. "So you're saying I have too many inquiries and that's the only reason?" I said. He said yes.

So it appears that they do still use an internal score that is the ultimate decision maker, but it's affected by all of those factors you mentioned, as well as the one I mentioned.

I'm not worried about it, though. Any other night I might have been a little ticked, but since I followed it up with a Citi approval, I can wait another six months for Amex.

If your denial looks like my past denials it will list two sets of reasons -- one internal, and one from ex alone. Below each heading there are sub-reasons. (Well, at least on mine there were, lol.)

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:48:48 GMT

fused wrote:

cheddar wrote:

I pulled the trigger on the Citi app, just in case Citi ended up pulling EX. That way, there would be one fewer INQ for Amex to see.

Do you mean CITI pulled EQ? I would expect them to yank EQ?

I don't know who Citi pulled yet. I can't check until tomorrow. They're unpredictable around here, though, so I was just playing it safe by getting the Amex CLI out of the way first in case Citi did end up pulling EX. That way Amex wouldn't see the Citi INQ since Amex came first, and Citi wouldn't see the Amex INQ since it would be a soft.

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

aftermath — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:48:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

@aftermath wrote:
Cheddar, have you seen my latest post about my Amex CLI experience?

Yes, actually your post was the reason I called to find out my denial reasons. I didn't know you could do that right away. I just always figured you'd have to wait for the letter.

I should clarify, though, that the person I spoke to did mention my internal risk score and that the reason my CLI was declined is that my internal risk score is too low. So I pressed him on that, and then he said that the reason my internal risk score is too low is that I have too many "requests to view my credit history" in the last six months. "So you're saying I have too many inquiries and that's the only reason?" I said. He said yes.

So it appears that they do still use an internal score that is the ultimate decision maker, but it's affected by all of those factors you mentioned, as well as the one I mentioned.

I'm not worried about it, though. Any other night I might have been a little ticked, but since I followed it up with a Citi approval, I can wait another six months for Amex.

I want to dump my Amex and go with a Citi as well. I had a Citi back in college that was a CO, but I have now paid it in full. Do you know if Citi blacklists or holds grudges?

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:49:24 GMT

Jubeyy wrote:
cheddar,

I bet that $11,000 limit from Citi made you care less about your Amex CLI denial lol!!!

Congrats!

Yep, pretty much. LOL

Thanks, Jubeyy!

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:56:13 GMT

cheddar wrote:

I don't know who Citi pulled yet. I can't check until tomorrow. They're unpredictable around here, though, so I was just playing it safe by getting the Amex CLI out of the way first in case Citi did end up pulling EX. That way Amex wouldn't see the Citi INQ since Amex came first, and Citi wouldn't see the Amex INQ since it would be a soft.

I should have mentioned that I did check TU and EX backdoors and didn't see them, so I'm assuming it was EQ. That suprises me even more, though, since that's my lowest score and the only report that's not clean.

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 05:59:16 GMT

fused wrote:

cheddar wrote:

I pulled the trigger on the Citi app, just in case Citi ended up pulling EX. That way, there would be one fewer INQ for Amex to see.

Do you mean CITI pulled EQ? I would expect them to yank EQ?

Spouse applied for ExxonMobile, which I believe is Citi, and they pulled EX. We are in MO.

Inquiry shows up as EXXMBLCITI

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

smallfry — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:59:42 GMT

So Cheddar you are say that Amex denied you a CLI because you are being vigilant and check your reports to make sure no one has stolen your ID? I would have told him to stick that piddling 2K line so far up his you know what well never mind. What nerve.

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:26:02 GMT

@smallfry wrote:
So Cheddar you are say that Amex denied you a CLI because you are being vigilant and check your reports to make sure no one has stolen your ID? I would have told him to stick that piddling 2K line so far up his you know what well never mind. What nerve.

I wondered that myself! "Too many requests to view your history" --is this definitely referring only to the two hards (in which case, you'd think they would have said "too many requests for credit" --or are they monitoring your soft pulls through CreditSecure, which I think you have through AmEx? I know that softs are supposed to be "viewable only by you," but I've always wondered about the pretty tight connection between AmEx and CS.

@Anonymous wrote:
yep. the amazing kreskin (spelling) was actually an amex actuary who needed to pay off his cld'd amex that was killing his fico.

LMAO, ducky! One of your best. Especially in Kreskin's motivation to get into the spoon-bending profession.

General wondering out loud comment: I'm starting to think that American Express has decided to stop being a cash cow when it comes to CLI's. The first round was when they instituted the wait periods before requesting a CLI, and cheddar's and aftermath's stories look a bit like a second policy change.

They have taken a beating over the last several quarters in delinquencies. Maybe for most of us, the days of huge AmEx CL's have drawn to a close.

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

smallfry — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:57:24 GMT

I absolutely think its about the daily pulls. I wouldn't be surprised to see the pullers go to $30 per month. It appears as if the CCC's are watching us all very closely. I wouldn't even think of doing a BT or using more than 10% of any credit line in this environment. Don't give them a reason to chop you or cut you off completely. It is getting very ugly out there.

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:28:05 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
@smallfry wrote:
So Cheddar you are say that Amex denied you a CLI because you are being vigilant and check your reports to make sure no one has stolen your ID? I would have told him to stick that piddling 2K line so far up his you know what well never mind. What nerve.

I wondered that myself! "Too many requests to view your history" --is this definitely referring only to the two hards (in which case, you'd think they would have said "too many requests for credit" --or are they monitoring your soft pulls through CreditSecure, which I think you have through AmEx? I know that softs are supposed to be "viewable only by you," but I've always wondered about the pretty tight connection between AmEx and CS.

I have to say that is EXACTLY what I thought when I read that - that doesn't sound like they're talking about too many inquiries, it sounds like they don't like the fact that you check your own credit score/history regularly. Which is pretty worrying...

I was idly wondering along these lines yesterday... that the CCCs must be increasingly wise to all this score-checking, FICO-maximising behavior and that people are becoming expert in manipulating their own credit scores, and I was wondering if that's something they don't approve of. Hmm.

Re: Amex CLI Decline. It wasn't all good news tonight.

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:51:35 GMT

smallfry wrote:
So Cheddar you are say that Amex denied you a CLI because you are being vigilant and check your reports to make sure no one has stolen your ID? I would have told him to stick that piddling 2K line so far up his you know what well never mind. What nerve.

Noooo. At least, I wouldn't think so. Hmm....

Well, if that is what they meant by "too many requests to view your credit history," then they would have to be getting that information through CS, and I'm not sure how legal that would be.

Sure, it might be within the letter of the law, since they wouldn't actually be looking at soft pulls on a report (which they're not allowed to do), but it would definitely go against the spirit of the FCRA. Congressional intent in making soft pulls not viewable by potential creditors was obviously to prevent one's requests to view one's own credit history from being used as a basis of adverse action and/or denial of new credit. I really hope that's not what they're doing.