Amex - Why am I not eligible?

tripled

In June I applied for an Amex cashback card (can't remember which one) and got declined. I contacted Amex to ask if I wasn't eligible or just wasn't accepted, their response was they couldn't tell say but if I met the criteria on their website then I would have been eligible but failed their scoring.

Given I have some big expenses coming up in about 5-6 months I'd like to get cashback for, I thought I'd have a look at the MSE eligibility checker to see if I could get any clues as to my chances of acceptance if I re-applied in the spring. This came back saying I wasn't eligible (as opposed to having a low change of acceptance) for any of the Amex cards, without giving a reason.

I've checked the Amex website and I appear to meet the criteria. Does anyone have any ideas why the MSE checker is saying I'm not eligible please, in case I've missed something?

As an example, the platinum cashback every day card:

• I am aged 18 or over - Yes
• I have a current UK bank or building society account - Yes
• I have a permanent UK home address - Yes (private rented)
• I have a household income of at least £20,000 - Yes
• I have no history of bad debt - Yes (no history of bad debt)
• And if self-employed, I have been working for more than one year - N/A

Foxy-Stoat_3

I don't think anyone is going to answer your question for you, apart from Amex - looks like they already have though.

stator

Have you checked your credit reports, all three? Are you on the electoral roll?

tripled

Amex wouldn't be able to tell me why MSE thinks I'm not eligible though!

I'm on the electoral role and have been for over 5 years. The only report I've checked is noddle, but surely anything negative on one of the others should show as a reduced chance of acceptance (as opposed to a flat out not eligible) unless it was a CCJ (which I would have thought I'd know about!).

InsideInsurance

tripled wrote: »

• I am aged 18 or over - Yes
• I have a current UK bank or building society account - Yes
• I have a permanent UK home address - Yes (private rented)
• I have a household income of at least £20,000 - Yes
• I have no history of bad debt - Yes (no history of bad debt)
• And if self-employed, I have been working for more than one year - N/A

These are the minimum for applying and doesnt mean you will necessarily be accepted just by meeting them. Whilst it is only circumstantial evidence the general feel is that the levels of income required for a realistic chance of being accepted is much higher than what they say.

Whilst you cannot apply for the Centurion Card an old webpage used to give the minimum income to be the same as the Platinum card despite the fact you have to be spending at least $250,000 on your Platinum card with the right kind of merchants (ie travel, high end hotels etc) which would normally be well out of the ability of someone earning £40,000 a year.

Ultimately the only people that can really tell you are AmEx themselves but they are under no obligations to do so. Acceptance criteria are fairly closely guarded commercial secrets

I know I was declined for one of their chargecards and then accepted 3 months later and the only thing that changed between those times is my credit utilisation rate went from ~60% to ~20% because some 0% periods ended and I paid them off rather than bouncing them onto another one. So in my case they didnt appear to have liked the outstanding debt despite it not being interest incurring

tripled

It's less to find out why Amex have declined me and more why MSE say I'm not eligible that is what I'm after (as opposed to saying I have a low chance of acceptence), in case there's something I can easily fix! Unless it's just poor wording by their results, and they think I have no chance of acceptance as opposed to not being eligible!

My credit utilisation will have gone down by spring (a combination of increased credit limits and reduced balance) so hopefully I stand a better chance then.

colsten

Just play about with different answer in the MSE questionnaire, until you discover what would make you likely to get accepted for an Amex card. Or until you lose your desire for an Amex card, as MSE suggest you have a very low chance whatever.

Also, make sure you use the right version of the MSE eligibility checker, as there appear to be several incarnations of it.

Superheavy

Do you have a backup plan if you don't get the AMEX card? Are you planning to apply for another card within a short period of time if you get rejected for this one (eg ASDA cashback) or something like that?

I didn't use the MSE credit card eligibility checker, but went ahead and applied through their website. My income was only marginally over the minimum threshold, but I was approved with what I think to be a reasonable limit. I just ran the eligibility checker now - my chance of getting the card is 0% too. I also had a low credit utilization ratio, and had been resident in the same location for 2 years. Why the checker gives this result, no idea. There isn't really a route for investigating it further.

If you aren't going to look at other alternatives, then run the app, and you have nothing to lose. Different companies want different things, I got accepted for the AMEX and declined for the Asda cashback card, unfortunately it isn't an exact science.

stator

tripled wrote: »

Amex wouldn't be able to tell me why MSE thinks I'm not eligible though!

I'm on the electoral role and have been for over 5 years. The only report I've checked is noddle, but surely anything negative on one of the others should show as a reduced chance of acceptance (as opposed to a flat out not eligible) unless it was a CCJ (which I would have thought I'd know about!).

No, check all three. Could be some kind of default showing on one of the other credit reports that would disqualify you from the card completely.

powerone

Cant you appeal. Its been a while since I applied for an Amex card,.

bsms1147

tripled wrote: »

It's less to find out why Amex have declined me and more why MSE say I'm not eligible that is what I'm after

Because the MSE checker is usually as good as a microwave at predicting your chances.