Amex 40% of income for Credit line?

[techiegirl]

I am currently at 30k (12,900 on bcp and 17,100 for everyday).  I asked for an increase last month and Amex required the tax form.  I sent the form back and am waiting for a reply.  40% of my household income would be a nice increase.  One can only hope.

[longtimelurker]

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@techiegirl wrote:

I am currently at 30k (12,900 on bcp and 17,100 for everyday).  I asked for an increase last month and Amex required the tax form.  I sent the form back and am waiting for a reply.  40% of my household income would be a nice increase.  One can only hope.

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Did you ask for an increase that would take you to 40% HHI (or above)?

[techiegirl]

I asked for an increase, but not to 40% HHI.  I don't remember how much I asked, but apparently, it was over the amount to trigger a FR.

[OhioCPA]

Amex won't let me go over $34,000 on total personal credit lines without the 4506-T. The $34,000 appears to be a common limit for a lot of people, although some have been successful going over that on a CLI.

[ezdoesit]

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@techiegirl wrote:

I asked for an increase, but not to 40% HHI.  I don't remember how much I asked, but apparently, it was over the amount to trigger a FR.

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I thought that that was not considered a financial review.  If you don't send in the paperwork you have no possibility of getting approved and probably you would have to send in the same form for any future CLI. 

Whereas a FR if you don't send in the paperwork chances are you will get your account closed. I heard things that can trigger this would be to use business expenses on your personal card or spend a lot more per month than you stated income.

Am I wrong on this assumption?

[OhioCPA]

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@ezdoesit wrote:

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@techiegirl wrote:

I asked for an increase, but not to 40% HHI.  I don't remember how much I asked, but apparently, it was over the amount to trigger a FR.

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I thought that that was not considered a financial review.  If you don't send in the paperwork you have no possibility of getting approved and probably you would have to send in the same form for any future CLI. 

Whereas a FR if you don't send in the paperwork chances are you will get your account closed. I heard things that can trigger this would be to use business expenses on your personal card or spend a lot more per month than you stated income.

Am I wrong on this assumption?

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You are correct. With a FR your account is closed until Amex reviews your financial information. If you ignore the request for financial records for a CLI the worse thing is they won't grant the CLI.

[SevenNEW]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Transmogrifying_Bee wrote:

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

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@-Wade- wrote:

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

I am just wondering what is everyone thoughts on amex only giving out a max of 40% of you income for your credit line. I make 40k a year right now and my bce is at 5k. Should i request a full 3x cli? I think they would counter right? 40% of my income would be 16k so i should be right there. Only other problem is that i have the prg. Would that effect anything? 

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I do know for a fact Amex will count all your CL's to income  when asking for a CLI. At lease they did me that way

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But is a NPSL considered a credit line? I know there is a certain amount linked to it but they your saying they use that amount into consideration?

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I am one of the many Forum members who have noticed this "40% of Income = CL Max." Rule-of-Thumb! My current 24K CL on my Amex BCE card is exactly 40% of my reported income (60K), reached after two CLI attempts.  My third request (asking to go from 24K to (only) 28K) was declined with NO counteroffer.  Given my experience along with those of others, I'm certain that my Amex Green (NPSL) card was NOT used in this determination.

Is this "40% Rule" absolute for everyone?  I certainly can't say that, realizing that other additional factors may be involved for lower incomes where "thin" or "beginning" credit files might come into play.  And significantly higher incomes may also deviate from this rule, hence my referral to this phenomenon as a general "Rule of Thumb!" 

Now that people are aware of this possibility, more feedback over time might help to consolidate these observations . . . !

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Right, it just needs a whole lot more data but my complaint is that it is already being bandied around not as a rule of thumb but as an absolute rule, hence the OPs question.

So my first CLI request was when I was at $25K, I asked for $35K and after a 4506-T submission. they gave me $28K.   Should I have inferred that the cut off was X% based on that example?

Well, no, because they gave some reasons (insufficient use and age of account).  What reasons did they give you when they refused to make a counter offer? Did they refer to you having enough credit in general (or with Amex)?

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Agreed. But the anecdotal evidence piles up, and I am one of the cases. Obviously, other factors do exist, but in my case every factor was aligned perfectly and they counteroffered exactly 40% of my income as I had stated it in the website recently.

One interesting question to tackle would be if they really ask for personal income or household. I always assumed personal, but do we know for sure?

[phillyguy12]

well for me i started w/ 1k limit 60 days went to 3k then 6 months later went to 9k,  when i was at 3k my total limts were at 42% of my income, when they bumped me to 9k that took it to about 58% of my income, and currently my total limts rep about 75% of my income- i do have some other lines not listed in my sig-, i asked for a 6k cli to take me to 15k on the bce and was denied. the reasons they gave were something about limit to income- i believe they said something specifically about my limit w. them  in relation to income is high- not total limts, and amts owed to other creditors- i am currently ult about 35% on one card becuase its a deffered interest and will pay it off before the interest hits. i am not suprized i didn't get the 6k increase but slightly suprized they didn't counter i assume the amts owed is why.