BCE Shame

[elboullee]

Well, got my first ever denial.

App'd for the BCE today and was denied - letter in 7-10 days, yadda, yadda.

Called reconsideration line, transfered twice, finally to someone in U.S.-based underwritting who confirmed it was a denial, specifically for "too many new bank card accounts".

6/24 - 2/12 - 0/6, 5 total HPs - 3 of which are more than a year old, no lates, misseds, BKs, etc. No current balances. Plenty of income. The denial kind of surprised my given Amex's reptation for not being particualrly account/inquiry sensitive.

Really kicking myelf now for getting that worthless Petal card 20 months ago.

Oh well.

[keekers]

Better luck next time.

[Dancingbear45]

@elboullee 

Denials are really disappointing  😩 but at least you were proactive and attempted to recon. You never know if you don't try.
The waiting process might seem long but it'll pass quickly and those new accounts will age and you can reapply. 

[gingerflower]

@elboullee Sorry for the denial.

[Windchill92]

Ugh that stinks. I got approved for the BCE with 1/24 & 0/12 and very low income (university). Guess they care more about recent accts.

[RebelRocket]

Sorry to hear about your denial! I hope that there's better luck there next time, for you.

Quick question though if you're willing to answer; do you already have an AMEX card currently in your setup?

Since they advertise the "Apply with Confidence: Know if you're approved with no impact...." campaign, was just curious to know if that's still showing up.

In any case, if you do, glad to know that at least you save the HP.

Thank you for sharing those data points!

[elboullee]

---

@RebelRocket wrote:

Since they advertise the "Apply with Confidence: Know if you're approved with no impact...." campaign, was just curious to know if that's still showing up.

---

Yes, I did the pre-qualification tool and it said I was good to go for every card they have. That's what I don't get. When the algorithim soft-pulled me for the prequal, it knew that I was 0/6-2/12-6/24 but it encouraged me to apply anyway. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I know that the tool is as much if not more marketing as it is telling you where you stand, but in this case, sunk costs aside, it ended up costing them whatever it cost for me to spend 20-30 minutes speaking to three different CS agents. Why not just tell me "too many recently opened accounts" right off the bat?

I know, I'm looking for a clear, rational response where none exists.

[RedKhaos]

Maybe they would have approved you in a different economic environment but just not now. And they probably didn't think to update the prequalify algorithm... or maybe they never bother to update the prequalify system since there's no penalty/cost for it being ineffective and wrong. Banks are surprisingly disjointed with a lot of the left hand knows not what the right hand does. It's part of why I never really trust or value what most prequalify programs say.

[4sallypat]

When I logged into my Amex using my computer, looking to add my AU - Priority Passes; a pre-approved pop up came up only for the BCP. 

Since it was a SP and it has $0 AF for the first year, I went for it.

Strange how I normally use the mobile app and never have seen a pop up.

Guess it helps to use a computer now and then.