American Express Member Since

[MP80]

I have come across a credit topic involving data point information that concerns AmEx's D* policy (which no longer exists) which triggered and raises an important question that may be of interest to anyone who has an AmEx credit card in their relationship history with AmEx.

This is to give credit and courtesy to an excerpt from the @cashnocredit post...

 

 

"I had an Amex in 1974, which closed in the early 80s. Opened a new one in 2011 but they didn't backdate me then. Had no record of it (which was always paid on time)."

 

Question? 

 

Does AmEx have all your previous applications and cards approved and store all positive and negative data indefinitely?
 

[hdporter]

11 minutes ago, MP80 said:

Does AmEx have all your previous applications and cards approved and store all positive and negative data indefinitely?

 

There is some type of database that's intact.  For backdating, the question is whether you can provide enough information when you request *D.  I recall from past threads that there was at least one person who claimed even with name/address/date information, Amex was unsuccessful in retrieving the past record.

 

When I opened a new Green card in 1996, 10 years after a paid-CO, I called upon receiving the card and was able to rattle off the card number that was issued in 1982.  That was sufficient for them to backdate me.  I'm a little disturbed to find that even in the course of writing this post, that number quickly slid into my consciousness -- can't tell you last time I thought about it.

 

(Truth is, there was a time, early on, when I made it a point to memorize my most frequently used account numbers.  Amex, a VISA, and my Sears account from 1982 come easily to mind now ... all were closed about 25-35 years ago.)

[shifter]

52 minutes ago, hdporter said:

For backdating, the question is whether you can provide enough information when you request *D. 

Or not. My wife got *D to '74 just by calling and she never had a card anywhere near that old.

[MP80]

This is very interesting in both @shifter and @hdporter accounts on cases of events. A more likely aspect of the @hdporter indication is whether you can provide Amex with enough information to successfully retrieve past records, which is the crux of the matter. So, the issue doesn't seem to be related to file records being stored indefinitely, the AI and algorithms just recognize the information entered and retrieved when asked for that particular information.

 

Well, I have indeed gone through the exact description by @hdporter on AmEx, searching the history of my membership change to the first ten years after I became a member, and the membership change date is from 2000 to 1991.

 

The significance is that in 1991 I was only an authorized user of the basic card member account. So, as an additional user of someone's account, you can become a card member then.

Edited April 16, 2023 by MP80

[hegemony]

"member since" is not the same as D*

[StarkRaven$]

9 minutes ago, hegemony said:

"member since" is not the same as D*

Hege, what does *D mean and do?

[hegemony]

Just now, StarkRaven$ said:

Hege, what does *D mean and do?

 

D* was when amex would backdate the tradeline for new cards; meaning if you opened a new amex card it's open date would be the same as your first, often years older, card. Amex stopped this practice a few years ago but it is the reason I have amex cards with open dates from the early 1990s, before my BK.

 

"member since" is merely a denotation on the physical card.

[hegemony]

31 minutes ago, StarkRaven$ said:

Hege, what does *D mean and do?

for example, last year I opened the Delta Reserve card. The tradeline reports the open date as the date it was approved while the card says i am "member since 93"

 

I have 3 D* amexies that report an open date in 1993 (even though they were all opened around 2010-2012) and "member since 93" on the card itself.

Edited April 16, 2023 by hegemony

[StarkRaven$]

6 minutes ago, hegemony said:

for example, last year I opened the Delta Reserve card. The tradeline reports the open date as the date it was approved while the card says i am "member since 93"

 

I have 3 D* amexies that report an open date in 1993 (even though they were all opened around 2010-2012) and "member since 93" on the card itself.

I see.

 

My brother has a gold Amex he's had since the late 70's or early '80's. He never had heard of rewards associated with the charge card. When I visited him he asked me to figure out the reward value structure associated with his card. Turned out for a statement credit he had about $1,700. We both thought that was pretty low considering how long he's had the card. I think Amex must have reset his points or something through the years.

