Amex Platinum Cashback Everyday Credit Card

Rosco32

Afternoon Folks,


Having read many threads on MSE I decided that I'd like to apply for one of these cards, obviously to take advantage of the cashback! I plan on using the card to pay for most things, such as supermarket shopping, petrol, clothes etc. For every transaction/s I make each day I plan on transferring the same amount of money from my current account and putting it aside into a savings account. I would then use this to settle the bill in full each month to avoid any interest. This is my current situation...


Age 32, in fulltime employment, annual salary of £52,800, been at the same address (renting) for 1.6 years. I am on the electoral role (checked with all 3 CRA's). I am 2 years into a 4 Year loan with my bank, HSBC, currently owe £4,463. I have a credit card with Tesco, limit is £7,100 and has an outstanding balance of £3,940. The Tesco card was a 26 month 0% balance transfer I took out in July 2013. I also hold a Barclaycard Platinum Simplicity card that I took out a few years back. This card has an £8k limit with £0 balance. I've held onto this card and use it occasionally as it has a purchase and BT rate of 6.9% for life, so thought it may come in handy. All payments are always made on time which is reflected on my records with all 3 CRA'S. I have no defaults, CCJ'S etc. I have checked through all previous settled/closed accounts too and they all show no payments as late/missed etc. My current outstanding debt in total is £8,403. Total current available credit is £11,160.


I put my application in for the Amex card this afternoon. After submitting the application it brought up the T's and C's for me to accept. There was no mention of a credit limit but showed an APR of 24%. That didn't concern me too much as I plan on paying in full each month. Once I'd accepted the terms and submitted the application I got a response thanking me for my application and that they were unable to give me an instant decision and that I should wait 10 days. Given the APR was showing at 24% do you think this is likely to be a decline?


Thanks for reading!


Rosco 😊

Drp8713

Isn't it 19.9%? Thought that was the only APR?

I got a 3k limit, I am younger than you, earn less and have less available credit and no debt so can't really compare

Rosco32

Yes, is states on their website a representative APR of 19.9% variable. Guess I will have to wait and see what the outcome is.

[Deleted User]

You have a fairly healthy income and presumably will be putting a decent amount of spend through the card each year. If you're going to spend more than about £10k a year on the card then you'd be better off with the normal platinum cashback card rather than the everyday one. Assuming you're accepted, Amex should allow you to switch product if you ask.

I understand what you're doing with transferring money to a savings account each day but that seems like a hell of a lot of faff. Why not just open a santander 123 current account which will offer you 3% interest, better than most savings accounts out there. It has a £2 monthly fee, but this should be offset by cash back on your direct debits etc.

Rosco32

Thanks Lazyloki, some useful advice there. I'd really not even considered the Santander 123 current account. I have no idea how much I will spend on the card each year, assuming I get it that is. I will try and put most things on it. I am 2 years into a 4 year loan with HSBC, who I have my current and savings accounts with. When I took the loan out they told me that if I made my payments on time, and stayed a current account customer that I would get a cashback offer from them so I'm reluctant to switch accounts, or would I be able to use the 123 account as a secondary account and just deposit what I spend each day?

Rosco32

Well it looks like it may be good news. I called Amex and spoke to their applications department who pulled my details up. I asked the state of the application and what the 24% APR was all about. My application was in a queue (assuming it had been referred). She kindly offered to try and 'push' the application through, which she did. She said my application was at its final stage but that she could guarantee the application would definitely be accepted and if I called back on Monday they would have details of my credit limit and APR %. Will see what the story is on Monday.

rb10

Rosco32 wrote: »

Thanks Lazyloki, some useful advice there. I'd really not even considered the Santander 123 current account. I have no idea how much I will spend on the card each year, assuming I get it that is. I will try and put most things on it. I am 2 years into a 4 year loan with HSBC, who I have my current and savings accounts with. When I took the loan out they told me that if I made my payments on time, and stayed a current account customer that I would get a cashback offer from them so I'm reluctant to switch accounts, or would I be able to use the 123 account as a secondary account and just deposit what I spend each day?

I'd get your HSBC savings accounts closed asap. They are worse than useless for savings, you can generally get much higher rates elsewhere.

Do you have anything about this cashback offer in writing? If not, assume it won't happen.

It's quite likely that the extra interest and cashback you'd get from a Santander 123 account (or Nationwide, Lloyds etc) would be significantly higher than any HSBC payment that may or may not come.

Rosco32

@rb10 - yes, I've had a look at the paperwork I kept and it does state the cashback offer. I'm a little nervous about banking with Santander as I've read so many people complaining about them in the past.

rb10

Rosco32 wrote: »

I'm a little nervous about banking with Santander as I've read so many people complaining about them in the past.

They've had customer service issues in the past, but these are largely resolved now.

If you're still concerned about customer service, try Nationwide (5% interest on the current account). Statistically, you are about three times more likely to have to make a complaint if you stick with HSBC than if you switch to Nationwide.

Rosco32

Thank you for your advice. I do need to consider these options I guess!


Cheers

iAMaLONDONER

Rosco32 wrote: »

@rb10 - yes, I've had a look at the paperwork I kept and it does state the cashback offer. I'm a little nervous about banking with Santander as I've read so many people complaining about them in the past.

You can have more than 1 current account!

Many here have several! I personally have 6 now!