Discrepancy between eligibility checkers

nebula89

I've had a basic, standard credit card for a few months now (my first one ever), the other week they tripled my credit limit, and on Experian it's now 900+ after several months - all paid by direct debit straight away, sometimes paid in advance for the sake of it.

I'd wanted to eventually move to getting an Amex Rewards card as I travel quite a lot and the flight/hotel rewards from the points would be a nice touch.

I used Experian's eligibility checker, and all I got was lots of "pre-approvals" for Virgin, Natwest and Barclays.

All Amex cards were "0%".

Yet, I put the exact same info into Amex's eligibility checker and got "9.5/10" for a Gold card. Interestingly, 0/10 for the more expensive Platinum.

I'll point out that when I had no credit history at all, both the Amex Gold + Platinum ones, on Amex's eligibility checker, were about 7/10 and 8/10! 

So i'm left a bit confused... do I trust Experian? I remember they'd said I could get a £5,000 credit card when i'd checked before and i'd never had credit before. But, now they have a bit of my credit history, is that more reliable or is it still all a load of guff from them trying to sell me cards?

Should I maybe take a chance and try to get the Amex Gold card? Or wait a couple months ? I'm aware of course having masses of cards isn't really good either, I only want to have 2 or at the very most three. I'm employed and living at home so the only purpose of having them is to get my money to work a bit harder. 

prettyandfluffy

I've always found the MSE eligibility checker to be reliable, https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/eligibility/credit-cards/search/.  If Amex's own checker is giving you such a positive result, I'd go for it.  Be aware that Amex are different to most card companies - they are generous with credit limits and have good customer service (in my experience) but will close your account if you don't run it well (also in my experience but a long time ago!).

Volcane

Contrary to the above my own experience is that individual banks / lenders checkers are reliable but the MSE, CRA etc ones are not… it’ll be unique to every individual though.

MrFrugalFever

Hi,
As Experian won't be lending you any money i'd take their 'eligibility checks' with a pinch of salt. If AMEX's own eligiblity checker is giving you 9.5/10 for the Preferred Rewards Gold card (assuming you will benefit from this and understand what the card offers / fee's attached) then i'd say you have a great chance at being accepted. So why not go ahead an apply with them, what's the worst that will happen.....they'll decline you?

If you can't get the AMEX card you want then the Barclaycard Avios card (free) is definitely worth a punt if you intend to travel frequently and want to benefit from the AVIOS points (although they can be converted in to Nectar points - 250 Avios = 400 Nectar points to spend at Sainsbury's, Argos etc)

nebula89

Thanks for the advice guys, I got approved instantly for the Gold card! Shows what Experian knows aha

MrFrugalFever

Glad you got approved. As mentioned above, Experian aren't the ones lending you the money. Hopefully you got a sensible credit limit and will benefit from what the card offers. Just remember to set yourself a reminder than in 12 months time a £195 fee kicks in which is charged in full to your credit card balance. Unless you close the account of course.

I have a Barclaycard Avios Mastercard as my backup for when AMEX isn't accepted which isn't that often so far.