Is There Something 'Magic' About Amex?

[Anonymous]

I understand that CRAs look favorably on a profile that has a mix of different types of credit. But among revolving credit lines, do CRAs particularly like to see an American Express card? That is, given two otherwise identical credit profiles, will the profile with an American Express card (properly managed, of course) get the higher FICO score?

I'm in the market for a new credit card, and I wonder if I should choose American Express over others to make a more positive impression on CRAs.

[AllZero]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I understand that CRAs look favorably on a profile that has a mix of different types of credit. But among revolving credit lines, do CRAs particularly like to see an American Express card? That is, given two otherwise identical credit profiles, will the profile with an American Express card (properly managed, of course) get the higher FICO score?

I'm in the market for a new credit card, and I wonder if I should choose American Express over others to make a more positive impression on CRAs.

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To my understanding, lender or payment network is not a factor in FICO scoring algorithms.

[CreditPuppy]

@Anonymous 

Yep, what Allzoero said.  Though, there IS something magical about AmEx - 1 HP for life.  As long as you have an open tradeline with them, all other apps and CLI's are SP.  Oh, and there is the 3x CLI, too.

[FinStar]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I understand that CRAs look favorably on a profile that has a mix of different types of credit. But among revolving credit lines, do CRAs particularly like to see an American Express card? That is, given two otherwise identical credit profiles, will the profile with an American Express card (properly managed, of course) get the higher FICO score?

I'm in the market for a new credit card, and I wonder if I should choose American Express over others to make a more positive impression on CRAs.

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There isn't anything more "magical" about having an American Express tradeline than a Credit One Visa or Discover, or any Visa/MC for that matter (pick your flavor of many tiers) to make any positive impression on your reports.  That's not the intent or purpose of the CRAs nor any of the scoring methodology.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

What's magical about them is their marketing department. I don't think there's any other lender mentioned on these forums with the number of threads they have about people just trying to get one. Any one, just to get their foot in the door.

My experience with them in the 90s is night and day compared to now. People complain about how skittish sync and comenity are, but make excuses for amex. All my sync and comenity accounts have been rock solid. In fact, amex has been my only lender to jerk me around even after all the money I've spent and PIF relative to my income. Even cap1 gave me decent increases after spending triple my limits for a few months. All amex gave me was a spending limit on my gold after 2 years of the same use because I took one of their plans and am paying it as outlined in the agreement.

They really need to find their identity. Either be a premium creditor and stop taking in fair profiles while stringing them along until they're clean, or treat all their card members as actual members of the same club.

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much for this information. One of the (many) great things about this community is that I can get the real deal on topics I read about in the popular press.

What makes me wary of American Express: Awhile back, at a trade show, I made the mistake of giving my address to an American Express sales rep. It was years before the mail from them finally stopped.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I understand that CRAs look favorably on a profile that has a mix of different types of credit. But among revolving credit lines, do CRAs particularly like to see an American Express card? That is, given two otherwise identical credit profiles, will the profile with an American Express card (properly managed, of course) get the higher FICO score?

I'm in the market for a new credit card, and I wonder if I should choose American Express over others to make a more positive impression on CRAs.

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Absolutely not.

[KLEXH25]

Getting an AMEX won't make any impression regarding your credit reports. It will score that same as any other credit card, so it's best to decide what you're really looking to get from your next card (cashback, travel rewards, etc.) and then select the best card that meets those needs. Just make sure you meet the requirements to get the card as well. 

[Anonymous]

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@CreditPuppy wrote:

@Anonymous 

Yep, what Allzoero said.  Though, there IS something magical about AmEx - 1 HP for life.  As long as you have an open tradeline with them, all other apps and CLI's are SP.  Oh, and there is the 3x CLI, too.

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@CreditPuppy while this often happens, it should not be stated as fact - many people do actually end up taking a HP on additional cards. It's a YMMV situation even though it mostly holds true.

[SPChaser]

I don't know bout any "magic" but the BCE is on my list of 3 cards to get later this year 😆