AMEX rejection

[mel-world]

Welcome to AFF. Valuable insights.

 

[MELso]

Hello Everyone. I have been a lurker here for a long time but made an account because I wanted to jump into this conversation.

A little about me: I used to work for American Express and left the company last year to work elsewhere in the sector.

After reading through this thread and seeing all the comments I wanted to give some info. I won't be sharing any insider or secret knowledge but will instead just stick to some general info.

1. American Express are cracking down HARD on churners. If the system identifies you as a churner will make it hard or almost impossible to be approved.
   
   
2. I believe the system does not care much if you have multiple cards with other institutions but does care if there is a history of multiple card closures.
   
   
3. Putting in multiple applications over a short period of time is a very bad idea. This will put you on a fraud/spam list or permanent decline list. If this happens you will never hold an AmEx card again.
   
   
4. Calling to speak with a representative will have no change in the outcome of the decision to decline an application. Frontline staff do not have a way to override this or escalate. The only time they can do something is if there has been a major error in the application which they can escalate for a review.
   
   
5. There is no way to cheat the system to get approved. The system will approve applications based on credit reporting and strict internal business rules. You can have excellent credit history but still be declined based on other criteria. There are a lot of these rules and they vary depending on the card you are applying for and other factors.
   
   
6. American Express want long term card holders. I believe there are some changes happening later this year that reward these customers but I don't know much about it as I left the company around the time this was in early development. I don't know if this will happen at all.

I am happy to answer questions as long as people know and understand I will only give general info and not share anything confidential or the like.

Thanks - Jaz.

Welcome to AFF and thanks for posting!

 

[andyrb]

wanted to give some info

Thanks for sharing this.

I guess this means the people who think they're clever for putting in applications every month and "playing the game" aren't very clever and are just betting against themselves.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Welcome to AFF @jazjaz and a very informative first post, thank you.

A common issue with some of us here on AFF is, as a retired person, either getting approval for a card ( Amex or other institutions) or an increased credit limit is declined. Frustrating when trying to book Premium cabin flights.

 

[kpc]

Thanks for sharing this.

I guess this means the people who think they're clever for putting in applications every month and "playing the game" aren't very clever and are just betting against themselves.

I wonder who you are referring to

 

[burneracc]

I believe there are some changes happening later this year that reward these customers

what counts as a long term cardholder with regards to whatever this may or may not turn out to be? how many years are we talking?

also, great first post - but I hope your name IRL isn't some variant of jaz / jasmine / etc - its good to be careful of things like this that can trace back to you if you are sharing info like this.

 

[jazjaz]

Is there anything more specific you can share on what Amex defines as a churner. Thanks

Hello

I should have stated in my post yesterday that churner is a person who opens and closes cards for the goal of getting bonus points and rewards. That is the general term used here and understood as such. American Express do not use the term churner internally. There is another word they use for such people but I will stick to using "churner".

Unfortunately this is something I don't know.. The system will be configured to detect a churner as someone who has opened and closed a number of cards in a short time. I don't know what that number is and I don't know what a short time is.

But from a personal opinion: if you want to assume someone held an AmEx card for five years and closed it, opened a VISA somewhere for two years and closed it and then applied for an AmEx card again, that might not be thought of as a churner I would think. That is probably someone who has just decided to go elsewhere and then returned.

If there was a person who had a history of opening and closing cards every year, I would think that might be determined as churning.

Again it is depending on how the system is configured and it may be altered regularly. The exact configuration was not something I was privy to and not known to staff generally.

Thanks - Jaz.

 

[jazjaz]

A common issue with some of us here on AFF is, as a retired person, either getting approval for a card ( Amex or other institutions) or an increased credit limit is declined. Frustrating when trying to book Premium cabin flights.

Hello

Yes this is unfortunately a thing and it is happening everywhere like you have said. My personal thoughts are that it is due to regulations about responsible lending are leading to retired people being declined.

I am aware of a retired person who applied for a VISA card with a low limit about two years ago. Their request was declined. They offered to put a bond into a term deposit and it was then approved on this basis.

Thanks - Jaz.

 

[jazjaz]

what counts as a long term cardholder with regards to whatever this may or may not turn out to be? how many years are we talking?

Hello

This is something I don't know. However I would think it is someone who has shown a loyalty for a length of time and uses the card regularly.

I left American Express as the project was in development and have no idea on the criteria that is applied.

Thanks - Jaz.