Declined for AMEX Gold Card -- Time to wait between new application?

[Anonymous]

Good morning everyone,

Last night, I applied for the AMEX Gold Card, as I was able to find a 50,000 point offer and have been more able to justify the card given how most of my spending outside direct housing bills are on supermarkets and eating out. After pulling the trigger, I was declined, but upon reviewing my dissaproval letter online, the three reasons listed were the following (paraphrased): Not enough time as an AMEX Member, high balances compared to payments (going to guess this is my AMEX BCE...haven't even had the first statement cut, so I suppose I ower $400 dollar and have never made a payment), and too many credit lenders looking at my profile.

I am wondering when (and if I even should) consider re-applying. I understand that I need to build up my membership and payments history with AMEX, and it seems that those are the two foremost reasons they held off on my application.

On the plus side, they did not pull my credit again, and they used my FICO Score they had on hand from July 16th (726), so no harm no foul in sending in the application.

Thanks for the advice.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

People are gonna say at least 30 days, but I was approved for my Delta gold 8 days after a denial. That was a fresh pull though. As an existing member, you need to wait until their monthly pull is updated. If it's good enough, you can try again.

[SecretAzure]

Your profile looks pretty thin...which is fine for Amex and why they approved you for one card already. I would wait 6 months. It should provide a decent boost to your AAOA and it will show Amex you can make consistent payments. With the pandemic, lenders have become quite risk-averse and I don't think we are in the same place where they would approve you for two cards at the same time as they often used to. Show them you are reliable with patience. 

[Anonymous]

Based on the "time with them" reason i would say that you need to wait at the very least 3 statement cycles, apping for a second card before the 1st statement even cuts is probably a bit too soon for most Lenders. Several members here have hit this same wall of time with Lender and even as old as 6 months. 

While Amex is fine with thin files they still need to get a sense of that person's spend and reliablity.

[Anonymous]

Amex has really tightened up their approval criteria. Your profile looks good for a Gold card honestly, but I think the history with the Blue Cash is holding you back most. It's kind of hard to tell right now. I think establishing some payment history will seriously help in this environment. 

I agree with the advice of 3-6 months, though if the pre-approval pops up when you login and look at the card I think you're likely safe as the scores are probably good (though there have been some recent denials even with pre approval, so keep that in the back of your head). 

[Anonymous]

Thanks to you and everyone for the advice. 

I figured that one of the biggest things holding me back was the fresh card with AMEX, especially considering that was two of the reason they listed in their dissaproval. I plan to give the card a couple months in the least to age and show good PIF behavior that would befit a charge card. I forgot to mention that I also have four student loans all at 100% ratio since I am doing an interest repayment plan while still a student, but they have been paid faithfully as soon as the bill cuts every month for two years (less for newer ones).

Again, thanks everyone

[randomguy1]

Why not try a recon?

[Meanmchine]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Good morning everyone,

Last night, I applied for the AMEX Gold Card, as I was able to find a 50,000 point offer and have been more able to justify the card given how most of my spending outside direct housing bills are on supermarkets and eating out. After pulling the trigger, I was declined, but upon reviewing my dissaproval letter online, the three reasons listed were the following (paraphrased): Not enough time as an AMEX Member, high balances compared to payments (going to guess this is my AMEX BCE...haven't even had the first statement cut, so I suppose I ower $400 dollar and have never made a payment), and too many credit lenders looking at my profile.

I am wondering when (and if I even should) consider re-applying. I understand that I need to build up my membership and payments history with AMEX, and it seems that those are the two foremost reasons they held off on my application.

On the plus side, they did not pull my credit again, and they used my FICO Score they had on hand from July 16th (726), so no harm no foul in sending in the application.

Thanks for the advice.

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This does not have to be your BCE. It could be another card from another lender

[Anonymous]

@randomguy1 

I think I am deciding to hold off on the recon to build a little more proof of responsibility, especially given that the soft pull created a "no harm, no foul" situation for my app, so I'm not itching to "not waste" a HP. Additionally, they requested in the letter that I consider waiting until the next soft pull on 8/16 to apply again for better consideration.

[Anonymous]

@Meanmchine 

That is a good point, and it might have actually been the case. At the time of their pull, I had a $427/$2700 balance my Disco It (really a $0/$3700 but Disco takes ages to report), and I had my CSP reporting $1350ish/$5000, but that was promptly PIF after the statement cut. I think waiting for the SP on 8/16 my Amex would be a good idea, since that pull will show around a 0-3% utilization on both cards, as well as around a 5% my Amex BCE (gonna pay down balance from 25% utilization to around 5% and let statement cut because it cuts 8/14).

Would it be smart to wait for 8/16 and apply right away on that date so I can avoid reporting high balances on the CSP and BCE when their statements cut?