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Experian score: 731 (according to the Amex app)
Two open cards:
Amex Platinum since 4/2018 (~7k CL due to FR because I screwed up trying to MS)
Amex SPG Luxury/Marriott Brilliant since 1/2019 (10k CL)
Two checking accounts:
Bank of America since 8/2017
Chase since 3/2019
First applied for the SPG Luxury card in 2/2018 and was denied due to too short credit history.
Otherwise there should be no applications/credit pulls (not sure if Chase pulled when I opened the checking account).
Nothing negative, I have always paid on time etc.
The thing is, I only have an ITIN, no SSN, and the Amex app is the only tool that lets me see my score. All other tools seem to require a SSN.
Not sure if Chase's TU tool in the app will start working once I have more "true" credit card history, and not just from a charge card.
I always pay down my Platinum card before the end of the statement period (I actually usually overpay) for "all zero except one".
I also always pay down my SPG card to <9% of the CL.
Income of ~180k$, but most of it is in overseas accounts and not in USD. I only use my US accounts to pay my US credit card bills.
However, I have direct deposits of ~5k$ a month in my Chase account.
Long story short: Would it make sense to apply for the CSR? The cardmatch tool suggests I apply for the CSP, but I have no preapproved offers from Chase.
I'd really like to get the CSR because of the 3x points on travel. Not sure if I'd be able to get the same value out of the CSP. If I apply for the CSP, I'd have to wait for a year to upgrade.
Most likely I have too little credit history for the CSR? From what I've read, they want at least a year of credit history from a card with a 10k limit or more? That would mean I won't be able get the CSR before 1/2020. Would it then make more sense to get a different card in the meantime, e.g. the Citi Premier/Prestige? The Prestige is nice because of the 4th night free benefit, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to utilize it. The Premier has 3x points on travel...
What would you do?
I would sit tight and wait it out but, in the meantime that doesn't mean you can't shop for something else that fits your spend. Or you could try the CSP for $95/yr that has a lower 5K initial minimum limit.
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/best-credit-card-sign-up-offers/
Since you bank at Chase, I would suggest going in person to see if there is a preapproval for the CSR (or CSP). Also important to note that for the all zero except one scoring boost, the card showing a balance must be a revolving credit account not a charge card (which is not factored). So if you have no balance on the Marriott card, you have 0 of 1 cards reporting a balance. If you did report a balance on it, you would go over the margin of 50% of cards reporting a balance and also have 100% of cards reporting a balance. I actually don't know with only having one revolving card which would benefit you more, but it might be worth letting the Marriott card report a small balance of maybe $5 at statement cut to see what it does to your scores. (Important to note that is for FICO 08 scoring; Amex makes it confusing now because they began giving a VantageScore 3.0 score in addition to the Experian FICO 08 score, and generally the "educational" score is more prominent on their website than the actual score they and most other lenders would actually use.) For AZEO (all zero except one), the biggest gains will come when you have 3 or more revolving credit accounts since you also gain the "fewer than 50% of cards reporting a balance" points. Traditionally, having 0 cards reporting a balance will actually cause a score drop.
I'm not in the US at the moment, probably won't be for some time. So walking into a branch is difficult. :/
I only pay down the Platinum card to zero (actually to negative) - am I understanding you correctly that it doesn't matter how much spend I put on that card since it's just a charge card?
The Marriott cards reports >0 and <9% of the CL (<900$) every month.
In other words, I can just forget about getting the CSR? I'm not that interested in the CSP, except for the signup bonus and being able to build up a business relationship with Chase. And I'm not even sure if they would approve me for the CSP? After all, I only have four months of "true" credit history (since the Plat is a charge card).
Most of my spend is for travel. Most is for flights (which I use the Platinum card for to get 5x points), but there's still quite a bit of spend on taxis, trains, rental cars etc. which I don't have a good card for (I mostly stay at SPG/Marriott hotels, where I use my Marriott card). And not all merchants accept Amex overseas (I'm in Europe at the moment), so a Visa or Mastercard would be good. And it's almost all in foreign currencies, so it's important that the card has no FX fees.
