Amex Blue

[TwistedAngel]

Hi everyone. I am new here.

I recently applied for Amex Blue Everyday, and was denied. The reasons that were given were that I haven't had credit long enough (I am only 23, what am I supposed to do about this?), not enough credit (I have a local credit union visa I have had for 3 years with a $1000 limit and a discover it card I applied and was approved for after AMEX denied me with another 1000 limit) and no recent card activity (which is ridiculous because I use my Visa monthly and pay it off in full).

What am I doing wrong? Did I just get a little too confident in my current scores (TU 737 Equifax 747, no idea about Experian but Credit Karma says my TransRisk is 732) and overshoot my bounds in going for an AMEX? Should I bother reapplying any time soon (6 months or 1 year)? Is it just my age that is making them jumpy? Is AMEX worth bothering with? I only want one because AMEX cards supposedly "look better" on a credit report than Visa, MC, or Discover.

Thanks for your time.

[afbar1114]

OK first if you PIF before the statement cuts then no activity shows on your reports. let a small balance report each month to show that you use it. second amex is very hard to get for thier credit cards. try for a charge card first and work from there.  how old are your accounts? how many do you have? limits? any baddies? we need to know more to help also looking better on a report means nothing if you dont have anything on it. it also depends on the bank. Chase is a really hard bank to get a card with. higher limits look better then any bank or card all the report witll say will be AMEX you can have a charge card that says AMEX . 

[enharu]

Because you only have 1 card and its only 3 years old, it is considering you as short account history. Your AAoA is 3 years, which isn't high nor very low, just kinda ok. Your oldest account however is also 3 years and that's considered short.

The fact that you only has 1 card on top of a 3 year history probably made them feel that there's insufficient data for them to analyze your risk factors.

All cards look the same on a CR, regardless of Amex, chase visa for example, discover or citi mc. What happens is you pay on time and that you are not over stretching yourself.

I recommend you try again in a year for their revolver, and in 6 months if you don't mind a charge card

[TwistedAngel]

My Visa is 3 years old, and I guess I have the Discover account now but I haven't gotten the card yet (I applied and was approved after AMEX attempt because I do understand that I don't have enough credit lines). Okay, so I don't need to pay in full each month, but leave a small balance on the card. My limits on the visa and the new discover card are 1000 a piece. I don't really need a higher limit than that for anything, at the moment. Also, I have no derogatory marks on my report and have not ever been late paying for anything.

I don't really MIND a charge card, per se, but I don't really see the point in one. I have a debit card for that, you know? Also, I  have read that charge cards can actually hurt your score because they don't report an actual limit, so when they do report it looks like the card is "maxed out" every time, but this may not be accurate.

[myjourney]

Welcome to the forum

IMO your file was to thin at time of app let your discover card report for 6-9 months and try again.

Most people have had success apping for a charge card first but some have simply apped relvover and been approved on first attempt.

Either way i think your file will look better with a little more history.

Good luck

[bs6054]

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@TwistedAngel wrote:

My Visa is 3 years old, and I guess I have the Discover account now but I haven't gotten the card yet (I applied and was approved after AMEX attempt because I do understand that I don't have enough credit lines). Okay, so I don't need to pay in full each month, but leave a small balance on the card. My limits on the visa and the new discover card are 1000 a piece. I don't really need a higher limit than that for anything, at the moment. Also, I have no derogatory marks on my report and have not ever been late paying for anything.

I don't really MIND a charge card, per se, but I don't really see the point in one. I have a debit card for that, you know? Also, I  have read that charge cards can actually hurt your score because they don't report an actual limit, so when they do report it looks like the card is "maxed out" every time, but this may not be accurate.

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NO!!! to the bold bit.   Always pay in full by the due date.  What was mentioned earlier is just a way of getting FICO scores up.  You pay (most) before the statement cuts and gets reported to the credit bureau.   So let's say your statement cuts at the end of the month and that you have just one 1K card.  Suppose, around the 20th, you have charged $600 on your $1K card.

