Because federal law requires lenders to communicate adverse action decisions by mail. Even if you had called in to make the request, the CSR would not have told you the decision; only to wait for a letter in the mail.
Denial of credit is an adverse action as defined by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
You should be able to see the denial letter here: https://www262.americanexpress.com/eaol/welcome_loc.do
The PCN is your reference number
@Tutheather22 wrote:
Thanks for putting that there...I couldn't find it on the website. My amex website seems to run very very very slow. Makes it a little difficult getting around on it. So they can tell you that your approved but they cant legally discuss a denial with you?
Amex can "legally discuss" a denial (that's what reconsideration is all about) but they first have to notify you by mail.
The information regarding adverse action is not on Amex's website but you can read the relevant law here https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/12/1002.9
"A notification given to an applicant when adverse action is taken shall be in writing"
@Tutheather22 wrote:
I was just reading the post from the other day where the OP was on credit steps and requested at 61 days and got approved. I saw something on your credit steps letter that you (MaizeandBlue) posted that stood out to me. AMEX says in the letter to use your card and leave a balance as step 1. I used my card but I paid it off before it could report like I do on most of my cards. I guess Amex likes to see a balance report. I didn't know that till reading that letter.
I'm guessing you're referring to this thread. Sometimes Amex decides to grant 2X CLI before the "credit steps" period is completed but that's very rare. I can only think of 2 or 3 times I've seen it happen.
But since the denial is most likely because your request for a CLI was too early, you can always try again 30 days after the date of denial.
You do not have to show a balance despite what the email says. I never showed a balance for 5 of the 6 months an account was in "credit steps" and I still got the 2x auto-CLI after 180 days.