Does Amex “really just accept anyone” as some people say?

bambilegs

Hello, hopefully people can share a bit of light from their experience.

I’ve seen on this forum and others, people often saying that Amex just accepts anyone. I’ve seen people with thin credit files be accepted, as well as students with no income getting excessively large opening limits. I’ve even heard people say they accept people with defaults which I was pretty surprised to hear.

I see on the website it says as part of its eligibility to have “no history of bad debt”. I find this statement to be quite vague as it doesn’t specify how far back in terms of history, or does it just means only those who have never ever missed payments and don’t have defaults and ccj’s should apply? 

Has anyone applied with less than stellar credit and been successful?

There’s a lot of conflicting information, thanks.

MorningcoffeeIV

I've never heard anyone say that.

On the contrary, they're far more picky than most.

SiliconChip

I've never heard it said either. The only circumstance in which Amex might accept anyone is an application for a charge card, where repayment in full is required by the due date so they're not really providing a credit facility, but I'm rather doubtful if even that would be offered to just anyone.

kaMelo

Where are you hearing all this about AmEx?

As others have said I've certainly never read anyone saying this on this forum or anywhere else for that matter. Certainly they are generous with credit limits but in my experience they are more selective on whom they want as customers.

Emmia

I'd say they're on the pickier end, but very generous with limits.

The downside of a large limit though, is a greater risk of getting into financial trouble with it...

Marchitiello

I would say that traditionally they were actually really picky but have slightly eased off more recently. It took me a good 2 years as a student/working part time before I could get my first Amex and the limit was not great but has been building steadily over the years. 

Although Chargecard are not Credit Card, they still have to assess you credit worthiness and therefore give you a “spending power” limit, so your credit history/file is equally important. My own spending power has built to a level that I could walk into a dealership and buy a brand new executive sedan with it (if the dealer would actually accept it for that amount in the first place). In any case, the charge card products have virtually disappeared now from the UK market (you could only apply for the Basic Card -no rewards- or be invited to apply for the Centurion - Black Card - once you have an annual spend in the region of £125k-£250k per year).

They do blacklist for life customers that have left a bad debt records or similar with them, but for anyone else (not with previous history with them), they can only go back to your credit file record and thus the last 6 years.

RhondaD

Before I defaulted 10 years ago I had an excellent credit history and Amex wouldn't touch me. Last year I applied for and got 4 Amex cards. Swings and roundabouts.

WillPS

Amex are a mainstream lender.

All mainstream lenders have proprietary lending criteria and it's foolish to try and fathom what these might be beyond ensuring you're not doing things which are objectively bad - missing payments, defaults, CCJs etc. Use your credit facilities responsibly and close products which you have no use for.

Luckily most lenders, including Amex, will give you a reasonable idea of your chances of acceptance and if they indicate you are likely to be accepted then you can assume you likely will be.

spinningsheep

I was very surprised I was accepted by Amex given my past financial woes, but I've got 5 cards with them now, with a £1000 on 3 CC and £1500 on the last CC and a limitless charge card which I clear in full obviously same as the credit cards. Low limits on the credit cards in the grand scheme of things but I'm aiming to grow these over time and keep them open for many years. I have a settled CCJ from 2018 and 1 default from 2020 for context. Regardless of limits etc, have to say that my experience with them as a "card member" has been first class. They really do make you feel like they actually want your business. 

cymruchris

bambilegs said:

Hello, hopefully people can share a bit of light from their experience.

I’ve seen on this forum and others, people often saying that Amex just accepts anyone. I’ve seen people with thin credit files be accepted, as well as students with no income getting excessively large opening limits. I’ve even heard people say they accept people with defaults which I was pretty surprised to hear.

I see on the website it says as part of its eligibility to have “no history of bad debt”. I find this statement to be quite vague as it doesn’t specify how far back in terms of history, or does it just means only those who have never ever missed payments and don’t have defaults and ccj’s should apply? 

Has anyone applied with less than stellar credit and been successful?

There’s a lot of conflicting information, thanks.

Not sure who the 'some people' are who have said that. Definitely in the grand scheme of credit cards one of the more difficult to obtain in comparison to most. 

It does appear those that defaulted previously have a very challenging time persuading them to let them have another card further down the line. (There seem to be a few anecdotal posts that support it is possible but not common).

In my own case - I went through bankruptcy in 2013 - Amex was one of the cards I held at the time, with around a £6k balance. They did get most of it back when my property was sold - but even today I only get between 2 and 4 out of 10 on their own eligibility checker directly on their website (I haven't tried a full application yet). The likes of Credit club, credit karma etc show me as having a 90 percent chance of success - so it seems Amex are continuing to use the old info in their eligibility calculators. 

Alex9384

bambilegs said:

... to have “no history of bad debt”. I find this statement to be quite vague as it doesn’t specify how far back in terms of history ...

I guess anything older than 6 years doesn't matter simply because no one can see it anymore? Unless.. you applied during the time when some default was still on your files, so the company may keep record of your file for a longer time? Not sure if it works that way, but I'm a bit paranoid about these things so I would imagine they get a snapshot of your file when you're doing an eligibility check or application and they can keep the record of what was on your file, even after it dropped off your file and other banks can't see it.