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BoA AmEx & CreditSecure

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astateofblank
Established Member

BoA AmEx & CreditSecure

A hoy hoy! Welcome to my first post.

I recently got a BoA AmEx card, and I'm betting the boost to my credit score was stupendous (no late payments, 2 erroneous derogs that are on their way off on TU and EX, score hurt because I was maxing then pif my other card). I was even more excited because with an AmEx card I'm eligible for CreditSecure!...or so I thought.

The online signup for CS told me they were unable to register my card, and to call the number on the back. That call to BoA got me a sales pitch for PrivacyAssist, which I had already had for a few months and canceled because I didn't like it ($13 a month for a service thats quarterly? wtf? charge me $13 quarterly and I *might* think about it). After explaining to the customer service guy how much better CreditSecure is, he directed me to a number he found on the CreditSecure website.

After a short talk with AmEx, it turns out they don't consider my AmEx to be an AmEx...they consider it to be a BoA card, and therefor say I'm not eligible for CreditSecure.

Has anyone else had this problem? Should I just consider applying for an AmEx card directly through AmEx so I can use CreditSecure? Another card probably wouldn't hurt, as right now I'm going to have to make early payments so my credit score doesn't drop like a brick.

The amount of sway CC's have on credit scores irk me quite a bit. Why does the fact that I only have one credit card that I use in a manner that anyone should consider responsible drop my credit score and prevent me from getting a better loan? I really don't think my credit score should be a game I have to play. Responsible is responsible and reliable is reliable, and my score just doesn't reflect that.

Message Edited by astateofblank on 02-15-2008 04:10 PM
02/17/13 - EQ: 802 EX: 784 TU: 780
Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: BoA AmEx & CreditSecure

Your issuing bank is Bank of America, so you are eligible for whatever they've got going. Your card is processed as an AmEx, so it is taken (and declined) wherever AmEx is taken (and declined.) The perks go with the bank, not with the card type.

One common exception: most if not all co-branded AmEx cards do offer the buyer protections that "real" AmEx cards have. I know that my USAA AmEx does.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 2 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: BoA AmEx & CreditSecure

If you can get a BofA Amex you can get an AMEX-
 
If it won't hurt your avg age - get a Bule or something with no AF.
 
I like CS-
Message 3 of 8
astateofblank
Established Member

Re: BoA AmEx & CreditSecure

When does a new CC not (substantially) hurt your average age? I can see if you've got one CC with a 10 year history, a new one would drop it to 5 years.

If you've got 3 CC's with 5 year history, a new one will drop it to 3.75...or in other words, not very much.

But in my case, I've got 1 CC with a 10 month history, and the brand new BoA AmEx. So I'm averaging 5 months length...and a 3rd one would drop me to about 2-3 months. I wouldn't feel right applying for another CC so soon, and I'm wanting to consolidate some loans soon, so I'm wary of doing anything at all that even *might* hurt my score Smiley Wink
02/17/13 - EQ: 802 EX: 784 TU: 780
Message 4 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: BoA AmEx & CreditSecure



astateofblank wrote:
When does a new CC not (substantially) hurt your average age? I can see if you've got one CC with a 10 year history, a new one would drop it to 5 years.

If you've got 3 CC's with 5 year history, a new one will drop it to 3.75...or in other words, not very much.

But in my case, I've got 1 CC with a 10 month history, and the brand new BoA AmEx. So I'm averaging 5 months length...and a 3rd one would drop me to about 2-3 months. I wouldn't feel right applying for another CC so soon, and I'm wanting to consolidate some loans soon, so I'm wary of doing anything at all that even *might* hurt my score Smiley Wink

Looks like you've got it figured out, but think of it this way:  Since you only have two cards, and they're both very new, your average age is already extremely low.  If you add another one now, it's only going to drop your average age a little bit, but ten years from now, you'll have three cards that are ten years old instead of only two, which will dampen the average age effect for anything else you might want to apply for at that point (ten years from now).
 
Reaging your file by adding new accounts is mostly a concern for those who already have established accounts and a fairly decent average age.
 
Since you're in the stage of just getting your CC history established, I wouldn't worry too much about average age right now.  Get a few (I'd say 3-4) under your belt and then stop.  Let those age for a while and then take it from there.
 
Message 5 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: BoA AmEx & CreditSecure



astateofblank wrote:
I'm wanting to consolidate some loans soon, so I'm wary of doing anything at all that even *might* hurt my score Smiley Wink


Sorry, I completely missed that part when I responded above.  How soon is soon?
 
Message 6 of 8
astateofblank
Established Member

Re: BoA AmEx & CreditSecure

I'm hoping within 6 months or so. I've realized that my score isn't going to go up much after I get my util to < 10%, so I may even be reapplying for the loan in about a month. A lower rate is a lower rate, and refinancing it at this point even with just a 710 will get me a much better rate than I have now.

The only other thing I can do is let accounts age, and I might as well not be paying 1-2% extra while I wait for that to happen.
02/17/13 - EQ: 802 EX: 784 TU: 780
Message 7 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: BoA AmEx & CreditSecure



astateofblank wrote:
I'm hoping within 6 months or so. I've realized that my score isn't going to go up much after I get my util to < 10%, so I may even be reapplying for the loan in about a month. A lower rate is a lower rate, and refinancing it at this point even with just a 710 will get me a much better rate than I have now.

The only other thing I can do is let accounts age, and I might as well not be paying 1-2% extra while I wait for that to happen.

That is true.  Sometimes you just have to do what makes the best financial sense.
 
In that case, then you should definitely avoid any new cards for the moment.  Mortgage brokers hate new accounts.  I'd still say to get a couple more under your belt once the refi is finished, though.  Choose wisely, and pick a few cards that you will want to keep for the long haul.  That way, when you apply for something new several years from now, you won't have to worry about the reaging issue too much.
 
Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Message 8 of 8
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