Amex - Why am I not eligible?

tripled

Superheavy wrote: »

Do you have a backup plan if you don't get the AMEX card?

I have a Halifax Clarity for overseas spending and a Tesco Mastercard for everything else (nets me 0.5% back in Red Spotted Hanky vouchers), so if I don't get the Amex I'll fall back to them

Superheavy wrote: »

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.

bsms1147 wrote: »

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

You could be on to something

I'll have a play with the checker to see if anything changes, if not I'll pull my other credit reports to make sure there are no nasties, and reapply in the spring. Cheers all

DalePie

Hi Tripled, thought I'd answer your question in a fairly in-depth way

tripled wrote: »

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.

That's a pretty reasonable response, they don't have any responsibility to provide credit, they are after all a company who want to make a profit - and sadly at the moment you're not the customer they want to bother with.

tripled wrote: »

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.

The MSE system will only ever give you a rough idea of what to expect. It's a pretty good system, but not perfect.

tripled wrote: »

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?

This is a very basic list of demands. In-fact some of them are rabbit holes in their own right.

• I have a current UK bank or building society account - Yes
• I have a permanent UK home address - Yes (private rented) Mortgaged (And listed as such on credit File) is almost certainly better.
• I have a household income of at least £20,000 - Yes Is this self-employed or full-time employed?
• I have no history of bad debt - Yes (no history of bad debt) Have you history of maintaining credit accounts at all? If not then this is your problem.
• And if self-employed, I have been working for more than one year - N/A How long has your current job been going for?

Just as an aside, the Amex range are typically the toughest cards to get. You'll need to have an A1 record of running credit accounts and a decent salary to obtain one.

You might be best off turning your sights a little lower and looking at how you can improve your credit rating over time. It can be done and it's worth doing too because a decent credit rating opens opportunities to far more things than simple credit.

Hope that helps

phona

Inspired by this thread, I put my details into the MSE eligibility checker. It says I have a 0% chance of getting the Amex, though it doesn't say I'm completely ineligible. However, it also says I have only a 20% chance of getting the Santander 123 card, which I already have. So I'll take it with a big pinch of salt..

It doesn't help, of course, that the MSE checker uses data from CallCredit, while according to this thread Amex use Experian and Equifax.

Why not try my eligibility checker? Toss two coins. If both are heads you'll be accepted, if one is heads it's 50% chance, if neither are heads too bad you'll be rejected. YMMV.

DalePie

phona wrote: »

It doesn't help, of course, that the MSE checker uses data from CallCredit, while according to this thread Amex use Experian and Equifax.

That's the main problem with the MSE checker. Hardly any companies check Call Credit, Experian and Equifax are the big ones. You really have to run an application through to see if you're eligible.

SuperHan

I got 10% for Santander 123 on the checker, and I've had that since I was part time employed (now full time), renting (now home owner) and salary is now 3x higher, so really I should have a much better chance of getting it now.

Take it with a pinch of salt.

zerog

If you already have the card, the checker is likely to say that you won't get it again. After all, your actual chance of getting it is exactly 0%.

The checker is relatively good at saying when you will be declined, but not so good at predicting whether you will get accepted; i.e. if it says under 40% chance, you shouldn't apply unless you don't mind having a search recorded.

manIntheMiddle

The eligibility check is a simple tool that checks basic criteria and basic lender rules. What no-one other than the lender will have and it would be it's crown and jewels is the actual decision making scoring and metrics. Just because Noddle says your credit is fine doesn't mean AMEX's credit decision policy and it's own scoring is met. I'll give you an example:

Some lenders will require a pass rate of 100 to be accepted and it will be made up of the following:

Time at address: -10 points to 5 points:
So if less than 2 yrs, this could equal - 1

(So now you need 101 points)

How many searches in the last 1 month: Points - 50 to 10
So lets say you have 3 searches, that could equal 5 points

So now you have 96 points to get....

Have you ever taking cash out on a credit card (yes they know that) if no, you could get 10 points if you have then that could be -20 points

There is so much to be taken into consideration, and some companies will use 20 variables from your credit report, others can use 100's or 1000's of data points from your credit file.

The minimum criteria / eligibility is just that, its basically saying if you don't meet this "MINIMUM" criteria, don't bother us as it cost money for us to check your credit file.... I hope this helps..

M0ney

I was recently successful in applying for a BA AMEX and my result for it was 0%, I'm glad I didn't know about this tool when I applied or else I might not have bothered.

alastair4063

I have the Amex Gold Charge card and their gold credit card too (extra MR points for applying for it). I just ran my details through the MSE checker and it too said I was not eligible for this card.

This just highlights that the thing is at best a guide and that the only people who can tell you for sure are the CC company when you make a full application. Also, from what I gather the wording on the tool is something like 'x% of people with similar situations to you were accepted' or something so maybe just not enough people are actually applying in order to produce any result that's statistically significant. I'd be rather surprised if any organisation was sharing their acceptance criteria freely.

SoloFlyer

I just received my Amex Gold Charge card in the post today and every time I checked MSE checker it said I was not eligible. I applied anyway last week; but didn't get instant decision and was told I would be informed by post/email. Got email instantly stating my application was being referred and then on Monday got another email stating I would have further information by post/email. Thought it was strange they sent me a similar email. Anyway this morning it came and I didn't even know I was accepted. So I guess MSE Checker isn't always accurate then. It is a useful guide but I wouldn't take its word as testament.