Hi everyone,
I'm a recent member, but I've been using the forums for information for a few months and have found the posts generally very friendly and helpful. My question is about a recent denial for an Amex ED. For background, I am a college senior with ~6 months of credit history, with all on-time payments and <10% utilization. I had <5 inquiries on all reports and my scores were in the upper 600s (think 670-700). I only have one account, with a $500 SL, increased in January to $1,000. I applied to the card based on a CreditKarma recommendation (realizing that these are not always remotely reliable) and seeing anecdotal evidence of others with similar profiles having some luck - I thought this would be a fantastic card to add so early in my history, and the worst-case would be a couple of HPs.
Anyway, initially, they asked to verify my income, which didn't surprise me. I called and a rep told me that a bank statement would be acceptable (corroborated by a letter I received from them asking for either a bank statement or a 4506-T form), so I uploaded my last bank statement to their online document system. Soon after, I heard that my bank statement was not accepted, and I spoke to another rep. He told me that the letter was wrong and that a bank statement would not be accepted, so I would have to send the 4506-T for them to view my 2014 tax information. I tried to explain that my 2014 return would not be representative of my current situation, as that year (as a student) I made $5-6k, while last year (again as a student) I made ~$35k. Finally, this year, I'll be starting a full-time job that pays over twice that. He was adamant that only the 4506-T would work, so I eventually sent it.
Recently, I checked their online application status tool and saw that I was denied. I was wondering about people's experience with Amex recon and whether or not they would be willing to look at alternative forms of income verification, e.g. a contract from my employer or a copy of my W-2. Thank you!
