Green? Gold? Wait?

[Anonymous]

As someone who spent over a decade completely avoiding credit and relying exclusively on cash/debit for all transactions, I began 2015 by opening two accounts in efforts to begin building my credit history. The first was an unsecured CapOne Platinum MC with a $300 limit that was recently increased to $2300 and the second is a Wells Fargo Platinum Rewards Visa with a $1000 limit. During this time, I've made timely payments and kept my utilization in the neighborhood of 10%. My current TU score is just under 700.

I still rely heavily on my debit card for day to day purchases and I'm wondering if I could benefit by replacing most of that activity with the use of an Amex Green or Gold charge card and, more specifically, if Amex would even be willing to issue me one with such a limited history. I'm a patient person, so if there are obvious rules or timeframes to which I should adhere, I'm willing to wait...but I am curious.

[CreditCuriosity]

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@Anonymous wrote:

As someone who spent over a decade completely avoiding credit and relying exclusively on cash/debit for all transactions, I began 2015 by opening two accounts in efforts to begin building my credit history. The first was an unsecured CapOne Platinum MC with a $300 limit that was recently increased to $2300 and the second is a Wells Fargo Platinum Rewards Visa with a $1000 limit. During this time, I've made timely payments and kept my utilization in the neighborhood of 10%. My current TU score is just under 700.

I still rely heavily on my debit card for day to day purchases and I'm wondering if I could benefit by replacing most of that activity with the use of an Amex Green or Gold charge card and, more specifically, if Amex would even be willing to issue me one with such a limited history. I'm a patient person, so if there are obvious rules or timeframes to which I should adhere, I'm willing to wait...but I am curious.

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Yes I think you would be approved as Amex likes short and clean files such as what you appear to have.

Do yourself a favor whether it is Amex or another issuers/lender move your spend from debit to CC's as they offer rewards vs. basically nothing by the debit card.

Now if it was between the green and gold the gold clearly wins as it offers better rewards, but a higher annual fee.

Is there a reason you are looking at Amex only?  Alot of other lenders out there that you might benefit from more.. Where is most of your spend occuring at?  Eating out?  Grocery, etc?  Do you value cashback or travel rewards type scenarios more is also another question you got to ask yourself

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your response.  My rationale to the "why Amex" question is because it's a charge (not credit) card and I wouldn't be compromising my low utilzation because it's paid in full every month. If I'm spending 1k/month in debit transactions, I'd have to possess a 10k limit credit card (doubt I could get) to maintain the utilzation that I've had thus far. i suppose it's possible to pay a CC balance off before it's reported and not show high utilization, but that seems like a headache. I'm simply interested in reaping the benefits if they're available. Most of my debit purchases go towards restaurants, gas and some travel.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for your response.  My rationale to the "why Amex" question is because it's a charge (not credit) card and I wouldn't be compromising my low utilzation because it's paid in full every month. If I'm spending 1k/month in debit transactions, I'd have to possess a 10k limit credit card (doubt I could get) to maintain the utilzation that I've had thus far. i suppose it's possible to pay a CC balance off before it's reported and not show high utilization, but that seems like a headache. I'm simply interested in reaping the benefits if they're available. Most of my debit purchases go towards restaurants, gas and some travel.

Thoughts?

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Just pay before the statement cuts. It isn't any more of a headache than paying after the statement cuts. No impact on utilization regardless of what card type you're using.

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for your response.  My rationale to the "why Amex" question is because it's a charge (not credit) card and I wouldn't be compromising my low utilzation because it's paid in full every month. If I'm spending 1k/month in debit transactions, I'd have to possess a 10k limit credit card (doubt I could get) to maintain the utilzation that I've had thus far. i suppose it's possible to pay a CC balance off before it's reported and not show high utilization, but that seems like a headache. I'm simply interested in reaping the benefits if they're available. Most of my debit purchases go towards restaurants, gas and some travel.

Thoughts?

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Take a step back from the analysis. How many points do you think you will be penalized for having a $1k rolling utilization on a $3k or $5k card? It is some points, but it's not 100, more like 10 or 20. By considering other Credit Cards, you open up your possibilities to rewards that align with your spend. Not that AMEX is bad, but their charge cards carry an annual fee, that drains rewards away.

Also, the utilization on any one month of that $1k-$2k reported (considering you will have the float for the first $1k as you pay in full) can be managed if you care to, by paying some earlier to bring utilization down ahead of future apps. The utilization in any given past month has no bearing on utilization right now, and scores recover nicely from temporarily managing that utilization.

[UncleB]

I got my Amex cards with a 695, and as the others have stated you would likely have no problem getting approved since historically they like thin/newer files.

Others might disagree, but you might want to consider a Capital One Quicksilver... they give 1.5% cash back on everything, and Capital One really likes folks who use their cards hard, as in run up a balance then PIF - which would describe your pattern if you were to shift from using debit.  And when I say "likes", I'm talking about they generally reward you with higher credit lines based on this type of usage. 

Also, while Amex is accepted most places these days, you'll still find the occasional merchant that is MC/Visa only, and the Quicksilver has you covered there.

Regardless of what you choose, just about anything is better than using debit. 

[Jpmack29]

I chose green due to the lower annual fee, but that's just my preference. I app'd for a charge then immediately went for a revolver to avoid two hard pulls and got just one hard pull for two....

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@Anonymous wrote:

As someone who spent over a decade completely avoiding credit and relying exclusively on cash/debit for all transactions, I began 2015 by opening two accounts in efforts to begin building my credit history. The first was an unsecured CapOne Platinum MC with a $300 limit that was recently increased to $2300 and the second is a Wells Fargo Platinum Rewards Visa with a $1000 limit. During this time, I've made timely payments and kept my utilization in the neighborhood of 10%. My current TU score is just under 700.

I still rely heavily on my debit card for day to day purchases and I'm wondering if I could benefit by replacing most of that activity with the use of an Amex Green or Gold charge card and, more specifically, if Amex would even be willing to issue me one with such a limited history. I'm a patient person, so if there are obvious rules or timeframes to which I should adhere, I'm willing to wait...but I am curious.

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If you are more comfortable adding a charge card then by all means go for it. I would suggest the green card due to the lower annual fee. I suspect your charges won't give you enough rewards to offest the high cost gold card fee.

You already have Visa and MC in your portfolio - no need to double up. Longer term if you want another revolver, consider Discover Card - excellent rewards and top notch customer service. Also, DC generally gives CLI without hard pulls (within reason).

FYI - a card mix that works well for me is: 1 Visa, 1 MC, 1 Discover, 1 AMEX Green, 1 Best Buy store card and 1 MC (as an AU). I used to have a few more cards (Kohls, Diners Club and another MC card) but closed them many years ago. They really did not provide much added value for their limited use.

[Anonymous514]

I would suggest an Amex Everyday card. I started out with credit last February a month after I turned 18 in 2014. I got the amex Everyday with a 3500$ SL