Amex requesting IRS Form 4506T for $95,000 year income?

[JMCB]

So my boyfriend apped for his first Amex Card, the BCE. He basically has a fresh CR. Never has applied for credit, he's 28, always paid cash for everything. He apped for a Chase Card and Discover and was approved. Apped for Amex, entered his $95,000 income, and they sent a letter asking for a 4506T Tax Return Form. Wow! They want to verify his income on $95,000 a year?! I've never used a tax return for any purchase except my house. Every car I've ever bought, I've never even been asked for pay stubs. I state $225,000 income on my credit cards and never received the 4506T request. Do you think this is because he has never had credit cards before? I told him I wouldn't mess with the Tax Returns, to just forget Amex. His tax returns need to stay with him and the IRS, IMO. 

[Anonymous]

Amex probably likes to see some sort of credit history to really feel good about approving someone.  I'm sure there are exceptions.  They are just playing "CYA" in this case by requesting IV.  Better than a flat out denial for lack of credit history, though.

[JMCB]

True! I figured they would have said you're high risk, here is a $500 or $1000 credit line, we will review you in 6 to 12 months for a CLI. But nope, instant review. I read another thread from a few days ago were a guy went though all these 4506 request including bank letterhead and power bills for an Amex Card and he gave up. But his request was based on a 250k income, usually past the threshold to require a review. I mean, $95,000 income from all sources isnt that much IMO.

[austinguy907]

4506 and AMEX = bigger limits.  Also, AMEX is a more secure option to provide a transcript to versus some other lenders that farm it out to a 3rd party processor.

[JMCB]

Ah! I'm sure he wouldn't have minded the bigger limit. Haha. I told him not to expect anything over $1000 CL because there was literally not one account reporting to his credit report. I told him its actually bad to pay cash for everything. And that's true about the transcripts but I figured they were being processed in another country. When you call that department about it, they are in another country. So I figured they obviously could see your IRS reports. I told him to not release it. Plus, as what I read in other post, he would have had to provide address verification. Besides his drivers licence, he has no proof. All the bills, mortgage, power, internet, and cellphones are in my name. So I told him to reapply in a year after he has some credit history.

[Creditaddict]

He might be pleasantly surprised at the starting limit if he provides the form to Amex!

My partner went through Amex FR back in 2011 timeframe on $85k stated at the time.... they can ask for various reasons.

[805orbust]

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@JMCB wrote:

I mean, $95,000 income from all sources isnt that much IMO.

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Hey, aren't you in the top 5% if you make $95,000?

[Anonymous]

When he said income "from all sources" I took it to mean household income, which could of course include that from another person such as a spouse.

[UncleB]

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@805orbust wrote:

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@JMCB wrote:

I mean, $95,000 income from all sources isnt that much IMO.

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Hey, aren't you in the top 5% if you make $95,000?

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+1

Everything is 'relative'... one man's ceiling is another man's floor.

To me, $95k is quite a lot, but that's just me. 

[austinguy907]

I'm thinking this is more of a ok, this guy makes $95K/yr and doesn't have any credit on his reports. Most people making this range or higher typically have plenty of credit history over the years while increasing their income level as they go over the years.  It makes sense that they want to verify the income due to the sparse profile.  I didn't get hit with POI opening my account at $10K and then 3X to $30K but, when I tried to push the envelope to $50K they wanted to see some docs showing that what I stated was valid.  I provided the form and they approved the increase.  

There have been a couple of threads of recent activity of AMEX wanting POI when opening new accounts.  This seems like a shift in how they process the applications but, still rare for 99% of the apps getting approved without additional documentation.  The couple of instances shown on here have been for business accounts and this personal account.  It will definitely be something to track or at least keep an eye on for the future months to see if this is the new trend.