American Express Applications (Existing Cardholders) - When do they use a new credit report?

[Relatxbles]

Hey myFico forum!

I currently have a Platinum card and have been wanting to open a revolver with AMEX after establishing a positive history with them over the last two years. I applied for the BCP on the 25th of last month, and was denied only due to "Your Fico score(s)" which pulled Experian at a 668.

My Experian score has since went above 680, and wanted to see if that would bring a different result. I applied today after a month and unfortunately was still declined due to the credit report pulled over a month ago.

When does Amex pull an updated report for new card applications to existing cardholders? I understand they are doing me a service by not hitting me with a HP for new applications, but I would think after a month they would use an updated report (especially since I take part in their credit tracking which in itself has shown the updated score). 

[JoeRockhead]

Many times a SP report pulled for pre-approvals can be 30+ days old data... I'd wait until your updated scores have been around for 30 to 45 days. Would be even better if you wait until your scores are 700+

[SouthJamaica]

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@Relatxbles wrote:

Hey myFico forum!

I currently have a Platinum card and have been wanting to open a revolver with AMEX after establishing a positive history with them over the last two years. I applied for the BCP on the 25th of last month, and was denied only due to "Your Fico score(s)" which pulled Experian at a 668.

My Experian score has since went above 680, and wanted to see if that would bring a different result. I applied today after a month and unfortunately was still declined due to the credit report pulled over a month ago.

When does Amex pull an updated report for new card applications to existing cardholders? I understand they are doing me a service by not hitting me with a HP for new applications, but I would think after a month they would use an updated report (especially since I take part in their credit tracking which in itself has shown the updated score). 

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Since you already have an American Express account, you can easily check online to see when they've updated your report. 

There should be a link near the top of your home page saying "See your FICO score and insights". That will give you your most recent soft pulled report date with them.

[twilliam1313]

I have been having the same issue, they keep pulling a report from 7/17/24 where i carried a balance and my scores dropped to 667 and now its at a 719.  I even called to get a reconsideration done and it didnt help, and was told that they had pulled a new report on 8/15/24 but still showing the old one.

[Relatxbles]

See that's what I'm confused about. They're showing a 683 there (updated 3 days ago), but when I applied it was still using the report from my previous app on July 25th showing the previous score. I was hoping that they'd use the updated data that they have but it seems like the system must have just re-used the previous report, not sure why or when this will change though.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Relatxbles wrote:

See that's what I'm confused about. They're showing a 683 there (updated 3 days ago), but when I applied it was still using the report from my previous app on July 25th showing the previous score. I was hoping that they'd use the updated data that they have but it seems like the system must have just re-used the previous report, not sure why or when this will change though.

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Oh sorry. That is weird. They have your updated report but are using an old one.

[IsambardPrince]

If you freeze your credit reports before applying for a new card, then it will go through if they don't need a hard pull for the new card, but if they try to hard pull, the freeze will block it then you can decide if you want it bad enough to take on another hard pull.

Having a new account will bring your score down more than a hard pull, but it's still better than a new account and a hard pull. So if you "only want the card if there's no hard pull", this is the only way to ensure that happens. The bank will not tell you if they're going to try a hard pull until they try to get one.

Racking up hard pulls makes other lenders view you as "credit desperate". It will also start eroding your FICO and Vantage scores. So if there's a way to get the card product you want and make sure you don't ALSO get a hard pull, it's worth the nuisance of freezing then unfreezing after the approval.

[SouthJamaica]

This thread is just about soft pulls.

[UncleB]

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@IsambardPrince wrote:

If you freeze your credit reports before applying for a new card, then it will go through if they don't need a hard pull for the new card, but if they try to hard pull, the freeze will block it then you can decide if you want it bad enough to take on another hard pull.

Having a new account will bring your score down more than a hard pull, but it's still better than a new account and a hard pull. So if you "only want the card if there's no hard pull", this is the only way to ensure that happens. The bank will not tell you if they're going to try a hard pull until they try to get one.

Racking up hard pulls makes other lenders view you as "credit desperate". It will also start eroding your FICO and Vantage scores. So if there's a way to get the card product you want and make sure you don't ALSO get a hard pull, it's worth the nuisance of freezing then unfreezing after the approval.

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None of this applies to the OP's actual question.

[Windchill92]

+1 on waiting until FICO 700+...I've seen few approvals below that.

Looks like you've got a decent CC deck already, welcome to the marathon de credit.