@amercnchopz34 wrote:
Revelate:
how often do u use the card??.....how much do you normally refill with??
Until recently I was typically using it at least once a day, sometimes twice. I usually have around 5-600 dollars of random food expenses in any given month, and I've been loading it with approximately $300 every other week for that plus occasionally a bit extra if I run any other incidental expense through it, though usually I put those on my actual credit cards.
There's two ways to look at it from Amex's perspective and I don't know which is right: number of transactions vs. total cash spent.
I'm taking the transaction route (since Amex gets paid for each one regardless of size) and am averaging around 50 transactions per month. I think Amex's merchant fee though is some minimum + some percentage, so I may be falling short on the total amount of my financial life I run through it; however, I'm hedging my bets: namely, my scores and credit report at some point in the future will absolutely qualify me for an Amex, but I'm not willing to bet the rest of my credit plan on trying to just win Amex's favor so I don't use it exclusively.
My theory is it's not really hurting me that much with my other current lenders (which truth be told, I don't care that much about future relationships with after BOA's recent antics), and if it gets me to a Zync or other charge card this year, instead of next year, that has some value for me; however, in fairness, nobody really knows how this is going to work out, but Amex is going to have to at least let some folks in if for no other reason than to keep others signing up, so I expect they'll be righteous as a result with some customers, and perhaps I'll be one of those.
@Open123 wrote:Of all the issuers, I think AmEx is more in tune with that approach than others. What you spend--aside from profit--also determines on their scores a "reputation" risk that is important to them. In the end, AmEx was founded on brand image. Their branding is their most valuable asset, and the foundation that drives and on which the company was founded.
If I can find it, I'll post Warren Buffet's quote on the AmEx brand, and why he invested in the company so many years ago.
Yeah, I thought about this but realized I couldn't justify running up expenses right now just because I could: I have a car loan that I need to pay down the balance on sooner rather than later (unless I get an astonishingly good APR on a refi) and plan for an eventual mortgage. Would've been nice had I had that card earlier and I ran a few thousand through my cards fixing my wardrobe which had gotten terribly shabby over the last 5 years (and arguably wasn't that good to begin with) when I went back to work.
That just doesn't fit with where I am now: I have around 1K of extra expenses that I really should get sometime this year, but I'm just not a big spender compared to most people, and I know that doesn't help with my Amex chances... so I'm just leading with my strong suit, namely that I rack up a bunch of little transactions all the time. Unfortunately in any relationship one can only play the cards one has... though on that front, if I actually went looking for non-financial relationships, I'd probably increase my spending enough to make me look more attractive to Amex too. Extra bonus? 
I'd be interested in seeing that quote too if you can find it, I don't have time to look right now unfortunately, maybe later today.
I just recieved mine! 
I hate the "pre-paid" stampted on the card! LOL!
Anyway, I am going to begin using this and hopefully get invited to apply for a Zync. One question. When I go to any store, they usally asked me "Credit or Debit". What do I say when I use this card?
Ordered a card for my daughter and funded it at time of purchase. Took 10 days to fund and still hasn't shown up in her mail.
I've read (here) that subsequent load times a faster. That being said; tying up the funds to pay in advance is a long, hard road to Amex's good graces.
Starting Score: 675
@drkaje wrote:Ordered a card for my daughter and funded it at time of purchase. Took 10 days to fund and still hasn't shown up in her mail.
I've read (here) that subsequent load times a faster. That being said; tying up the funds to pay in advance is a long, hard road to Amex's good graces.
Yea, I can attest that load time are long no matter how many times you reload it.
Just got the email that my order shipped.
@drkaje wrote:Just got the email that my order shipped.
Do yourself a favor, load a significant amount of money on it that way you got alot of time to use it and load it while still having money on it. They will make you wait 5 business days for a reload.
@Revelate wrote:That just doesn't fit with where I am now: I have around 1K of extra expenses that I really should get sometime this year, but I'm just not a big spender compared to most people, and I know that doesn't help with my Amex chances... so I'm just leading with my strong suit, namely that I rack up a bunch of little transactions all the time. Unfortunately in any relationship one can only play the cards one has... though on that front, if I actually went looking for non-financial relationships, I'd probably increase my spending enough to make me look more attractive to Amex too. Extra bonus?
I'd be interested in seeing that quote too if you can find it, I don't have time to look right now unfortunately, maybe later today.
I don't have any evidence of this, but I suspect "where" you buy things to have some relevance in their datamining almost as much as the amount you spend.
For example, a good strategy would be to frequent establishments often associated with their higher spenders. Instead of buying a sandwich at Subways, instead buy it from Nieman Marcus's sandwich shop. Instead of coffee from Denny's, have it at Nordstroms. It seems to me they like to correlate certain sets of behavior with others often associated in the same geographic location, and places where you frequent.
I can't say for sure if the above is true, but I suspect every issuer has these models. AmEx I'd wager places more emphasis on using them than others.