AmEx probably didn't like your TU score, they hard pull it for credit apps.
For their credit cards you typically need to be up closer to 700 to get in the door.
They have a lower threshold for their charge cards.
@Rickman33193 wrote:I have 0 credit cards. I burned citi for 4k back in 2016 so it's off of my credit report. No deliquencies, long credit history, excellent payment history(thanks fresh start) I have just had major changes to my experian score (739 after 1 chase ink unlimited denial) due to the fresh start program. TU (635 ish) and EQ (642 ish) are not showing any improvement yet. American express has not approved a personal card because
March 2024-deliquencys
April 2024-no credit history (experian said I didn't have a score at all for a while)
May 2024- no credit cards in my credit report
46k income
37k student loans
that's it
What's the highest limit card you think I can get? I can't get a pre-qualify for anything except capital one. Should I do that? Will it help my chances with American express? I'm looking to bump my score as much as I can before trying again to get a business card.
Looking for any and all good advice for my specific situation. I have already learned so much from this forum. Thanks
I think you should try for the Capital One card. You need to start somewhere.
Capital One may indeed be the best play you have available, you are showing a profile they tend to like. Amex isn't going to play ball with that TU score on a 0 card profile. They may warm up to you pretty quickly once 1 card is re-established, though. Not having any open revolvers cost me a whopping 66 FICO 8 points that quickly rebounded when I re-established a credit card, so getting 1 back on there is super important.
I was in a very similar position to this when kicking off my rebuild - similar income, similar loans, long history but no open revolvers. Which Capital One card are you considering? When I ran the pre-qual, all their things came up with the excellent version even though my scores were far from excellent. They are thinking about profitability more than creditworthiness, so with middle-of-the-road scores and no open cards, you stand more of a chance than you'd think. They may also pull mortgage scores rather than FICO 8s, so not having any inquiries or new accounts also helps you there.
I took the Savor One with a $5K SL and used it as a prybar card pivoting into the Amex BCE next. 5 months after starting this, I had a $10K Savor One and an $18K BCE, so DTI on student loans by themselves shouldn't hold you back from acquiring 5 figure limits. That said, this was timed during a window of very aggressive card origination by many banks and that environment has tightened up significantly. I would still go for these plays, but with more caution and spacing on applications. I spent a good amount of time researching these banks and their tendencies, what they like to see and what they don't, along with what their management is up to. For the best chance of approvals and good approvals, you gotta treat your relationship as a two-way street and take what they want into account.
Another thing to consider is to choose a card you want to keep open forever if Capital One shows you lots of good options. Once your student loans are paid off, that card will anchor your future profile. I still use that Savor One, albeit mostly for just entertainment now, and it looks great as a $10K anchor card on a dirty profile. Had it been something less useful just as a temp builder, I'd be super annoyed having to keep it alive. Having long history off loans put you in a different position than traditional builders or rebuilders at 0 cards, you may be able to play this game differently than them and not have to settle for less desireable cards.
And another thing - I wouldn't bother with AZEO on your profile where Amex is the 2nd target. Your relationship with Amex is determined by your spend and AZEO masks your true spend from other banks. If they see you posting tiny balances on your 1st card, why would they want you as a customer? I recommend just posting whatever statement balances you want, at whatever utilization, and pay them off each month. Amex will see that you have spend worth playing ball for, plus they love to see it paid off. This would hurt your scores a bit, but I'm a profile > scores person. Strengthen your profile for the approvals you want, don't chase FICO points. Util will solve itself over time as you re-establish a thick profile and your natural spend will just land at low util % on its own by then. Plus, Capital One likes spend and util as well, that'll help you get CLIs from them.
VS4: 709
