topic Re: AmEx Triggers in Credit Cards

AmEx Triggers

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:18:36 GMT

I wonder if using my Green card to donate to a certain Presidential campaign will trigger an FR?

Re: AmEx Triggers

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:21:25 GMT

holuh3 wrote:
I wonder if using my Green card to donate to a certain Presidential campaign will trigger an FR?

Shouldn't. I can't imagine why it would.

Re: AmEx Triggers

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:38:11 GMT

I used my green or plat to donate to a campaign this year and nothing happened.

Theres no reason why it should, really.

Re: AmEx Triggers

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 02:51:26 GMT

I was making a joke; like getting a cash advance in Vegas or buying cheap Canadian whiskey or whatever internal profiling they do. Just contemplating how sophisticated it might be, in light of all the CNN coverage and John King's magic map and all that. You know, female voters over 40 with 2 years of college....I guess it wasn't funny.

Re: AmEx Triggers

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 02:59:27 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I wonder if using my Green card to donate to a certain Presidential campaign will trigger an FR?

: D LOL

Re: AmEx Triggers

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:24:33 GMT

Shouldn't there be a "just joking" post category?

Re: AmEx Triggers

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:26:52 GMT

Should be fine.

Re: AmEx Triggers

aftermath — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:43:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I wonder if using my Green card to donate to a certain Presidential campaign will trigger an FR?

If you put an Amex card inside a Gucci wallet, it will trigger an FR.

If you purchase a $3 bottle of Evian water, it will trigger an FR.

If you use it to purchase a pack of Marlboro instead of GPC, it will trigger an FR.

If you super size your mc donalds combo meal, it will trigger an FR. (also probably anything outside of the $0.99 value menu)

If you purchase Premium unleaded instead of Regular unleaded, it will trigger an FR.

If you purhcase a bottle of wine at a restaurant instead of by the glass, it will trigger an FR.

If you purchased brand name medication instead of the generic variety it will trigger an FR.

I can go on forever...

Message Edited by aftermath on 07-11-2008 09:43 PM

Re: AmEx Triggers

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:44:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I was making a joke; like getting a cash advance in Vegas or buying cheap Canadian whiskey or whatever internal profiling they do.

I'm terrible. I've done both several times with my Amex.

Except cheap Canadian whiskey. I buy expensive whiskey. I rarely, rarely drink liquor, so when I do I want a smooth one.

Re: AmEx Triggers

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:33:47 GMT

If you use your AmEx to pay some obnoxious collections agency - ding ding ding!!

Oh wait, I did that... (the account in collections was my husband's, I might add). I was racking my brain for the worst things you could possibly do with your AmEx, then remembered that one. Oopsie. I'm surprised the card didn't implode the very second that transaction went through.

Re: AmEx Triggers

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:11:20 GMT

holuh3 wrote:
I wonder if using my Green card to donate to a certain Presidential campaign will trigger an FR?

Might depend on what party you donate to. It could be the party they don't support. LOL

Re: AmEx Triggers

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:53:38 GMT

[Quote]
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.
[/Quote]

my default reaction to the "amex is watching us" argument - what i do at my job sounds so much more involved and difficult than monitoring people's credit scores, i wouldn't be surprised if they had an automated monitor of sudden increases or decreases in your score (and that's all that your score is - a number) and then manually reviewed and ups or downs, but that's different than people watching our every move, which i sincerely doubt the people over at amex have the time and energy for.

in a sense, fico score maximizers can be a serious liability. if you have nosebleed high fico scores and you want a mortgage, i wouldn't be surprised if you were asked to close some of your revolving credit lines to make you less of a "bank liability", even though as far as FICO is concerned, you're totally in the clear.

however, because fico scoring is actually pretty good with regard to regressing people back to the mean, the second you've got a 30 day late or anything like that, you'll drop a huge amount (whereas someone with a middling score would not). so i have a relatively high ex score (749), but i only have three years of history. what's keeping my score up is low util (which i can get even lower by paying down my balances) and the lack of any foul-ups. but a 30 day late will really knock me down the ladder more than most other people because of the length of my history and how high it is, relatively.