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

bengalknights

For charge cards yes they do tend to be a bit more relaxed in issuing as they have risk based limits on it so although you think you may be able to spend £10k in one go in reality they will hold back and request a payment on account if you wish to do so unless you have a long history with them.

DullGreyGuy

bengalknights said:

For charge cards yes they do tend to be a bit more relaxed in issuing as they have risk based limits on it so although you think you may be able to spend £10k in one go in reality they will hold back and request a payment on account if you wish to do so unless you have a long history with them.

They now only have the Basic Card available to apply for as a charge card for personal lines customers... holders of older charge cards continue to be able to use their cards.

I think chargecards were just different rather than stricter or more liberal given the limit/spending power was typically higher than they'd give as a credit card to the same person. 

As to the original Q... they have their own preferences just like all other mainstream lenders and so they may make a surprising lend decision to one person who others have turned down but may turn down others who most will accept. Exactly the same can be said about any other lender. 

The Mrs' first card was an AmEx and with no phone or loans in her name her file would have been very thin but AmEx are one that look at household income and so from that perspective it'd been high income and no debts.

Marchitiello

cymruchris said:

….  it seems Amex are continuing to use the old info in their eligibility calculators. 

As I said above in the thread, they tend to blacklist previous customers that have left bad debt with them, and they can do so indefinitely outside of the 6 years criteria of Credit Agency reporting.  

heatherw_01

I found they are more picky tbh.

phillw

DullGreyGuy said:
I think chargecards were just different rather than stricter or more liberal given the limit/spending power was typically higher than they'd give as a credit card to the same person. 

My recollection from years ago is that to get a charge card ("american express? that'll do nicely") you had to work for a company of a certain size or have quite a large amount of money. When they started issuing credit cards then they were much more relaxed, whether they were more relaxed than other lenders is another matter.

But they did go through a change of image from exclusivity to "anyone can get one".

DullGreyGuy

phillw said:

DullGreyGuy said:
I think chargecards were just different rather than stricter or more liberal given the limit/spending power was typically higher than they'd give as a credit card to the same person. 

My recollection from years ago is that to get a charge card ("american express? that'll do nicely") you had to work for a company of a certain size or have quite a large amount of money.

How long ago is "years" in your mind?

Think I've held mine for circa 15 years and wouldnt meet either of those requirements. 

Dandytf

heatherw_01 said:

I found they are more picky tbh.

I managed after a few years, enjoying 1.7k limit, useful for groceries.

JES_F1

I defaulted on my first American Express card, which was part of my debt management plan that I completed in June 2013. 

I applied for a new Amex card (Platinum Cashback Everyday) in June 2019 and was surprised to get it with a £5,000 credit limit.  After a couple of months, Amex reduced my credit limit to £1,200 - I assume my past had caught up with me(!)  After two years of paying off my balance in full each month, they increased my credit limit to £2,100.

Between the end of my DMP and applying for the Amex, I got a couple of Barclaycards and a Santander Mastercard, all of which get paid in full each month. 

Marchitiello

JES_F1 said:

I defaulted on my first American Express card, which was part of my debt management plan that I completed in June 2013. 

I applied for a new Amex card (Platinum Cashback Everyday) in June 2019 and was surprised to get it with a £5,000 credit limit.  After a couple of months, Amex reduced my credit limit to £1,200 - I assume my past had caught up with me(!)  After two years of paying off my balance in full each month, they increased my credit limit to £2,100.

Between the end of my DMP and applying for the Amex, I got a couple of Barclaycards and a Santander Mastercard, all of which get paid in full each month. 

Was the Amex debt eventually paid off or at least partially, directly or via collection agency?

mulevariations

cymruchris said:

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. 

I was showing 2/10 on the eligibility checker, but my credit score was good and had no upcoming plans for the next year with credit so decided to cut my losses for the hard search and apply, I got accepted with a 2k limit. 
I used to rely on the checkers, now I don't, I only apply if pre-approved or I know I don't need to do something that affects my report for at least six months.