Question for people who have banking relationship with lenders overseas

[enharu]

For instance, I have banking accounts and/or credit cards with American Express and Citi in Singapore for example.

Does it improve the odds of a higher CL or even approval odds in the US? I'm not expecting them to make the impossible possible (i.e. approval with really low scores or something outrageous), but just to bump my odds up a little, or to at least put me in a slightly more favorable position.

if I do get approved for American Express, will they be willing to backdate to an overseas card?

Is there any specific department I can call to have these lenders factor this into consideration as well ?

If anyone knows anything about this please let me know.

Thanks!

[longtimelurker]

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@enharu wrote:

For instance, I have banking accounts and/or credit cards with American Express and Citi in Singapore for example.

Does it improve the odds of a higher CL or even approval odds in the US? I'm not expecting them to make the impossible possible (i.e. approval with really low scores or something outrageous), but just to bump my odds up a little, or to at least put me in a slightly more favorable position.

if I do get approved for American Express, will they be willing to backdate to an overseas card?

Is there any specific department I can call to have these lenders factor this into consideration as well ?

If anyone knows anything about this please let me know.

Thanks!

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In general, banks/credit cards tend to be very country-specific,  Citi in the US may for example have no way at all of seeing your Citi Singapore account.   And dealing with it is probably, again in general, too much work for them!

But, Amex has a Global Transfer program, where if you have an Amex in one country you can "transfer" it to a card in another country (you can only do this for one card) where you live.   There are several requirements that differ from country to country, mainly how long you have held the original card, whether you have to give up the original or just pay the fees for both.   This is generally for people moving to another country as a way to overcome the lack of a credit record in the new country, but might work just to help you get a card here.

Once you are in touch with the people, the strange process is:  

a) Apply for card in new country

b) Get declined because of lack of credit record

c) Global transfer team steps in and approves it.

Really nice perk when it works smoothly....

[enharu]

thanks a lot!

Really appreciate it.

So assuming I'm declined, do I call and ask for people in charge of the global transfer program? Or do I talk to American Express in Singapore and have them do it from their end?

Thanks a lot once again

[longtimelurker]

The page is here:

http://www.americanexpress.com/global-card-transfers/

Just not sure it will apply for you as you have a US credit history, but worth a try!

[enharu]

ah i see.

thanks a lot!

I'll call tomorrow and ask. I don't want to give up my PPS card lol so hopefully they can help me on that.

So basically I get to choose which Amex revolver I want as well if I do go ahead with the transfer?

What about the CL? Will they convert it to USD and match it? My CL in Singapore is way higher than any of the cards I have here. Will that be a problem?

[CreditScholar]

I'll agree with the others in that Amex is your best bet here for transfers.

When I first came here, I had to re-establish my credit profile all over again and literally started from scratch. Most lenders seem to be country-specific, although Amex does seem to be the exception.

[longtimelurker]

From the reports I have seen, things seem to depend heavily on the countries involved (and/or the individual reps), sometimes it is smooth and other times anything but.  You are meant to be able to get a "similar" card but in at least some cases there is nothing very close.

No idea about how a CL is handled. 

Is there any reason why you don't just apply as normal for an Amex, since you have a good credit record in the US?

[enharu]

Thank you so much! I'll definitely give American Express a call tomorrow.

 I honestly wouldn't have known about this if it weren't for you guys and the person whom I was talking to this afternoon. Seriously this would have been way easier :/

Yea the cards available over there are really different as you can see here: https://www.americanexpress.com/sg/

Actually I did apply for Amex back in March. Got denied for having too many recent inquiries, a new account reporting, and loan balance to amount originally borrowed too high. Basically all of which were referring to the auto loan I got 3 weeks before I applied for Amex.

If I can do this, then its kinda like a backdoor / shortcut rather than having to wait lol

If they can even match the CL or come close, I'll be so happy too. Not counting on it though.

[enharu]

I tried calling Citibank Singapore and spoke with the branch manager that I usually deal with. I was told it can be done and had been done before as well, but the process doesn't seem to be as definitive as Amex, and it also varies on the type of account. Citi happens to be my go-to bank over here, so hopefully something good can come out of this. He said he'll call me back in a couple days. I guess I could try calling EO (US side) as well in the morning.

[JonStur]

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@enharu wrote:

I tried calling Citibank Singapore and spoke with the branch manager that I usually deal with. I was told it can be done and had been done before as well, but the process doesn't seem to be as definitive as Amex, and it also varies on the type of account. Citi happens to be my go-to bank over here, so hopefully something good can come out of this. He said he'll call me back in a couple days. I guess I could try calling EO (US side) as well in the morning.

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All this sure seems like a pain In the a** but I'm sure it will all work out. Hang in there!!!!