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Amex BL but still got a ED card?

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W261w261
Frequent Contributor

Amex BL but still got a ED card?

I burned Amex pretty bad in 1989 to the tune of about 30K, then again in about 1995 for 1k.  4 years ago, I cold applied for an ED card and got it.  Last year AMEX offered me an upgrade to EDP, which I took. That's the good news.  The bad news is that my CL is seemingly frozen at $1k. I've asked twice and instantly rejected. I apped for another Amex card and was rejected as well.

 

Since the last rejection I have paid off a CO at Cap1, and one other account.  I now owe nothing, save a share-secured installment loan at Navy.

 

My question is:  if I was on the Amex BL (which I certainly deserve to be), would they still give me the ED->EDP card?  Or perhaps it was the CO that is keeping me with my little CL, and nothing more.   I'm going to wait a couple of months, to give the Cap1 payoff time to register, and then try again.  What do you guys think?

 

Message 1 of 16
15 REPLIES 15
blindambition
Senior Contributor

Re: Amex BL but still got a ED card?

You were borderline approval with $1k. Giving you a chance to prove yourself. It's not uncommon for someone not to receive CLI, or additional cards, until derogatory are removed and scores improve.

Message 2 of 16
AverageJoesCredit
Legendary Contributor

Re: Amex BL but still got a ED card?


@W261w261 wrote:

I burned Amex pretty bad in 1989 to the tune of about 30K, then again in about 1995 for 1k.  4 years ago, I cold applied for an ED card and got it.  Last year AMEX offered me an upgrade to EDP, which I took. That's the good news.  The bad news is that my CL is seemingly frozen at $1k. I've asked twice and instantly rejected. I apped for another Amex card and was rejected as well.

 

Since the last rejection I have paid off a CO at Cap1, and one other account.  I now owe nothing, save a share-secured installment loan at Navy.

 

My question is:  if I was on the Amex BL (which I certainly deserve to be), would they still give me the ED->EDP card?  Or perhaps it was the CO that is keeping me with my little CL, and nothing more.   I'm going to wait a couple of months, to give the Cap1 payoff time to register, and then try again.  What do you guys think?

 


No way are you on BL. you would never have been approved. But if you current derogs plus your past history with Amex shows you having some difficulty, it could be reason they wont extend more credit until they see more history or no derogs on your credit report. Burn me once shame on me, burn me twice,  well.....

Message 3 of 16
OmarGB9
Community Leader
Super Contributor

Re: Amex BL but still got a ED card?

Amex wouldn't have approved if you were BL. They would've straight up denied you with no HP. Sounds more like they're giving you a chance, but keeping you on a short leash with that borderline $1k approval. It may take a while to grow it, if at all.


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Message 4 of 16
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Amex BL but still got a ED card?


@W261w261 wrote:

I burned Amex pretty bad in 1989 to the tune of about 30K, then again in about 1995 for 1k.  4 years ago, I cold applied for an ED card and got it.  Last year AMEX offered me an upgrade to EDP, which I took. That's the good news.  The bad news is that my CL is seemingly frozen at $1k. I've asked twice and instantly rejected. I apped for another Amex card and was rejected as well.

 

Since the last rejection I have paid off a CO at Cap1, and one other account.  I now owe nothing, save a share-secured installment loan at Navy.

 

My question is:  if I was on the Amex BL (which I certainly deserve to be), would they still give me the ED->EDP card?  Or perhaps it was the CO that is keeping me with my little CL, and nothing more.   I'm going to wait a couple of months, to give the Cap1 payoff time to register, and then try again.  What do you guys think?

 


The "BL" has a variety of different iterations.

 

For instance, as time has passed, and you were able to be approved (because let's face it AmEx is in the business to acquire customers even those who may have defaulted on them), but an approval SL outcome can vary for revolvers -- from the $1K purgatory variety to those who can qualify for higher.  As far as upgrades, those aren't usually restricted per se.

 

If the reason(s) cited on the denial letter reference anything related to past relationship with AmEx, then those naughty list reasons can follow for a long time.  If the reasons are other than prior AmEx history, then you'll need to address those items to improve the profile in order to qualify for a CLI or another product in the future.

 

It's important to note that just because an applicant who may have qualified for an approval (despite negative or unresolved debts with AmEx) can still obtain other AmEx CCs, but those BL "inherent characteristics" will still haunt them -- such as restricted CLIs or account CL reallocations not being possible.

 

That said, what were the reasons for not getting the CLI @W261w261?

Message 5 of 16
firefox100
Valued Contributor

Re: Amex BL but still got a ED card?


@W261w261 wrote:

I burned Amex pretty bad in 1989 to the tune of about 30K, then again in about 1995 for 1k.  4 years ago, I cold applied for an ED card and got it.  Last year AMEX offered me an upgrade to EDP, which I took. That's the good news.  The bad news is that my CL is seemingly frozen at $1k. I've asked twice and instantly rejected. I apped for another Amex card and was rejected as well.

 

Since the last rejection I have paid off a CO at Cap1, and one other account.  I now owe nothing, save a share-secured installment loan at Navy.

