Amex CC backdating question..

[w20031424]

If I was an Amex member since 2010 and this month I applied and got approved for three new Amex card, CC or charge card, so assuming these three new cards started reporting to credit bureau next month, then I applied for a Chase card.

Question: How will the Chase system or Chase credit anaylst evaluate my case? Can they actually see that I opened three new accounts one month earlier? (which will most likely kill the app) Or they only see three hard inquiries of one month old?

[jake619]

They'll see through it in manual review - if you have to go that route.  If you look at your report you will see the backdating BUT there won't be the monthly history detail to support that date.  It smells funny to the underwriters.

[enharu]

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@jake619 wrote:

They'll see through it in manual review - if you have to go that route.  If you look at your report you will see the backdating BUT there won't be the monthly history detail to support that date.  It's smells funny to the underwriters.

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+1

Most lenders know about American Express backdating "feature".

Also, there will be 3 hard inquiries by American Express as well.

[w20031424]

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@enharu wrote:

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@jake619 wrote:

They'll see through it in manual review - if you have to go that route.  If you look at your report you will see the backdating BUT there won't be the monthly history detail to support that date.  It's smells funny to the underwriters.

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+1

Most lenders know about American Express backdating "feature".

Also, there will be 3 hard inquiries by American Express as well.

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Well.. Can it possibly trick the system thus you have a bigger chance of being instantly approved? Compared with three visa/mastercard  "newly opened account"  showing on credit report.

[OhioCPA]

If you apply for all three on the same day, it will possibly only be one inquiry. Even if it was more than one, EQ might delete the second and third as duplicates. It can take AMEX as much as two or more billing cycles for the accounts to show up on your credit report. So they might not report the next month.

It is only a guess, but an automated approval might not see that these are new accounts. So yes, it might "trick the system".

[enharu]

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@w20031424 wrote:

Well.. Can it possibly trick the system thus you have a bigger chance of being instantly approved? Compared with three visa/mastercard  "newly opened account"  showing on credit report.

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I can't tell you whether it will trick the automated system. No one other than Chase or the programmers who implemented it knows.

There's a chance they already know about this beforehand, and set their systems up in such a way to take this consideration. 

For example, one can see your payment history in your CRs. The lenders can make it so that they calculate your account age through your payment history rather than through whatever number is being shown on your CR. It can be true, but it can also be false. No one really knows. It doesn't really matter for Chase though. Worst case scenario is that they'll get tricked and approve you for the time being, and when they find out later on, they'll just cancel your card and close your account.

On the other hand, upon manual review, any underwriter / analyst that isn't blind or half-awake will notice that there's very limited payment history on the account. 

Like OhioCPA said, new accounts take time to post. You have some leeway before it posts.

[ztnjpv]

In addition to what's been said about the manual review aspect of it all, keep in mind that's it's most prudent to just do multiple apps in the same day....particularly with the same bank. Multiple inquiries with the same issuer MIGHT (I stress MIGHT) get merged in one inquiry. It depends. In addition, new accounts will have more effect on your score than inquiries. So don't bother waiting for some to report first....just get it all done and over with. Your score will be better with multiple new inquiries than with multiple new inquiries AND new accounts. And while Amex is different due to backdating, there's always the risk that new cards will accidentally show up without being backdated.

[enharu]

Mutiple apps with the same issuer might also result in AA and account closure. It has happened to many people before. It is recommended to never go on a spree with the same lender unless one have a spotless credit report.

Scenarios like this are always going to be a double edged sword, and the gamble for having 1 or more inquiries "hidden" isn't worth the risk for most people.

As for OP: You need to really stay in the garden.