American Express Discussion Area

lolarentt

sashacat wrote: »

I'm worried now...expecting my amex cashback card any day now. I got a call today to say it had been approved and is on it's way

I've had various Amex cards, charge and credit, private and business, for many many years and they're the best operated of any card issuers I've used. You get to talk to people in UK and they (Amex) don't get taken over, merged, withdrawn, or any of the other disasters that seem to befall various financial institutions that dip their toes in the UK waters, and decide to cut and run a few years later (e.g. Morgan Stanley)

judkels

I am trying to apply online for an american express platinum card. I fill in all the required details and each time the page reloads asking for details already filled in. Of course you are thinking I have made a silly error - has anyone else had this problem? I am certain I would qualify and could do it over the phone but then I wouldn't get any cashback site advantages which I want to do. The helpline says that you will be directed to a specialist who will help with online aplications but both times I tried this number the asistant said they were nothing to do with online and merely wanted to sign me up over the phone. How have other people got on with online applications recently?

george_jetson

Signed up last week with no problems and the card arrived yesterday. I've signed up for their online account managing service and that all seems simple and efficient - I've also signed up for free SMS updates. I didn't know they offered them, so that's a nice little bonus

Although my experience is limited I haven't had any problems with their website. Could the difficulty be at your end, for example are you using an old PC or do you have the security settings for your browser or firewall set high? It might be worth popping to an internet cafe and giving it a go there.

I spent a bit of time switching all my regular payments from Visa to Amex to take maximum advantage of the cashback offer. However even in these few transactions I found a couple of places didn't accept Amex. It''s a good job I'm going to keep my Visa card as a backup…

Dr_Baird

goldcroft10 wrote: »

I can only report what I have experienced in the last 3 days. In tesco, for example, it was rejected at the tobacco counter, then rejected twice again at the ordinary check out, then retained by the store, who were following their rules, presumably based on the number of times it had been tried.

It is a pity, because I was thinking of getting an Amex card for cashback benefits as I always pay off my bill before incurring charges.

I find it strange that your amex was rejected at tescos. I've had my ba amex and platinum amex for around 1 year now and I use them at least 5 days every week at the local tescos. And as stated by other replies, when I phone it's always to an English call centre.

kelly_loves_a_bargain

sashacat wrote: »

I'm worried now...expecting my amex cashback card any day now. I got a call today to say it had been approved and is on it's way

I've just taken a call from American Express after applying well over two weeks ago online. The guy sounded surprisingly like David Walliams! He was clearly reading a script and confirming several aspects such as the 5% cashback for 3 months. I was disappointed to learn that the cashback isn't applied until the anniversary of account opening which is February 2009!

thenewbaby

My application for the Amex cashback card was rejected today! The only reason I can see is my status as a GP is technically self-employed.

I did the online credit report checks with Equifax and Experian (£6.50 cashback with Quidco!). They both look fine to me - never missed a payment. One thing missing was my HSBC credit card which I payoff each month (no cashback of course!). Does anyone know why this is? I heard their mortgages are not available through brokers so are they exclusive about sharing other info?

Looking at the website I think it may be because they can't make enough money out of me as I pay off in full. Or it could be my recent remortgage and ISA application - all done following Martins tips of course!

Must remember to cancel the Equifax/Experian memberships before they start charging!

appleseed_2

thenewbaby wrote: »

My application for the Amex cashback card was rejected today! The only reason I can see is my status as a GP is technically self-employed.

I did the online credit report checks with Equifax and Experian (£6.50 cashback with Quidco!). They both look fine to me - never missed a payment. One thing missing was my HSBC credit card which I payoff each month (no cashback of course!). Does anyone know why this is? I heard their mortgages are not available through brokers so are they exclusive about sharing other info?

Looking at the website I think it may be because they can't make enough money out of me as I pay off in full. Or it could be my recent remortgage and ISA application - all done following Martins tips of course!

Must remember to cancel the Equifax/Experian memberships before they start charging!

It's worth appealing the decision if your credit history is blemish free, incomplete and meets a few other criteria. You should compile information that has material relevance to the type of information that would appear on a complete credit history. So, for instance, you could include information about the payment history (e.g., 3 months worth of statements) and card limit on your 'unseen' HSBC card. Although, income rather than savings is almost universally a key criterion, proof of considerable savings or assets are worthy of inclusion with the appeal letter.

The self-employed status is unlikely to be an issue, particularly if you can provide certified proof of income, whereas only minimal information reported in terms of credit history does seem to weigh significantly with AMEX, at least in my experience in hearing about the application outcomes of friends. The application for an ISA won't count against or for you, whereas the number of credit searches conducted against your mortgage application and likely recent change of address are definite considerations as is the need to ensure that you are on the electoral role.

Finally, there's always the BMA Amex card. Although less attractive in cashback terms, and with little or no certainty that the approval criteria will be fundamentally different, there might be more latitude given the target audience.

goldcroft10

the new baby: beware of Experian. I took a one off free offer from somewhere on the web and found myself automatically subscribed at a monthly fee thereafter. Had to threaten them with the ombudsman to stop taking month payments and to return the one they had deducted.

thenewbaby

appleseed wrote: »

It's worth appealing the decision if your credit history is blemish free, incomplete and meets a few other criteria. You should compile information that has material relevance to the type of information that would appear on a complete credit history. So, for instance, you could include information about the payment history (e.g., 3 months worth of statements) and card limit on your 'unseen' HSBC card. Although, income rather than savings is almost universally a key criterion, proof of considerable savings or assets are worthy of inclusion with the appeal letter.

The self-employed status is unlikely to be an issue, particularly if you can provide certified proof of income, whereas only minimal information reported in terms of credit history does seem to weigh significantly with AMEX, at least in my experience in hearing about the application outcomes of friends. The application for an ISA won't count against or for you, whereas the number of credit searches conducted against your mortgage application and likely recent change of address are definite considerations as is the need to ensure that you are on the electoral role.

Finally, there's always the BMA Amex card. Although less attractive in cashback terms, and with little or no certainty that the approval criteria will be fundamentally different, there might be more latitude given the target audience.

Thanks appleseed.

I could supply certified proof of income if they'd asked for it! The remortgage did generate 3 credit searches according to one of the reports which is annoying if true.

Actually I haven't moved for over 5 years so that shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for the tip on the BMA Amex card. Actually applied for the Capital One Card today so better hold off on any more applications for now!

appleseed_2

thenewbaby wrote: »

Thanks appleseed.

I could supply certified proof of income if they'd asked for it! The remortgage did generate 3 credit searches according to one of the reports which is annoying if true.

Actually I haven't moved for over 5 years so that shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for the tip on the BMA Amex card. Actually applied for the Capital One Card today so better hold off on any more applications for now!

Since you already have the credit search generated by the application to Amex, it's still worth considering following up with an appeal because there's no reason for the appeal to generate an additional search. You're merely following up with additional information pertinent to the original application, such as details of a well maintained credit card, and, if your current account is with HSBC (pre 2002, I think), possibly evidence of the length of time with the main current account provider because HSBC don't yet report all current accounts to the CRAs.