Letter from AMEX on APR but where is it and WTH?

[Anonymous]

So been working on my wife's credit recently.  Basically she has only a few accounts open and pretty much just uses her Wells Fargo credit card only.  Got a multi-year identify theft issue finally resolved (dang LVNV is a pain) so she basically has no negatives.  Went with an app spree for her to get her some more cards to thicken her file including some backdated AMEXs and others.  WIth starwood card, she got best terms from AMEX.  For the BCP card she apped for the same day, we just got the not so dreaded not best terms from AMEX letter today.

Basically said terms offered to you may be less favorable than the terms offered to consumers who have better credit histories.  But can't find the terms anywhere in the letter.  Anyone know where it is listed or does she just need to wait for card to arrived?  I forget.  Here is the kicker:

AMEX Experian FICO score 802 out of 850.  WTH, what do you need to get best terms?  BTW, her score is annoying me as it is actually better than mine.  Basically moved her from high 600s to low 700s to 802.  After all my hard work, her response was thats nice but can we stop talking about credit stuff (AARRGGHH).

Just to show you that there are almost always listed reasons even with a 802 FICO.

-Length of time accounts have been established

-Too few accounts currently paid as agreed

-Length of time revolving accoutns have been established

-Proportion of loan balances to loan amounts is too high

-Too many inquiries in last 12 months

Wow a lot of reasons for a 800+ FICO.  Sad part for me is once all this settles down and her AMEXs hit her CR, she is likely to move even higher (don't expect your wife to appreciate any of this).

[GST2008]

In addition to the FICO score, they have their own internal scoring I imagine.  Perhaps the first card (Starwood) qualified for the better rate but due to the inquiry or newly established account, the 2nd one did not.  It could have been a matter of a couple points based on their internal system.  Who knows, but at least she got approved for both and has an excellent score.

[TNTransplant]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Basically said terms offered to you may be less favorable than the terms offered to consumers who have better credit histories.  But can't find the terms anywhere in the letter.  Anyone know where it is listed or does she just need to wait for card to arrived?

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Just got my BCP in the mail Thursday, and the mailing included the terms.  As was the case with your wife, my initial letter pretty much gave the FICO score/reasons only...

[Anonymous]

I guess she just didn't get the best available APR

[Anonymous]

Hard to believe at 802 fico. I didn't get best rate either with bcp with high 700s. Anyone ever get best rate on bcp/bce?

[drkaje]

Odd as this may read, I'm trying to verify something from an article: How many inquiries did DW have on Ex?

The article basically said (in some scenarios) inquiries carry more weight for people with higher scores. Near as I can guess; The scoring algorithm works under the assumption that high scores reflect a properly managed financial life, it might assume credit seeking means something's changed.

I recently got denied a CLI and "Excessive inquiries" was among the reasons. I really didn't think 4 was a lot, LOL!

[Anonymous]

She had none when she applied. Applied for Starwood, immediate approval. Applied bcp a couple minutes later. Waiting message. Turns out the fraud alert required further investigation from Amex which took a few days before approval came. Funny thing that it only triggered after 2nd app. Also apped for 2 more cards after the Amexes. Based on the date they pulled fico score, she had one from the Starwood card. Her experian shows two now, both from Amex. Annoying as I was hoping to only have one Amex inquiry for the two cards. I assume the identity delay caused the multiple pulls.

[drkaje]

Thanks!

It seems like "Excessive inquiries" is a catch-all.

[Anonymous]

Unless your score is perfect, there will always be quoted reasons why it is lower.  A lot of times this information is fairly useless.  Thats why I put the reasons for lower fico in the original post.  They basically give her little no clues as to how she can increase her scores.  The only useful info was maybe the too few accounts currently paid as agreed.  The other stuff about length of time was BS as her newest card was from several years ago and a car loan from 3 years ago.

[Anonymous]

AMEX Experian FICO score 802 out of 850.  WTH, what do you need to get best terms?  BTW, her score is annoying me as it is actually better than mine.  Basically moved her from high 600s to low 700s to 802.  After all my hard work, her response was thats nice but can we stop talking about credit stuff (AARRGGHH).

Is this score based off of the AmEx monitoring service?  I'm sure you realize that I dont' even think AmEx uses that score to give you their card I think they use actual Fico scores which this is not!

Wow a lot of reasons for a 800+ FICO.  Sad part for me is once all this settles down and her AMEXs hit her CR, she is likely to move even higher (don't expect your wife to appreciate any of this).

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I realize you say just Fico here but if this is the score from the AmEx site that to may be the issue?  I could be way off here but that just caught my eye.  If that's not what you meant then I digress my friend.