yeah...this totally sucks. Seems like they are on a roll with FR. The lady i spoke with today said that when they approve somebody, all they look at is your score. They want to review my income to make sure it is up to par with my spending ability.......WTH???????? Go for it, biaaaatch....
FICO_Focused wrote:
flygirl wrote:I say that because I am now a proud (not) member of their Financial Review department!!! No worries, as I was nothing but honest on my applications.....was even granted CLI on two of them. Decided not to push my luck on the third card as far as a credit line increase....and I'll be damned if I didn't log on to my amex account today and in big bold red writing it stated for me to call the phone # on the back of my card. Called it, and low and behold....FINANCIAL REVIEW TIME. Was told to go to the IRS.gov website, print out a form, fill it out and fax it to them!!!! I haven't even charged over 100.00 dollars combined on all three cards!! And the only reason I charged anything, was so I could immediately pay it off and show them that I am financially responsible!!!! Oh well....I guess I am off to the IRS website.....wish me luck!!!!!! So much for taking 2 steps forward.............Flygirl - I GOT THE SAME CALL TODAY!!!!???? I had to go to the IRS website and download a4506-T form for them to pull my last tax return?? I just got my card two days ago. WTF? AND on top of that, I can't use my card until they are done with the review.I was honest on my application as well, so I was quick to comply with the request, but my gosh, I just got my card in the mail day before yesterday! Do you think this will be the only time the FR process is done? Seems like it's more trouble than it is worth.Rob
@Anonymous wrote:If you have multiple Amex cards, it seems to be wisest to use them regularly. Amex likes to see usage. They apparently aren't fond of people who open multiple accounts and then don't use the cards.
Even if the "likes to see usage" cliche is true, they still need to give people more than 2-3 months to utilize the card. And if someone didn't use their card(s) for X months or X years, the appropriate response would be to close the account for inactivity, not freeze it and demand tax forms. Plus, if Amex were that upset with lack of usage, why did they approve the second and third applications in my earlier F/R story? There really is no logic to their actions in these cases.
As for stated income, the applications generally request household income, but in many cases, when a customer faced an F/R, Amex would only request tax documents, and would not consider separate documents for the other member(s) of the household who contributed income. So a married couple who filed jointly could substantiate their household income, but in other cases, the F/R would only look at the individual's income. Kind of a Catch-22 to ask for household income on the application but verify income differently during the F/R.
In these forums, the main reason Amex is "THE" card to have is because the Delta is being offered to people with 590-600 scores, and several other Amex cards are fairly easy to get by application or by transfer from the Delta, so their cards are very useful in rebuilding credit.
Amex does have a number of cards with good features, and the majority of cardholders will probably not get an F/R. However, anyone who applies needs to be aware that an F/R can happen at nearly any time, for any (or no apparent) reason. If you travel, you need to carry alternative card(s) as backup. And if you BT to your Amex card, you need to have a contingency plan in case you need to move that balance off your Amex card in a hurry. For some people, this is no big deal; for others, it's too much to worry about. Personally, I'm not a big fan of surprises, and I really don't like it when someone tries to change the rules in the middle of the game. But in the end it's down to each individual to decide if Amex is for them.
/end mini-novel
