Accepted by Amex with a very bad credit profile

[Crossgamerhd]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@Crossgamerhd wrote:

Hey guys, 

I'm in process  of rebuilding my credit. 

I got a 40k au total with one charge off from chase still active. Hoping to pay off after I move out this year

Anyway, i finally hit barely "good" credit with a 675 ex and Tu and 686 eq

I decided for fun to apply for Amex. 

I went to their site and checked their pre qualify link. I was pre qualified for 3 cards including the gold card

I was like **bleep** why not.

To my surprise, I was expected to get declined

Boom, I was accepted for  Amex gold. I already have it here with me. I had a bunch of crappy cards I'm gonna dump well just not waste time using anymore. Just use my gold card. 

I'm just curious how did Amex decide to approve me while other banks  still dont want to touch me. 

I'm really happy and grateful to Amex.

Hope to apply everything I learned in the last two years into good use and manage my expenses and finance well. 

Oh also for anyone wondering I also make 90k lol not lot of money but I still have 6 late payments and 5 charged off all recent. Barely year old.

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My theory is that it's their large annual fees and the 30 day cycle. With the charge cards they make a lot of money from the large annual fees, in addition to the swipes, and they are really keeping their customers on a short leash by requiring repayment in the very next cycle.  They also manage their risk by giving you an internal spending limit.

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I think so too. 

I inputed 25k into their preset setting.

IT was approved.

So I have no idea what their internal limit is.

I have no intention of spending 25k anytime soon lol.

I ruined my credit 2 years ago. Never again. 

[Crossgamerhd]

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@bigseegar wrote:

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@Crossgamerhd wrote:

Hey guys, 

I'm in process  of rebuilding my credit. 

I got a 40k au total with one charge off from chase still active. Hoping to pay off after I move out this year

Anyway, i finally hit barely "good" credit with a 675 ex and Tu and 686 eq

I decided for fun to apply for Amex. 

I went to their site and checked their pre qualify link. I was pre qualified for 3 cards including the gold card

I was like **bleep** why not.

To my surprise, I was expected to get declined

Boom, I was accepted for  Amex gold. I already have it here with me. I had a bunch of crappy cards I'm gonna dump well just not waste time using anymore. Just use my gold card. 

I'm just curious how did Amex decide to approve me while other banks  still dont want to touch me. 

I'm really happy and grateful to Amex.

Hope to apply everything I learned in the last two years into good use and manage my expenses and finance well. 

Oh also for anyone wondering I also make 90k lol not lot of money but I still have 6 late payments and 5 charged off all recent. Barely year old.

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Congrats on your approval and welcome to AmEx membership! Used right they are great cards with lots of perks. To answer your question you probably got approved mainly because the Gold Card is not nearly as difficult to obtain with a decent salary and credit score as a lot folks think. Plus it's NOT a credit card but is instead a Charge Card that most be PIF each month and while you won't know you true CL has only AmEx knows that on this card they will likely start you kinda of low and see how you do. Guess would be probably on the $1K-$2K a month allowed charges. Now if they also activated the POT feature on your card it is possible to make payments on certian larger purchases, but not recommended as smart as the APR will be very high. I personally have never used that feature even when I could. I just PIF every month period. 

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You are definitely correct on that. 

I plan on paying every purchases in full each month. 

Only gonna use it for groceries and doordash when I need to. 

I'm moving out this year so that will help me get the welcome bonus. 

[rotate_left]

First of all, Congrats!!

This is interesting to me! I'm nearly in the same boat as you, but I'm more on the finely aged side of collections/charge-offs now. *pinky up*. 

I have 3 6-7 year old charge offs and 1 collection PIF but wont fall off until that 7 year...PFD was unsucessful. 

You're still ahead of my score though! I'm still sitting at a EX/TU of 660-665, but Amex took the chance with me too...for 2 cards actually lol!

And 90k isn't anything to scoff at, but it really depends on location. In the right area, 90k can go extremely far. 

[Crossgamerhd]

Congrats as well. Amex is a life saver. 

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@rotate_left wrote:

First of all, Congrats!!

This is interesting to me! I'm nearly in the same boat as you, but I'm more on the finely aged side of collections/charge-offs now. *pinky up*. 

I have 3 6-7 year old charge offs and 1 collection PIF but wont fall off until that 7 year...PFD was unsucessful. 

You're still ahead of my score though! I'm still sitting at a EX/TU of 660-665, but Amex took the chance with me too...for 2 cards actually lol!

And 90k isn't anything to scoff at, but it really depends on location. In the right area, 90k can go extremely far. 

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My score went up 10 points today even after that hard inquiry now seats at 686

Lol.

Now closer to 700 crazy.

But yeah, I have no collection or Bankruptcy but the charge offs and late payments  really hurting me. And they are all so new. 

I can't get any of them off. 

I'm paying the chase soon before the AU gets off my account in September

But don't worry. You definitely gonna reach 700+

I'm now super crazy about my credit lol. 

Trying my best to fix it. 

[rotate_left]

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@Crossgamerhd wrote:

Congrats as well. Amex is a life saver. 

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@rotate_left wrote:

First of all, Congrats!!

This is interesting to me! I'm nearly in the same boat as you, but I'm more on the finely aged side of collections/charge-offs now. *pinky up*. 

I have 3 6-7 year old charge offs and 1 collection PIF but wont fall off until that 7 year...PFD was unsucessful. 