If you leave things as they are, at the end of the month you will get your statement for $600, and any lender looking at your report will see that you have used 60% of your available credit, and this is considered high, and will give you a lower score.

If instead on the 20th you pay say $550, when your statement cuts it will report $50 on $1K limit, which is very good.  Then, before the due date, you pay the remaining 50, avoiding any interest charges.

Lots of stuff on here about this. With multiple cards, you pay all but one before they report.  And some cards report at other times etc, but you only need to do this when you will be applying for cards or loans,  in the month or so before you apply to Amex.

[indiolatino61]

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@TwistedAngel wrote:

Hi everyone. I am new here.

I recently applied for Amex Blue Everyday, and was denied. The reasons that were given were that I haven't had credit long enough (I am only 23, what am I supposed to do about this?), not enough credit (I have a local credit union visa I have had for 3 years with a $1000 limit and a discover it card I applied and was approved for after AMEX denied me with another 1000 limit) and no recent card activity (which is ridiculous because I use my Visa monthly and pay it off in full).

What am I doing wrong? Did I just get a little too confident in my current scores (TU 737 Equifax 747, no idea about Experian but Credit Karma says my TransRisk is 732) and overshoot my bounds in going for an AMEX? Should I bother reapplying any time soon (6 months or 1 year)? Is it just my age that is making them jumpy? Is AMEX worth bothering with? I only want one because AMEX cards supposedly "look better" on a credit report than Visa, MC, or Discover.

Thanks for your time.

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IMO, you're not doing anything wrong...it's just a matter of letting your accounts age (at least 1 year I think is best). I agree with other posts that a charge card is a better route. I got the gold card and am letting it age for a year before apping for the BCP in January, 2014. Good luck to you.

[TwistedAngel]

Okay, so I should still pay in full each month, but I need to let a small balance stay for the statement and pay after I get my statement instead of paying everything off before.

Oh, and I never let more than 300 dollars sit on my card because I heard that you shouldn't use more than 30% of available credit. Does that mean that I shouldn't use more than $600 on one card with $0 on the other, or does that mean I need to keep each individual card at $300 or less?

Oh, and the AMEX person I talked to about my application said my experian score is 721. Is this likely accurate and if so, why is it so much lower than my other two scores?

I apologize for the questions; I am still trying to understand credit and thought for the longest time that it was a good thing that I only had one card, rarely used it, and paid it off in full by the end of the month. I am still a little confused about the "logic" of the rules, but at least I know the rules to the game now.

I have also heard that I need to have at least 3-4 cards for a better "grade" on my number of credit lines. Is this true? How ofen do I need to add new cards until I hit 4? Should I get my fourth card before or after I try for AMEX again in a year?

[webhopper]

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@indiolatino61 wrote:

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@TwistedAngel wrote:

Hi everyone. I am new here.

I recently applied for Amex Blue Everyday, and was denied. The reasons that were given were that I haven't had credit long enough (I am only 23, what am I supposed to do about this?), not enough credit (I have a local credit union visa I have had for 3 years with a $1000 limit and a discover it card I applied and was approved for after AMEX denied me with another 1000 limit) and no recent card activity (which is ridiculous because I use my Visa monthly and pay it off in full).

What am I doing wrong? Did I just get a little too confident in my current scores (TU 737 Equifax 747, no idea about Experian but Credit Karma says my TransRisk is 732) and overshoot my bounds in going for an AMEX? Should I bother reapplying any time soon (6 months or 1 year)? Is it just my age that is makiIng them jumpy? Is AMEX worth bothering with? I only want one because AMEX cards supposedly "look better" on a credit report than Visa, MC, or Discover.

Thanks for your time.

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IMO, you're not doing anything wrong...it's just a matter of letting your accounts age (at least 1 year I think is best). I agree with other posts that a charge card is a better route. I got the gold card and am letting it age for a year before apping for the BCP in January, 2014. Good luck to you.

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I agree this is the best route... I got a charge card in Feb 2012 and then was approved for a Amex business revolver with no issues in 2013.

Definately, its a great route, and there are really great bonus offers out there, such as no AF for the first year.