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I recently applied for the AMEX Green card and was instantly denied. I got the letter in the mail yesterday and I am now going to post as to the reasons why. If anyone could help decipher what it says that would be a great help. Any help on what to do to improve my chances will be appreciated.
Length of time accounts have been established (Experian)
In our estimation the amount you have paid on your bank and retail credit card accounts over the last twelve months is too low. (Experian)
High Utilization of credit lines or insufficient utilization information (Experian)
Amount of credit available on accounts (Experian)
FICO score pulled on March 11 = 709 (¿Assuming Experian?)
@LS2982 wrote:
Not sure what your asking it seems pretty straight forward.
-your cards have not been opened for a long period of time
-you dont pay enough on your balances monthly for their liking
-your using too much of your credit
-you dont have enough credit left on accounts to their liking
Is all of this true? Also that is an EX FICO.
+1
Amex prefers to see usage and amounts paid on balances beyond a certain minimum threshold before approval. For instance, even if you had low utilization, but only use and pay $10 per month, they still may decline for not using and paying cards enough.
Inquiries
Chase 09/13/11
Sprint 10/22/11
Wells Fargo 04/06/12
Best Buy 07/03/12
Cards Date Opened Limit
WF Secured 04/08/12 $300
Macy's 08/01/12 $1000
Balances (At time of application)
Macy's - $0
WF - $207
As far as paying off my balances quickly, I am guilty of paying the minimum payment for months on end, but that was before I discovered this website. Now I PIF before the payment date...But I guess the damage had been done.
@Goose7 wrote:
Inquiries
Chase 09/13/11
Sprint 10/22/11Wells Fargo 04/06/12
Best Buy 07/03/12
Cards Date Opened Limit
WF Secured 04/08/12 $300
Macy's 08/01/12 $1000
Balances (At time of application)
Macy's - $0WF - $207
As far as paying off my balances quickly, I am guilty of paying the minimum payment for months on end, but that was before I discovered this website. Now I PIF before the payment date...But I guess the damage had been done.
Most of us wouldn't have found this forum if we hadn't made mistakes previously. Also this is emminently recoverable, try again in six months if the card still interests you. From anecdotal experience I was floating a balance through April-May, and then was approved in October for a charge card last year.
Amex likes two things: big spenders, and people paying in full (at least for their charge card products, which you applied for).
At least on EX the payments are reported. I wouldn't ever spend more than I could comfortably afford chasing any bonus or individual card; however, now that you mention it, it's probably factors into their decision, and likely one of the reasons I got my fairly absurd Amex approvals: I spend enough, and pay in big chunks.
I'm sorry the application didn't work out for you, but I appreciate the mental prod in getting me to look at it a little differently.
I wish I could spend more but that $300 limit doesn't really leave me a lot of leverage..without getting really high utilization. The good thing is that my WF turns one year in April. I'm going to give WF a call and see if they will raise my limit to at least $1000.
As far as that goes I don't think I'll be applying for an AMEX card anymore at least until they start sending me offers, I'll look around for other cards. Chase Freedom is also alluring...
I got one last thursday.
I have 10 months of credit being used. Prior to that NO credit at all. I had 2 capital one secured cards. To help me build. I am sorry you got instantly denied. I hope you try again soon.
@Goose7 wrote:I wish I could spend more but that $300 limit doesn't really leave me a lot of leverage..without getting really high utilization. The good thing is that my WF turns one year in April. I'm going to give WF a call and see if they will raise my limit to at least $1000.
As far as that goes I don't think I'll be applying for an AMEX card anymore at least until they start sending me offers, I'll look around for other cards. Chase Freedom is also alluring...
Sorry to hear about your denial. Just a little informantion on the WF secured one as i have one also. Unless they give you an auto CLI on your card the only way to raise your limit is if you add more funds to the card. The good thing about that is you can add money as many times as you would like without affecting your credit. I started with 300 limit also and just kept adding funds to it and now its at 4000. Hopefully your cards graduate next month but if it doesnt just keep adding funds and making large payments on it. Good luck!
AMEX is pretty funny. They approve my brother the first time he applied. He's younger than me and gets paid less. They denied me 2x and I had a great score. The last time their excuse was too many inquires which I only had 2 then when I called to recon they said my score was at 630 which wasn''t true because I got the Chase Sapphire with the lowest interest rate the same time I applied for that card. Some of us get denied while others get are approved with little to no credit. It happens.You can try to get your credit limits increased if you can or just give it a couple of months.