[hegemony]

3 hours ago, StarkRaven$ said:

I see.

 

My brother has a gold Amex he's had since the late 70's or early '80's. He never had heard of rewards associated with the charge card. When I visited him he asked me to figure out the reward value structure associated with his card. Turned out for a statement credit he had about $1,700. We both thought that was pretty low considering how long he's had the card. I think Amex must have reset his points or something through the years.

just fyi, statement credits are one of the worse values for MR points.

[marqedsade]

Hello all!   Been quite a while since I've posted.   Hope all are doing well.  Am rebuilding for the third time in my life, and was just approved the other day for 2 Amex cards, Blue Cash Everyday and Amex Everyday.  I had screwed Amex over on 5 cards, back in 2015, totalling probably $13,000.  

 

I forgot about D*, and remembered the next day, and gave them  "Prestigious brand, reflect member date since, etc, etc. crap".  They found one of my Amex accts that I screwed them over on, and the rep said, absolutely, we will honor your member date of 1977.

 

When I go to the website, it does say "Member Since 1977", so, there is a TINY, TINY, TINY chance that somehow it gets reported that way.  At least, that's what I'm hoping.  Would DEFINITELY be nice to add 2 cards with 46 years each for my AAOA.  I'll let you guys know when it starts to report.

 

And, yeah, I know they stopped D*, but, stranger things have happened.  Like me getting off the Amex blacklist.   LOLOLOL.    Have a good day, and i'll keep you updated

Edited April 16, 2023 by marqedsade

[shifter]

16 minutes ago, marqedsade said:

TINY, TINY, TINY chance that somehow it gets reported that way. 

That chance would be zero my friend.

[marqedsade]

Yeah, I figured.  I'll still check anyway.  LOL.

[Burgerwars]

7 hours ago, hegemony said:

 

D* was when amex would backdate the tradeline for new cards; meaning if you opened a new amex card it's open date would be the same as your first, often years older, card. Amex stopped this practice a few years ago but it is the reason I have amex cards with open dates from the early 1990s, before my BK.

 

"member since" is merely a denotation on the physical card.

 

That was it. My Amex Everyday Card got backdated, but my Amex Charles Schwab Card (opened a couple years ago) did not. It was great while it lasted. 

[MP80]

1 hour ago, marqedsade said:

Am rebuilding for the third time in my life, and was just approved the other day for 2 Amex cards, Blue Cash Everyday and Amex Everyday.  I had screwed Amex over on 5 cards, back in 2015, totalling probably $13,000.  

Congratulations!   

 

Rejoining AmEx after 8 years of hiatus and writing off $13K in debt means a lot, and the odds are that it will take at least 15 years for you to rejoin, but you got back in sooner. All the numbers and data point to AmEx losses in excess of $10K meaning implies long-term bans, with some permanently excluded and some still waiting 30 years later.

 

There's this lingering question I'd like to ask...

 

How can two Amex cards be approved at the same time? It must be your luck! Previously it was possible to apply for 1 credit card and 1 charge card, but not 2 credit cards on the same day.

[brainchasm]

I managed to grab D* in 2009 or 2010 I think, based off being an AU on my mom's AMEX.

 

I got added as an AU, with current (at the time) year, called to get backdated, no problem.  Then I applied for my BCP, showed up correctly backdated, aaand reported correctly backdated.  I grabbed an EDP and a Zync as well, all backdated.

 

Still have the BCP and EDP, the Zync has been defunct forever now, and the new Plat says the right date, but of course doesn't report that way.

 

So but yeah, never gonna close the BCP or EDP if I don't have to!

 

[cashnocredit]

When I tried to get D* I even had an old "knuckle buster" receipt with the Amex card imprint. Amex couldn't verify my account from the early 70's. The card number had been eventually re-cycled and had been issued to someone else. No record of me at all. Perhaps if the card had been closed with an unpaid balance, they would have retained the info.