You're still ahead of my score though! I'm still sitting at a EX/TU of 660-665, but Amex took the chance with me too...for 2 cards actually lol!

And 90k isn't anything to scoff at, but it really depends on location. In the right area, 90k can go extremely far. 

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My score went up 10 points today even after that hard inquiry now seats at 686

Lol.

Now closer to 700 crazy.

But yeah, I have no collection or Bankruptcy but the charge offs and late payments  really hurting me. And they are all so new. 

I can't get any of them off. 

I'm paying the chase soon before the AU gets off my account in September

But don't worry. You definitely gonna reach 700+

I'm now super crazy about my credit lol. 

Trying my best to fix it. 

---

You're definitely on track to the upper credit ratings as well and I'll see you at the finish line ...and idk what magic you're pulling to have an increase on a HP lol...and can you rub some of that luck my way. 

I think all of us on myfico forum are crazy about it . After having a couple years of misuse followed by all the cool door prizes like charge-offs, I am now at a point where myfico forum and credit related things are part of my daily routine.

I'll be following your journey! Seems to be pretty inline with mine...race ya 

[nwa479]

@Crossgamerhd 

Congrats on your Amex approval and having the nerve to try it.  I used to have an Amex Gold many years ago but burned them for maybe $1500 back in the mid 1990s.  So I've been reluctant to try.  I have checked their prequalification pages and recently it showed I was pre-approved for about five of their cards including Platinum, Gold, Blue Cash Preferred, and Blue Cash Everyday.  Looks like the gold annual fee is 250 so they are making good money on the annual fees.  Still, it was a great card to have when traveling.  

I'm near the end of my rebuild with a couple items falling off my TU and EX profiles in Nov 2023.  EQ is in good shape now with Fico 8 742.  It was in the low 600s three years ago. 

Congrats!  I will also be following your journey.  

[Crossgamerhd]

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@nwa479 wrote:

@Crossgamerhd 

Congrats on your Amex approval and having the nerve to try it.  I used to have an Amex Gold many years ago but burned them for maybe $1500 back in the mid 1990s.  So I've been reluctant to try.  I have checked their prequalification pages and recently it showed I was pre-approved for about five of their cards including Platinum, Gold, Blue Cash Preferred, and Blue Cash Everyday.  Looks like the gold annual fee is 250 so they are making good money on the annual fees.  Still, it was a great card to have when traveling.  

I'm near the end of my rebuild with a couple items falling off my TU and EX profiles in Nov 2023.  EQ is in good shape now with Fico 8 742.  It was in the low 600s three years ago. 

Congrats!  I will also be following your journey.  

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Haha omg. 

You definitely should try your luck.

I was like, well with such bad shape of credit. There's only two answers  lol.

Wish I was in the mid 700 but I'm getting there slowly. 

And congrats on your rebuilding. 

You also have cards I want lol 

I'm gonna apply for Andrew cards next month. Trying to get a new high limit card since my charge off is still 5000 reporting 

[TCameron1996]

Congrats on the gold card gives us rebuilding folk a little hope!

[Crossgamerhd]

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@rotate_left wrote:

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@Crossgamerhd wrote:

Congrats as well. Amex is a life saver. 

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@rotate_left wrote:

First of all, Congrats!!

This is interesting to me! I'm nearly in the same boat as you, but I'm more on the finely aged side of collections/charge-offs now. *pinky up*. 

I have 3 6-7 year old charge offs and 1 collection PIF but wont fall off until that 7 year...PFD was unsucessful. 

You're still ahead of my score though! I'm still sitting at a EX/TU of 660-665, but Amex took the chance with me too...for 2 cards actually lol!

And 90k isn't anything to scoff at, but it really depends on location. In the right area, 90k can go extremely far. 

---

My score went up 10 points today even after that hard inquiry now seats at 686

Lol.

Now closer to 700 crazy.

But yeah, I have no collection or Bankruptcy but the charge offs and late payments  really hurting me. And they are all so new. 

I can't get any of them off. 

I'm paying the chase soon before the AU gets off my account in September

But don't worry. You definitely gonna reach 700+

I'm now super crazy about my credit lol. 

Trying my best to fix it. 

---

You're definitely on track to the upper credit ratings as well and I'll see you at the finish line ...and idk what magic you're pulling to have an increase on a HP lol...and can you rub some of that luck my way. 

I think all of us on myfico forum are crazy about it . After having a couple years of misuse followed by all the cool door prizes like charge-offs, I am now at a point where myfico forum and credit related things are part of my daily routine.

I'll be following your journey! Seems to be pretty inline with mine...race ya 

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Thank you lol 

Yeah, not sure why it went up today lol 

It did drop 2 points after I applied for the  Amex but went back up lol

I joined the forum late. I should have joined two years ago.

I didn't know any better. I ruined my relationship with chase. 8 years of relationship. Gone now. Even it I pay off that last charge off. They likely won't ever let me in even after 7 years lol.

Trying to get a paid to delete but doesn't seem like that's gonna happen lol.

Haha I'm sure you gonna beat me lol

Don't think my score will go up anytime anymore lol. 686 might be the highest I go lol.

Will keep things around 1% every month or even zero. Since I mostly will use the gold card.

Looking forward to see your progress as well. 

[Crossgamerhd]

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@TCameron1996 wrote:

Congrats on the gold card gives us rebuilding folk a little hope!

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You got it. 

Don't give up. 

Took me a year and half to jump start it back up again.