Questions on American express. Trying to get a CLI possibly

[Anonymous]

So, I paid down all of my credit card debt a few days ago; I paid them all of in entirety. All of my cards are at least 3 years old, I've never missed a payment on any of them, and my last inquiry will be dropping off in a week or so. My question is, people say that American express does random SPs on your credit, and I will be curious to know once my credit reports all update, when Amex will be pulling the next report so that I can apply for the increase. Now I'm not quite sure where to check for these soft pulls. Where is everyone checking?

When I log in to my Amex account there is a 'free credit score and report' option. When I click on it, there is an agreement that I have to accept to randomly pull my credit. Now if this option has never been agreed to, and I've never accepted this message, does that mean that they don't do soft pulls? If so, if I wait until the credit bureuas update my scores, and then sign up for this, will Amex SP my credit then, and I'll have a fresh update pull showing current info and be safer applying for the 3x CLI?

heres the beginning of the agreement when I click on 'free credit score and report'

[/quote]You are providing written instructions under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other applicable laws, including similar state laws, for Transunion or any other consumer reporting agency to release your credit report information to American Express upon American Express’ request at any time as long as you are enrolled in American Express MyCredit Guide. For purposes of this authorization, “American Express” means American Express National Bank and its service providers. You agree that American Express will use your credit report information and personal information to verify your identity and provide MyCredit Guide to you, to send you servicing messages and market American Express products and services to you, for analytical purposes, and for other purposes permitted by applicable law. For more information about how American Express protects your privacy, please visit...[quote]

[K-in-Boston]

That is only for MyCredit Guide which is just credit monitoring and a VantageScore 3 score.  If you have an American Express account, they do monthly pulls on Experian to get a FICO 8 score.  Go to Account Services and it's under Profile.  That is the only score that matters for Amex.

https://online.americanexpress.com/myca/creditscore/us/viewScore?csdeeplink=true&request_type=authre...

[Gollum]

GettingItUp, I wouldn't ask American Express for a credit limit increase now or in the near future. Be happy with what you already have during these turbulent times and don't ask for trouble.

[Anonymous]

@K-in-Boston even when doing so and it pulls up the link to view my FICO, there's still terms and conditions that I must accept first. So have they not been doing soft pills this whole time. Once I accept, is it likely to be a soft pull then (ie. I check that everything is updated with my accounts in my reports, then I accept, Amex does the pull and they now for certain have fresh new info)

[/quote]

FICO® Score Summary Terms & Conditions

You acknowledge that by your agreement to these terms and conditions, you:

• are providing written instructions under the Fair Credit Reporting Act for American Express to provide you with your FICO® Score and other information from your personal credit profile or other relevant information from one or more of the three national credit bureaus--Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion--or their affiliates and subsidiaries.
  
  

• understand and authorize American Express to provide you with your FICO®Score based on Experian information on an ongoing basis.
  
  

[quote]

[Anonymous]

@Gollum 

Life goes on and I'm using this time to get my credit correct and my limits as high as I'm able to. 

don't stir the pot by asking for an increase now or in the near future? Smh

[Anonymous]

---

@Gollum wrote:

GettingItUp, I wouldn't ask American Express for a credit limit increase now or in the near future. Be happy with what you already have during these turbulent times and don't ask for trouble.

---

What exactly is this logic based upon?

CLIs, and new credit accounts for that matter, are still flowing. While lenders may be taking a cautious approach to some lending decisions, that doesn't mean that people can't take advantage of situations that their credit profiles support. 

The sky is not falling, I promise. 

[Ficoproblems247]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

@Gollum 

Life goes on and I'm using this time to get my credit correct and my limits as high as I'm able to. 

don't stir the pot by asking for an increase now or in the near future? Smh

---

You said it before I could, lol. Also, as no one else has addressed yet, I would just like to ask if you have paid ALL accounts to 0? If so, you may lose up to 20 or so FICO points for a non-usage penalty. Your score will benefit the most from paying all except one card off, but let that one card report a balance of less than 9%. Also worth noting is that the SP that AMEX uses for their consideration is always delayed a few weeks or so, so a general rule of thumb is to assume they're not using the current score you see, but more likely the previous one. (Although the current one may have been sitting there long enough for them to actually be using that.) That's just a good thing to keep in mind when requesting that you may need to wait it out a few more weeks if you're score has just seen a big jump. It's definitely worth it to increase your chances. Here is a pic of the exact link on their site to click to get the score they're using for their CLI decisions. Also, GOOD LUCK on your increase, and let us know how it pans out!

[K-in-Boston]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

@K-in-Boston even when doing so and it pulls up the link to view my FICO, there's still terms and conditions that I must accept first. So have they not been doing soft pills this whole time. Once I accept, is it likely to be a soft pull then (ie. I check that everything is updated with my accounts in my reports, then I accept, Amex does the pull and they now for certain have fresh new info)

[/quote]

FICO® Score Summary Terms & Conditions

You acknowledge that by your agreement to these terms and conditions, you:

• are providing written instructions under the Fair Credit Reporting Act for American Express to provide you with your FICO® Score and other information from your personal credit profile or other relevant information from one or more of the three national credit bureaus--Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion--or their affiliates and subsidiaries.
  
  

• understand and authorize American Express to provide you with your FICO®Score based on Experian information on an ongoing basis.
  
  

[quote]

---

Amex would still have been pulling an EX report on you.  Not sure if opting into receiving your score pulls a fresh one or if you would have to wait until the next scheduled one.  Mine gets updated multiple times a month since I have multiple cards.  I don't recall ever having to opt in; that may be new since they kind of buried it and replaced the more visible link with the VS3 link, or it's just been so many years that I forgot.

[K-in-Boston]

---

@Gollum wrote:

GettingItUp, I wouldn't ask American Express for a credit limit increase now or in the near future. Be happy with what you already have during these turbulent times and don't ask for trouble.

---

I haven't seen any reports of "trouble" for asking for a CLI being any more than a letter stating "we're sorry, but we are unable to increase your credit line at this time."  If a person's spending and/or profile warrants a credit line increase, I'm not sure of any reason not to ask.  If you have any data points of Amex taking AA against cardholders for any reasons other than MS and other types of rewards abuse (or CLDs for reasons other than non-use or as a result of a FR that did not pass muster) please share.