Macy's American Express

[skoosh]

Went to Macy's to 'spend' some gift certificates. Went a little overboard and wanted to put the rest on my Macy's card. It had been a couple of years since I used it, so they had to do a soft pull (uh huh. right.) to reactivate. Reactivates, no problem. Then a week later I get a Macy's Amex in the mail with a 10k limit! A big surprise since I hadn't asked for it. Two days later they send me a letter saying when they 'reviewed my Macy's account' they determined I qualified for the Amex so they just sent it to me.

 

I thought the days of just sending people cards was long gone. Didn't really want an Amex - I closed my clear about 8 months ago - but since the pull already happened, I'll keep it and sock drawer it.

[tray]

Congratulatins, it is hard to get a Macy's AMEX for an upgrade it is usually a HARD pull, and you say Macy's only soft pulled your report that is even better although I would check your cr just the same (EX) also nice cl but the APR is high on Macy's AMEX

[Analysis]

Went to Macy's to 'spend' some gift certificates. Went a little overboard and wanted to put the rest on my Macy's card. It had been a couple of years since I used it, so they had to do a soft pull (uh huh. right.) to reactivate. Reactivates, no problem. Then a week later I get a Macy's Amex in the mail with a 10k limit! A big surprise since I hadn't asked for it. Two days later they send me a letter saying when they 'reviewed my Macy's account' they determined I qualified for the Amex so they just sent it to me.

 

I thought the days of just sending people cards was long gone. Didn't really want an Amex - I closed my clear about 8 months ago - but since the pull already happened, I'll keep it and sock drawer it.

 

 

The days of sending credit card to those without accounts is definitely gone, but you already have an old store account, so to us it really is not blind like the old ways of " pre approved " accounts.

 

We did reactivate it, but not without doing some work

 

BTW way, you'll notice two account numbers if you use your new AMEX outside our store. One for the purchases outside our store, the other (might be the same account number as your old store account number, most likely a new one for that too). One inquiry, two accounts.

 

The AMEX account will show up separately, only one hard inquiry for both accounts however.

[skoosh]

 

The days of sending credit card to those without accounts is definitely gone, but you already have an old store account, so to us it really is not blind like the old ways of " pre approved " accounts.

 

We did reactivate it, but not without doing some work

 

BTW way, you'll notice two account numbers if you use your new AMEX outside our store. One for the purchases outside our store, the other (might be the same account number as your old store account number, most likely a new one for that too). One inquiry, two accounts.

 

The AMEX account will show up separately, only one hard inquiry for both accounts however.

 

Thank you! I never thought of it that way. I'm not sure if they pulled hard or soft (I assume a hard, especially now since they approved an Amex), but I was sort of prepared for it even though they said a soft. No problem. And thanks for the info. Really appreciate it.

[bemmel]

Is the upgrade to Macy's Amex still done in-store at the credit dept? I have the Regular Macy's red card with a $2800 limit (not sure what the limit is now with all the crazy changes at Macys). My EX FAKO is 747, no lates, no baddies, 11% Util, About 12 accounts that generally have a reported balance on my CR's. Is this profile adequate for an upgrade?

 

My red card only sees activity around the holidays usually.

[ishmael109]

Congrats, and enjoy the card! I find the rewards add up fast!

[Analysis]

Is the upgrade to Macy's Amex still done in-store at the credit dept? I have the Regular Macy's red card with a $2800 limit (not sure what the limit is now with all the crazy changes at Macys). My EX FAKO is 747, no lates, no baddies, 11% Util, About 12 accounts that generally have a reported balance on my CR's. Is this profile adequate for an upgrade?

 

My red card only sees activity around the holidays usually.

 

The best way to request an upgrade is the telephone. You won't get an immediate answer if you already have a store account with us, however. You won't get an AMEX from us without a hard inquiry, however. We use Experian.

[bemmel]

Will they pull an immediate hard on EX when I call and request the upgrade? My EX is frozen and if I unfreeze, I would prefer not to keep it unfrozen for more than a day or two.

 

Do you know what the criteria for approval is?

[Analysis]

Will they pull an immediate hard on EX when I call and request the upgrade? My EX is frozen and if I unfreeze, I would prefer not to keep it unfrozen for more than a day or two.

 

Do you know what the criteria for approval is?

 

 

Yes, if call and ask to add an AMEX account to an existing, active store account you'll get an inquiry on Experian. It will not be immediate, likely within two weeks because this is a manual review for us.

 

No specific answer to what your score has to be because we use FICO for that, and you can't get your EXP FICO. If you knew what your EXP FICO was, and it were over 700, then you'd likely get a Macy's AMEX. Not guaranteed, but that is as close as I can get.

[dengoz]

Will they pull an immediate hard on EX when I call and request the upgrade? My EX is frozen and if I unfreeze, I would prefer not to keep it unfrozen for more than a day or two.

 

Do you know what the criteria for approval is?

 

 

Yes, if call and ask to add an AMEX account to an existing, active store account you'll get an inquiry on Experian. It will not be immediate, likely within two weeks because this is a manual review for us.

 

No specific answer to what your score has to be because we use FICO for that, and you can't get your EXP FICO. If you knew what your EXP FICO was, and it were over 700, then you'd likely get a Macy's AMEX. Not guaranteed, but that is as close as I can get.

