AMEX Platinum denied after Gold approval, recon failed but no new info

[sstromberg]

Back in November, I applied for the Gold and Platinum cards from Amex. Amex autoapproved the Gold and sent the Platinum to "In Progress," where it sat for 2 weeks before being denied, which I though was strange since the UW for both cards seems to be the same.

After a few weeks went by, but within 30 days of the denial, I called recon to see what I could do given that I had charged and paid a good amount on the Gold card and the Amex site even showed that my EX Fico had gone up from 677 to 736 (as of January 4, 2020). I also updated my income on the Amex site to reflect an increase from $28k last year to $38k this year (I am a working student). 

The app went back to In Progress on the status page, then to Declined today. But, the denial letter is dated for the original denial and the quoted FICO is the older score (677). I tried to call recon to see why they hadn't considered any of the new info I gave them and the computerized system told me the decision was not overridden and I couldn't talk to a CSR about it. 

Any advice? I really want to get this Plat card soon as I'm doing a lot of travel in the next 6 months and the card will be far more useful than the Gold. 

I should mention I went on an app spree the same day I apped for the Gold card, so there's a number of inquiries on my EX report. But, only one of the new accounts has reported to EX so far. So, I'm concerned that the FICO will plummet next month when 3 new accounts get reported. 

[Anonymous]

Too many apps to close together... wait 2-3 months and maybe reapply then

[Anonymous]

American Express does not use the Experian FICO 8 score displayed in your online account for credit decisions.  Instead they use the score generated at the monthly soft pull, and that can lag the online scores by several weeks.  The decline letter should show the date of soft pull and from that you could assume that they pull on that same date every month.So its always useful to wait a month or so after your online account updates scores to allow the scores used by underwriting to catch up.

[coldfusion]

Technically AMEX by policy won't approve 2 cards of the same type (revolver, charge) apped on the same day although exceptions aren't unheard of and your EX FICO8 score at the time was on the low end of their approval spectrum.

Most issuers will not under normal circumstances reconsider the results of an application beyond 30 days after the application was submitted. The meter for reconsideration starts at the time of application and not the point of time that a final decision is rendered.

Your latest attempt at reconsideration was obviously more than 30 days after the application, since you applied in November and asked for a reconsideration based on a 1/4/2020 updated score.  It's no surprise that your recon request was rejected. 

I'm sure you now know that you should have applied for the Platinum first since it's the card you would have found most useful in the short term - sorry things have turned out this way.

You can start checking for prequals in a couple of weeks. It isn't a given but odds are high that if you reapply there will only be a SP.

[sstromberg]

How would approval odds look in a few weeks assuming the same EX 736, 9 inq, AAoA 11 years, 17% utilization (95% of which is from accounts that I am the authorized user on), and no derogs? If I wait longer, 2 new revolvers will appear and 1 installment loan will appear, which I assume will drop my score and send me to the garden, which is why I'm keen on trying to jam this app through before gardening. 

Better question -- should I have my parents remove me from the card that carries the highest balance (29% utilization)? Overall utilization would drop but the account is the oldest on my report (27 years). It's also the highest limit card on my report. 

[Anonymous]

I am super curious about the AU accounts and how they affect those of us on them. I'm hoping for a reply too.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

There's a possibility you're at the internal limit for amex and that's why they turned it down. You should be able to apply for all 3 charge cards at the same time if your profile supports it. If that's the case, a few weeks of spending won't change anything since they adjust your internal spending limit on the charge based on a 6 month pattern. Really, all you can do is submit another app and see what happens. It took a year before they let me off the leash, but after my last approvals, I'm now pre-approved for everything.

[AverageJoesCredit]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am super curious about the AU accounts and how they affect those of us on them. I'm hoping for a reply too.

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Not all lenders weigh AU the same and many wont factor that into their credit decisions.  It can be nice to get help on ones report by having or being a AU, but its always better when credit is ones own imho