What would you do? I don't want to just wait for another 8 months before applying for a new card... And I don't care that much about 5/24 either since other Chase cards aren't that interesting to me.
Chase will not allow to apply for a credit card without a Social Security number even if you have a depository relationship with them.
@Anonymous thank you for that; it completely changes the conversation. I am not sure on the ITIN/SSN requirements of Citi. Both Premier and Prestige could be viable options for you to cover the remaining travel categories, as well as others that may be missed by not being able to pay with American Express at times. Bank of America has some okay options (much better options with large deposit/investment accounts), but in order to apply with an ITIN I do believe you must apply in person. Discover does ITIN, but acceptance in Europe is going to be lower than Amex, and even in Asia where it should run as a UnionPay card it can be hit and miss at times. I can't speak as to ITIN eligibility, but some credit unions may offer favorable travel-oriented cards on Visa or MasterCard network.
As for the Amex Platinum card, since it a charge card it is scored differently than revolving credit cards. If you are showing that balance monthly on the Marriott card, that should be fine. You are reporting 100% of cards with a balance and more than 50% of cards with a balance since you only have 1 revolving credit card, but it's still likely better than showing a $0 balance in the eyes of FICO and risk management. The reasoning is that you are showing responsible use of revolving credit rather no use of revolving credit.
For the credit history part, the Amex Platinum certainly does count, so if those are the only two things showing on your reports you would have a total credit age of 13 months, with an average age of 8 or 9 months, depending on rounding.
@K-in-Boston wrote:@Anonymous thank you for that; it completely changes the conversation. I am not sure on the ITIN/SSN requirements of Citi. Both Premier and Prestige could be viable options for you to cover the remaining travel categories, as well as others that may be missed by not being able to pay with American Express at times. Bank of America has some okay options (much better options with large deposit/investment accounts), but in order to apply with an ITIN I do believe you must apply in person. Discover does ITIN, but acceptance in Europe is going to be lower than Amex, and even in Asia where it should run as a UnionPay card it can be hit and miss at times. I can't speak as to ITIN eligibility, but some credit unions may offer favorable travel-oriented cards on Visa or MasterCard network.
As for the Amex Platinum card, since it a charge card it is scored differently than revolving credit cards. If you are showing that balance monthly on the Marriott card, that should be fine. You are reporting 100% of cards with a balance and more than 50% of cards with a balance since you only have 1 revolving credit card, but it's still likely better than showing a $0 balance in the eyes of FICO and risk management. The reasoning is that you are showing responsible use of revolving credit rather no use of revolving credit.
The Patriot Act and Know You Customer rules changed things significantly. I'm not sure of the requirements for Citi card but I know that certain of their co-branded cards cannot be opened with an ITIN; perhaps for their high-end travel cards its allowable if applying in person.
I don't want to impugn the OP's motives but as I recall for an earlier exchange he is a German national and resident who occasionally visits the US and only wants to game the US credit system for benefits that aren't available in Germany. He's actually fortunate that Amex didn't shut him down for manufactured spending.
Darn, I was hoping I'd be able to get a Chase card using my ITIN only since I'm already a customer.
If there is no way to get a Chase card, I guess the Citi Premier would be the next best option.
But then I'd have to visit a branch for identification. Which I could do, of course, if there's a good chance I'll be approved.
How likely do you think it is that they'd approve me for the Citi Premier?
I wouldn't call it "gaming" - I actually have some significant (organic) spend and I'd just like to max out rewards.
Using a German Amex Platinum card, I would earn ~0.7 miles per USD on flights, and there's a 2% FX fee (or so).
With my US Platinum Amex, I earn 5 miles per USD on flights and there's no FX fee. The decision isn't difficult.
I'm a German national, but no longer a German resident as I travel pretty much full time.
A small update: I did apply for the CSR. Chase definitely accepts ITIN applications, the application form even asks for "SSN/ITIN".
But I was turned down due to my AAoA being to low/too short credit history. They didn't care much about my 15 months of charge card history, they thought 4 months of "true" credit card history were too little. Called recon twice, but no luck.
Guess I'll have to wait another 8 months at least.