AMEX denial and recon phone call, good info

[croll54]

First, the good news...I must not be blacklisted as they accepted my application (burned them for about $7000 about 7 years ago).

 

However, I did get a denial, so I called for a recon. I spoke with a very polite CSR who was very open and helpful about the reasons for the denial. He said that my EX score was not high enough for them, (624) and he said that in his experience, scores needed to be at least 675 to qualify for the Blue cards. I asked if there was a better card for me to have applied for and he suggested the Green card (if I wanted a charge card) because the criteria was not as high for that card. He also suggested that if I wanted a credit card, that I should apply for the Everyday Card because it would be easier to get than the Blue Card as well.

 

He did mention that they would look at my past history with them as a part of the approval process, but it was not the reason for the decline. He also suggested that I pay down some balances on my cards to get to a better usage percentage (currently at 50%), but I have a $14,000 NFCU card and a $15,000 LOC with NFCU that are not showing yet, so I will lay low for about six months and try again.

 

Also, he answered another question that I have seen batted around here, and that is that there is a 30 day freeze on any new apps with them regardless of the card applied for.

[bajan]

Interesting. I have a CO from them from 2007 as well and when I applied last month, it was an instant denial. Past history was listed as the denial reason and they didn't bother to pull my credit either.

[mendelssohn]

I got a BCP with a really low limit at EX 660.

 

IMO the Green, Gold and PRG all have the same approval requirements. If you're going to app for a charge card, you might as well go with the PRG for the bonus.

[croll54]

Interesting. I have a CO from them from 2007 as well and when I applied last month, it was an instant denial. Past history was listed as the denial reason and they didn't bother to pull my credit either.

That's my understanding as to how you can test the blacklist. It doesn't cost you a hard pull if you are still on their list. I actually expected the "past history with us" message, but apparently they are at least willing to let me reestablish with them (and get my original date too, I hope) as long as I can get my score back up.

[croll54]

I got a BCP with a really low limit at EX 660.

 

IMO the Green, Gold and PRG all have the same approval requirements. If you're going to app for a charge card, you might as well go with the PRG for the bonus.

Congrats on the card. I asked him if there was a better choice for me to apply for next time and he just said that the requirements for both the Green card and the Everyday card were less stringent than the Blue cards.

[mendelssohn]

 

 

I got a BCP with a really low limit at EX 660.

 

IMO the Green, Gold and PRG all have the same approval requirements. If you're going to app for a charge card, you might as well go with the PRG for the bonus.

Congrats on the card. I asked him if there was a better choice for me to apply for next time and he just said that the requirements for both the Green card and the Everyday card were less stringent than the Blue cards.

Go for the PRG and downgrade it after a year if you don't want to keep it. It's worth it for the signup bonus.

[croll54]

 

 

I got a BCP with a really low limit at EX 660.

 

IMO the Green, Gold and PRG all have the same approval requirements. If you're going to app for a charge card, you might as well go with the PRG for the bonus.

Congrats on the card. I asked him if there was a better choice for me to apply for next time and he just said that the requirements for both the Green card and the Everyday card were less stringent than the Blue cards.

Go for the PRG and downgrade it after a year if you don't want to keep it. It's worth it for the signup bonus.

 

Thanks, I will do that. I'm going to sit on my hands for about six months to give my new accounts time to show some reporting history and it will also lower my utilization to about 10% once the new accounts report.