American Express Guide

gb12345

Kohlerwhite wrote: »

whats the process of applying to american express credit card. can anyone disclose this information a help would be appreciated a lot here

I would have thought that a financial advisor like you would know something like that.

As you are in the USA, how do you expect someone on a UK forum to know the answer?

mycvattached

Kohlerwhite wrote: »

whats the process of applying to american express credit card. can anyone disclose this information a help would be appreciated a lot here

I don't think it is any different from other credit card applications. In fact it is even shorter. They usually delay their decision.

Kenneth131

ok any info would be greatly appreciated. I have just got my nectar card as its the most lucrative for me at the moment.

Next year however it will work out to be the cashback card. (the bonus netar points and TCB made the Nectar card better this year)

So nect year if I want to move from the Nectar account to the Cahsback one can they do an account conversion or is it a new application required as i only want the one amex at a time.

Thanks for any info

DJBenson

Gutted to report I've just been declined for a credit card for the first time in many years. Applied for the American Express Platinum Cashback card and got the dreaded "sorry..." letter today.

I can only think that the number of accounts (mainly Nationwide) I've applied for recently has scared them off a bit.

Need to cool it for a bit I guess

[Deleted User]

Kenneth131 wrote: »

ok any info would be greatly appreciated. I have just got my nectar card as its the most lucrative for me at the moment.

Next year however it will work out to be the cashback card. (the bonus netar points and TCB made the Nectar card better this year)

So nect year if I want to move from the Nectar account to the Cahsback one can they do an account conversion or is it a new application required as i only want the one amex at a time.

Thanks for any info

In my experience, Amex doesn't transfer accounts, you will have to apply for the card separately. However, so long as your account has been run well, you're almost guaranteed to be approved for the CB card.

Incidentally, a little known bonus with Amex is that they back-date your account opening. On the forums you will often hear people saying that the average age of your accounts is something that lenders take into account when you apply for credit. With Amex, so long as you keep one card open with them, any subsequent cards that you open will be backdated to the year in which you opened your first Amex product.

For example, I opened my first Amex card in Aug 2012 (Platinum Cashback) and this was reported to the CRAs as such. I still have this card and when I opened the Gold Card in Feb 2013, the opening date was reported to the CRAs as Feb 2012, six months before I'd even opened my first card.

Amex seem to be one of the few financial institutions that it's worth giving a little loyalty to. Once you have your foot in the door, I'd recommend keeping at least one account open with them - even if it's a free card that you don't use much.

DJBenson

Lazyloki wrote: »

In my experience, Amex doesn't transfer accounts, you will have to apply for the card separately. However, so long as your account has been run well, you're almost guaranteed to be approved for the CB card.

Incidentally, a little known bonus with Amex is that they back-date your account opening. On the forums you will often hear people saying that the average age of your accounts is something that lenders take into account when you apply for credit. With Amex, so long as you keep one card open with them, any subsequent cards that you open will be backdated to the year in which you opened your first Amex product.

For example, I opened my first Amex card in Aug 2012 (Platinum Cashback) and this was reported to the CRAs as such. I still have this card and when I opened the Gold Card in Feb 2013, the opening date was reported to the CRAs as Feb 2012, six months before I'd even opened my first card.

Amex seem to be one of the few financial institutions that it's worth giving a little loyalty to. Once you have your foot in the door, I'd recommend keeping at least one account open with them - even if it's a free card that you don't use much.

I'm a little worried wha'ts happening to my credit history now you say that the Amex CB card is a sure bet...

[Deleted User]

DJBenson wrote: »

I'm a little worried wha'ts happening to my credit history now you say that the Amex CB card is a sure bet...

I meant for the poster above who already has the Amex Nectar card. I'm no expert but it seems that once you have your foot in the door at Amex, and assuming that your keep your accounts in good order, then they are pretty generous about opening new accounts for you.

Like I said in my post, I got my first Amex last August, had to jump through a few hoops with providing ID etc. When I applied for the Gold Card in Feb, they gave it to me with no problems - I checked with the CRAs and they hadn't even run an external credit check on me.

For what it's worth, I was turned down by Amex several times over the course of a few years before they finally accepted me. I applied in Jan 2012 and was declined, applied again in August and accepted with a pretty generous limit - not a huge amount had changed in my personal circumstances - go figure. I'd give it six months and try again. Alternatively, you could give them a ring and ask them to reconsider their decision, offer to provide whatever info they need - direct number for their UK call centre is 01273 576576 and there is an option regarding new applications. If you do this, let us know how you get on!

DJBenson

I might give the call center a go - cheers!

I've had the Amex Gold card for almost 3 months now so they know I am a "good payer" and except for one late payment in November 2011, my credit history (as in my conduct) is impeccable.

As I say, I've hammered the applications recently - in the last couple of months I applied (and was accepted for);

Amex Gold Charge Card
DFS credit agreement (~3k)
3xNationwide FlexDirect accounts (£0 overdraft)
Norwich & Peterborough Current Account (£250 overdraft)
Britannia/Coop Current Account (£250 overdraft)
Santander 123 Joint Current Account (£500 overdraft)

...but then I am an IT contractor so my income is many multiples of my available credit (not boasting, just pointing out the facts) so I can only assume that either they are missing some info (which I can follow up on) or I just need to cool the applications. Equifax have the "searches" icon yellow which I assume means "you've been caning it - slow down"

[Deleted User]

Worth a go. It may simply be a case that you've not been with them quite long enough. Seeing as you already have an account they might give you a bit more info than simply saying that you were declined - I've always found them fairly helpful.

Kenneth131

Cheers Lazyloki I would like to think amex will keep this practice as from all my experience with them it has been nothing short of brilliant compared to the other card companies.

I am really glad I have got this card but need an alt back up for the likes of google wallet and paypal for certain merchants until amex become as widely accepted as others.

I hope the prediction of it being as widely accepted as MC and Visa by 2020 are right as I think they would become the preferred card by many for cashback and service which would maybe shake up the shoddy market leaders at the moment.

Anyway Thanks for the help