[MP80]

2 hours ago, cashnocredit said:

When I tried to get D* I even had an old "knuckle buster" receipt with the Amex card imprint. Amex couldn't verify my account from the early 70's. The card number had been eventually re-cycled and had been issued to someone else. No record of me at all. Perhaps if the card had been closed with an unpaid balance, they would have retained the info.

Thanks for replying! @cashnocredit 

 

I agree with your assessment that card issuers like Amex place more emphasis on negative and derogatory information about cardholders than on maintaining positive records with footnote symbols associated with individual membership accounts.

 

I go back to my question at the beginning of the thread on the word indefinitely by adding an asterisk to make it pertinent, and that's a time frame for each cardmember account, something like a 50-year internal record then purged and delete completely after its expiration date arrived. 

[marqedsade]

On 4/16/2023 at 7:37 PM, MP80 said:

Congratulations!   

 

Rejoining AmEx after 8 years of hiatus and writing off $13K in debt means a lot, and the odds are that it will take at least 15 years for you to rejoin, but you got back in sooner. All the numbers and data point to AmEx losses in excess of $10K meaning implies long-term bans, with some permanently excluded and some still waiting 30 years later.

 

Yeah.  For the last 3 years, every time I went to apply, the rejection letter reasons (read them online, on their site) started off with "Previous American Express accounts cancelled by American Express", or something like that.  In the last 3 months, that wording was no longer on the letter.  I waited a while, and took a shot in the dark.  Was approved for the EveryDay first, and immediately apped the BCE.  Received and activated both today.  Member since date is 1977 on both.  So, let's see what happens when they report. 

 

Arms, legs, fingers, toes, eyes, nostrils (and other body parts, wont mention them all) all crossed.  Let's see what the reporting says.  

.

On 4/16/2023 at 7:37 PM, MP80 said:

There's this lingering question I'd like to ask...

 

How can two Amex cards be approved at the same time? It must be your luck! Previously it was possible to apply for 1 credit card and 1 charge card, but not 2 credit cards on the same day.

 

Not sure if they changed their policy or not.  Whatever happened worked (so far).   We will see.

[StarkRaven$]

On 4/16/2023 at 12:12 PM, hegemony said:

just fyi, statement credits are one of the worse values for MR points.

Absolutely and I explained all that to him as well. 

[MP80]

1 hour ago, marqedsade said:

Not sure if they changed their policy or not.  Whatever happened worked (so far).   We will see.

I've never heard or seen anyone say they had both credit cards (revolver) approved on the same day or the same week of application. This is an exceptional event, not the norm. It a tantamount to hitting a jackpot of some sort. 

 

I can assure you that D* is dead, there's no point in spending your precious time thinking or hoping it lives on. Whoever ends this policy does a disservice to all who seek credit and is a disgraceful oxymoron doing just that.

[get.randy]

9 hours ago, marqedsade said:

 

 

Arms, legs, fingers, toes, eyes, nostrils (and other body parts, wont mention them all) all crossed.  Let's see what the reporting says.  

 

 

The 1977 on your card will look cool, but they'll stamp a nice big 2023 on your reports when they report.

 

[MP80]

^^^ I second to confirm that. There's absolutely no backdating on any current approval cards by AmEx to credit reporting agencies.

[MP80]

On 4/17/2023 at 7:58 PM, marqedsade said:

Yeah.  For the last 3 years, every time I went to apply, the rejection letter reasons (read them online, on their site) started off with "Previous American Express accounts cancelled by American Express", or something like that.

According to CB credit connoisseur, many people ended up using AmEx again...

 

"AmEx has a statistical profitability model for identifying people who are now at better risk, have higher profit, and are worthy of removal from the blacklist."

 

I feel like this is AmEx's facade policy of removing people associated with blackballing status, which is why so many people have been able to reinstate their memberships recently.

[shifter]

7 hours ago, MP80 said:

"AmEx has a statistical profitability model for identifying people who are now at better risk, have higher profit, and are worthy of removal from the blacklist."

Hmm. I'm going to have to kick those tires when my last IIB accounts on EX fall off next month.