 

Do you ever pre-approve for the AMEX based on AR of store card if credit file has improved?

[Analysis]

Do you ever pre-approve for the AMEX based on AR of store card if credit file has improved?

 

Do we ever? Yes, we do, but not very often at all. TooPoor is a member here with an EXP score in the mid 700's. She has only a store account, and she's been waiting literally for years for an upgrade to our " cobrand " account, used to be VISA, now AMEX.

 

Unfortunately, it probably won't happen for you. There was some talk about an upgrade with AR's this year, but I don't see it happening.

[dengoz]

Do you ever pre-approve for the AMEX based on AR of store card if credit file has improved?

 

Do we ever? Yes, we do, but not very often at all. TooPoor is a member here with an EXP score in the mid 700's. She has only a store account, and she's been waiting literally for years for an upgrade to our " cobrand " account, used to be VISA, now AMEX.

 

Unfortunately, it probably won't happen for you. There was some talk about an upgrade with AR's this year, but I don't see it happening.

 

Thanks, i'm considering taking the INQ. How inquiry sensitive is Macy's for the AMEX? I have 7 on EX, the EX FICO was 784 on the last PSECU update.

[Analysis]

Thanks, i'm considering taking the INQ. How inquiry sensitive is Macy's for the AMEX? I have 7 on EX, the EX FICO was 784 on the last PSECU update.

 

You mention 7 inquiries, but not the time period. I can't correctly answer unless I know the time period under which those 7 inquiries fall. We have automated software which sees the recent (1-2 months) inquiries on Experian and blocks the account due to " Possible Bust Out " where our software is guessing the person is doing an APPLICATION SPREE.

 

So that's why I ask how recent all those 7 EXP inquiries are....

[dengoz]

Thanks, i'm considering taking the INQ. How inquiry sensitive is Macy's for the AMEX? I have 7 on EX, the EX FICO was 784 on the last PSECU update.

 

You mention 7 inquiries, but not the time period. I can't correctly answer unless I know the time period under which those 7 inquiries fall. We have automated software which sees the recent (1-2 months) inquiries on Experian and blocks the account due to " Possible Bust Out " where our software is guessing the person is doing an APPLICATION SPREE.

 

So that's why I ask how recent all those 7 EXP inquiries are....

 

Thanks again, this is great info. 3 are 1 month old, those are 2 from PSECU, and 1 from AMEX, both were approved, the PSECU is the 20k combo so shows up as 2 new TL's, AMEX BD'd to 1990 (on a Zync! and I didn't even ask) so it doesn't show as new. Of the other 4, 3 are over a year old and 1 was for a CU CLI last Nov.

Edited April 22, 2011 by dengoz

[Analysis]

Thanks again, this is great info. 3 are 1 month old, those are 2 from PSECU, and 1 from AMEX, both were approved, the PSECU is the 20k combo so shows up as 2 new TL's, AMEX BD'd to 1990 (on a Zync! and I didn't even ask) so it doesn't show as new. Of the other 4, 3 are over a year old and 1 was for a CU CLI last Nov.

 

So if I am reading this correctly, you have 3 inquiries showing on Experian within the last 30 days? If that is true, I would wait a month or two at least. If I misread your message let me know.

[choirlady]

Congrats on your new card!

[GonnaGetEm]

Congrats to Skoosh on the card, and thanks to Settle for the great info shared in this thread!

[Guest snake1965]

is the macys regular card bk friendly?

[jds]

is the macys regular card bk friendly?

 

AFAIK, you have to be at least 4 years post BK. Now, I'm not sure whether that is 4 years post filing or post discharge. I would guess post discharge.

[Analysis]

is the macys regular card bk friendly?

 

AFAIK, you have to be at least 4 years post BK. Now, I'm not sure whether that is 4 years post filing or post discharge. I would guess post discharge.

 

Yes, it is generally 4 years post discharge.

[jds]

is the macys regular card bk friendly?

 

AFAIK, you have to be at least 4 years post BK. Now, I'm not sure whether that is 4 years post filing or post discharge. I would guess post discharge.

 

Yes, it is generally 4 years post discharge.

 

Thanks for the clarification!

[SDL]

I am an employee at Macy's and have had a regular store card (Elite) for several years. I called in a few weeks ago to have them look into upgrading me to the AMEX version. Got a letter in the mail today with a denial...letter states that I have a 747 Equifax score. And yes, they did pull Experian to consider me for the AMEX. I have no baddies, and have only had one inquiry in the past year + on Experian, which was last month for an instant Chase Slate approval at $6K... Should I call for a recon? When I called to confirm my information the first time around, I was transferred to a special department with U.S. customer service, I'm assuming that department would handle re-cons as well..

[shifter]

has this process changed in the last 1.5 years? because I just requested the Amex upgrade and have EX frozen. I got my denial letter and it lists a FICO score based on an old AR pull on EQ that was 2 months old before I got a bunch of things fixed and balances paid down. but this says they always use EX so I'm not sure if it went this way because EX is on ice or they changed something.

[Analysis]

This thread was started in 2011. Lots has changed in that time.

[IWOL]

@SBA.....I was wondering, is there any difference in the tiers of the store card in terms of what you get?

 

Ive had my store card since Feb of last year and I believe I have met the spend requirment for Platinum or Elite but I have never received a new card.