 

My question is:  if I was on the Amex BL (which I certainly deserve to be), would they still give me the ED->EDP card?  Or perhaps it was the CO that is keeping me with my little CL, and nothing more.   I'm going to wait a couple of months, to give the Cap1 payoff time to register, and then try again.  What do you guys think?

 


 

Could you please tell us if you paid back Amex or you got approved with out making good on your accounts, thanks.

Message 6 of 16
W261w261
Frequent Contributor

Re: Amex BL but still got a ED card?

I never paid back Amex either time.  The letter for the denial of the CC did not mention prior Amex history, only a low cs.  I don't think I got a letter for the CLI request, just a quick "no." Amex said my CS was 580 in the letter, but it had already improved to 640, so it looks like they didn't do a new SP, just read off the last one, about 3 weeks before I applied, when I still had a 35% Util (or higher in the case of one CRA, who figured the CO balancer into the UTIL.  Now, with the payment of the CO and another arrangement, my UTIL is zero.  I thought I would let that sit for a couple of months and try again.  I only  have one HP from a credit card processor, but 12 lates ending about 18 mos ago.  Other than those, I have a perfect payment history going way back. 

 

I also think I'll try for a Navy card soon - I have the aforementioned share-secured installment loan with them (new), plus I put $6k into the savings account that secures the loan, kind of as good will gesture.  That will probably get me another HP I guess. I figure I need another way to get those 3%+ points when I pass the $6k/hr spending limit on the EDP (it goes down to 1% at that time)

Message 7 of 16
W261w261
Frequent Contributor

Re: Amex BL but still got a ED card?

The one thing I have been able to do with Amex is to call Cust Svc and they will allow me to pay an amount which is more than the balance due. For instance (I make multiple payments to stay under $1k), and due to my activity have usually several hundred in pending charges.

Last week I paused in my spending for a couple of days, made a payment, so I had the full 1000 available.  I bought a set of tires for 1050, charged 1000 on the card and 50 on another card.  Now the ECP was tapped out, with the pending 1000.  I called customer service, and they allowed me to make another 1000 payment, even though the account showed a zero balance and thus the system would not allow another payment without intervention


@W261w261 wrote:

I never paid back Amex either time.  The letter for the denial of the CC did not mention prior Amex history, only a low cs.  I don't think I got a letter for the CLI request, just a quick "no." Amex said my CS was 580 in the letter, but it had already improved to 640, so it looks like they didn't do a new SP, just read off the last one, about 3 weeks before I applied, when I still had a 35% Util (or higher in the case of one CRA, who figured the CO balancer into the UTIL.  Now, with the payment of the CO and another arrangement, my UTIL is zero.  I thought I would let that sit for a couple of months and try again.  I only  have one HP from a credit card processor, but 12 lates (30-6--90+ which earned me the CO) ending about 18 mos ago.  Other than those, I have a perfect payment history going way back.   -I also think I'll try for a Navy card soon - I have the aforementioned share-secured installment loan with them (new), plus I put $6k into the savings account that secures the loan, kind of as good will gesture.  That will probably get me another HP I guess. The Navy card I have is the low-interst version, which I no longer need.  I called Navy and said I'd like to make a product change, they said it would be a HP to try (darn), so I may delay on that to see what happens with Amex.  I'm hoping that with the CO paid (for less) and the payment arrangement with Merrick both showing zero balances, my CS should hop up to maybe 670 or so, even with the dozen lates in the past 24 mos.  We'll see.



.  I've done this several times (maybe 5), so other than the slight inconvenience of making the call, it's a workaround of sorts.  I have to keep charging, because I like the 4.5% grocery points after the 50 uses/mo threshhold.  

 

I also like that when I make a payment, it's effective immediately.  I've never had a payment bounce, which would probably stop that privilege flat.  Also, I just looked a couple of weeks ago, and my point balance got bumped by 25k.  Yes!

Message 8 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Amex BL but still got a ED card?

Actually if you bounce a payment Amex may close your account on the spot. That's about the biggest sin a cardholder can commit with a lender. 

CLI-wise, it's likely that string of lates and any other derogs will keep you at the $1000 limit as long as they're on your reports. I joined Amex in November 2018 with a dirty file. I now have four revolvers and two charge cards. I have one lone derog still on my reports (long since paid and showing $0). All four of my revolvers are still at $1000 limits and I've been declined for every CLI request I've made, despite tens of thousands in spend and payments, never even a hint of an issue with Amex, and no missed payments on any card account in 15 years or more. That derog (a Frontier collection) drops off in April, so I'm hoping to see an increase then. What was said and implied above seems to hold true - if your file isn't clean, your limits will likely stay right where they are.

Message 9 of 16
firefox100
Valued Contributor

Re: Amex BL but still got a ED card?

 

Thanks for your history with Amex, you do give hope that you can get back in with Amex after burning them, in my case it was for about 20K about 20 years ago and I had amex for about 18 years before I went bad. Just another peace of info did you file bk or just stop paying them inportant data point and also did amex give you a 1099c. I am going to apply for a new account with Amex after the summer, if I can hold out because I want none of my accounts to be less then one year old on my reports.

Message 10 of 16
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