Did AMEX pull up EX & TU ?

[st3v3n]

Did AMEX pull up EX & TU ?   Will I have two hard inquires ?

Dear Customer:

Thank you for your recent application for Clear from American Express.  After reviewing your request, regrettably, we are unable to open an account for you at this time for the following reason(s):

Your American Express Acquisition Risk Score is too high  (See below)

Your application was processed using our American Express Proprietary Acquisition Risk Scoring System which assigns a numerical value to the various items of information we consider in evaluating an application.  Your application's total score exceeded our threshold for approval at this time. Listed below are the reasons that you did not score well compared with other applicants.  (For reasons based on information in a credit report, the name of the consumer reporting agency is identified.)

Number of trades(Trans Union)

Amount of credit available on accounts (Trans Union)

No recent record of bank or retail revolving accounts. (Experian)

Insufficient time since most recent account established (Trans Union)

Our credit decision was based in whole or in part on information obtained in a report from the consumer reporting agency(ies) listed in this letter.  Please understand that the reporting agency(ies) played no part in our decision and cannot supply you with specific reasons why we denied credit to you. You have a right under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to obtain a free copy of your report from the reporting agency, if you request it no later than 60 days after you receive this notice.  If you find that any information contained in the report you receive is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to dispute the matter with the reporting agency.

An important notice concerning your rights is included.  The creditor is American Express Centurion Bank.

Applicants who were not approved for a new account at one time may qualify in the future. You are welcome to apply for any of our cards, but please wait at least 30 days before submitting a new application.

Thank you for your interest in our service.

Sincerely,

[pizzadude]

Based on what this letter states, I believe that yes, they did pull both TU and EX.

It seems that any number of factors may come into play when creditors decide who to pull - these may include but are not limited to:

Your state of residence

The specific information shown on any of your reports

Weather patterns in the area, day of the week

Seriously though, it stinks that you had to take two hits just to get declined.   Was your application based on any pre-approval offers or qualifications ?

[Anonymous]

It looks like they probably did. It's not out of the ordinary for them to pull another report with Experian.

[score_building]

They may've pulled both or even all three, check your reports to be certain.

I was denied for Amex Jan.

Reapplied March and approved, so I hope you too have better luck next time around!

For my denial in Jan they didn't HP EX even though they referenced EX in the denial letter.

[Kiwill]

When I got denied last year after a preapproval letter, my denial was based on information in my EX report.  I have a long way to go before i can app again, my letter stated i've been recently looking for too much credit and a unsatisfactory account.  I'll probably try again next year, I have waaay too many inquiries on that report. 

[st3v3n]

it was actually 3 hits, this morning Credit alert from EQ.... sucks!

nope, I JUST APPLIED.

[smallfry]

Pulled all three on me. Don't know whether they were loooking for an excuse to approve or just being spiteful.

[Anonymous]

Well i just applied this past weekend they only pulled EX. Now they may have softed the others.

[st3v3n]

I'm telling you! There looking for any excuse not to approve people, my TU & EQ were prime scores 715+

But, they want me to have a retail store credit and long history 10 plus years! 

[haulingthescoreup]

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@st3v3n wrote:

I'm telling you! There looking for any excuse not to approve people, my TU & EQ were prime scores 715+

But, they want me to have a retail store credit and long history 10 plus years! 

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Sorry this happened to you, but this is an excellent example of why it's not all about the scores.

In fact American Express doesn't even use FICO scores. They use their own home-grown one --check the first sentence of their decline letter above. It's what's on the reports that they're looking at.

That might even be why they went ahead and pulled the other two reports as well --they might have been looking to see if you had longer history and/or more retail store credit experience than what showed on EX. (Many of us have different items on our reports.)

How long is your history? (any account, open or closed, still on your reports)