Amex Rejection earning $300k

[missticklish]

Hi All,

Honestly I'm a bit blown away by my rejection, even the call operator was shocked. I applied for an American Express Velocity Platinum so I can accrue some velocity points, instead of the Qantas points I get with my ANZ Black card. The issue is I am a high income earner and only have ever had two credit cards my whole life, so never a churner.

Some facts
1. I earn $300k per year and have for the last year from employment income, I'm 40, so plenty of earning years ahead
2. I own my house out right with no mortgage
3. I do have two dependents and they are in child care
4. I live like I still earn $100k - so not over spending
5. I do have a line of credit of $300k against my house but its not drawn down. But my borrowing capacity is way more than that. They never asked me this in the application process.
6. I have had two credit cards my whole life, the old 28 degree Mastercard which is now cancelled. An ANZ black with a $15k limit.
7. Credit score was 890
8. Not that it matters, but my husband is around the same income.

Has any one had this happen before? It can not be on earnings and spending. Could it be that ANZ is flagging that I'm paying my credit on time and even in advance and they know they wont make any money off me? I genuinely want to accrue both Velocity and Qantas points as with kids we need to flexible with our carrier. I read all the time that people have multiple credit cards with way less income than me.

I am genuinely annoyed by this, I get no child care rebate from the government as I'm a high income earner, but I cant even get approved for a credit card based on my income. The government need to look into the practices of credit card companies. I apparently have a letter coming in the mail telling me the exact reason but I'm not holding my breath and the operator would not put me up to a manager.

Does anyone have any suggestions here?

 

[PointsDude]

You earn $300k and have a line of credit of $300k. Amex has no way to tell if you’re going to max out that $300k line of credit tomorrow and be unable to repay your credit card. The law requires you to be able to pay the full amount of your credit limit within 24 months (income minus expenses over the period), so I’d hazard a guess this was the reason.

You also said you live like you earn $100k. Amex might’ve also looked at your income vs declared expenses and figured they were too low to be realistic, so that could be another factor.

It’s unlikely you’ll be told the actual reason though, so your best bet is to get rid of that line of credit and try again in a few months.

 

[missticklish]

You earn $300k and have a line of credit of $300k. Amex has no way to tell if you’re going to max out that $300k line of credit tomorrow and be unable to repay your credit card. The law requires you to be able to pay the full amount of your credit limit within 24 months (income minus expenses over the period), so I’d hazard a guess this was the reason.

You also said you live like you earn $100k. Amex might’ve also looked at your income vs declared expenses and figured they were too low to be realistic, so that could be another factor.

It’s unlikely you’ll be told the actual reason though, so your best bet is to get rid of that line of credit and try again in a few months.

How can a line of credit effect it? its a 30 year loan, that is fully offset. So no one with a mortgage can get a credit card?

I did forget to mention, not that they even asked, I do have $200k in the bank, so paying back the credit card in 24 hours is simple.

 

[drron]

First I would just apply again. Sometimes it works. Plus attach a copy of bank statement

 

[PPS_SYD]

How can a line of credit effect it? its a 30 year loan, that is fully offset. So no one with a mortgage can get a credit card?

I did forget to mention, not that they even asked, I do have $200k in the bank, so paying back the credit card in 24 hours is simple.

There's plenty in life that don't make sense, the smart thing to do is to navigate around it rather than fight it.

I'd say your chances of approval will go up markedly without the $300K LOC

 

[N0mad]

How can a line of credit effect it? its a 30 year loan, that is fully offset. So no one with a mortgage can get a credit card?

agreed, that makes no sense. I'm still awaiting confirmation from Amex whether i am approved for their plat card. They don't ask many questions, weren't interested in income outside of salary or having me list debts, expenses etc.

Were you emailed your outcome prior to calling or did you call when you hadn't heard back?

 

[theblank]

Some facts

theres other facts you didnt mention, every piece of data you recorded on the application is a fact that they consider. My experience is that AMEX give away credit cards like theres no tomorrow, so the financial data alone, like income and loan repayments is not the only thing they consider. Credit cards is also a mass scale business. Fast approvals decisions, little human involvement.

These things also matter much more than people realise.
- your job classification and status
- industry
- postcode
- length of time with current employer, and previous employer
- length of time at current address and previous address.
- marital status and how long
- age of kids.
- and anything else you get asked.

Big data plays a huge part in automated unsecured credit decisions (and always has). Your situation might be that AMEX is seeing higher rates of bad debts for certain aspects of your demographic, and you will never know, because AMEX peopel also doesnt know. The system just says NO and thats all there is to it.

For example it might be something silly like,
- females over age of 40, 2 years in current job, 1 year in previous, married under 5 years, with 4 kids over 10, in that postcode with high incomes, have 5% bad debt compared to 2% nationally so, sorry. No card for you.

Another bank might not have as many bad debts in that scenario so they would approve.

 

[PointsDude]

How can a line of credit effect it? its a 30 year loan, that is fully offset. So no one with a mortgage can get a credit card?

I did forget to mention, not that they even asked, I do have $200k in the bank, so paying back the credit card in 24 hours is simple.

Not sure what to tell you. A mortgage is a loan, but a $300k line of credit attached to a mortgage is potentially $300k cash you could spend and owe someone that isn’t Amex. Lenders won’t be particularly interested in how much cash you have in the bank either because at the end of the day, that can be spent as well.

With your high income and desire to earn both Velocity and Qantas points though, you’re probably better off applying for the Platinum card anyway. Due to it being a charge card and not a credit card, Amex aren’t bound by the same legal restrictions they are with credit and might be more willing to approve you.

 

[N0mad]

With your high income and desire to earn both Velocity and Qantas points though, you’re probably better off applying for the Platinum card anyway. Due to it being a charge card and not a credit card, Amex aren’t bound by the same legal restrictions they are with credit and might be more willing to approve you.

unfortunately, following related threads here and at Ozbargain would indicate that they are also being tough with approvals of the Plat card as well.

Also, just as strange eg 1 user being approved on $75k salary and history of churning vs others with high salaries and less card history.

i've always been instantly approved with Amex, this time i've gone to review and awaiting outcome.

 

[Rich]

I don't agree with those saying to get rid of the LOC. You make a lot more than me. I am older. I have a mortgage owing more than your LOC. I can still get credit cards.
I wonder, are you a contractor rather than an FTE?

 

[Ade]

AMEX has some funky things like this. I have been with AMEX over 6 years now, but they won't approve my request to increase my credit limit to $10K. The card was initially approved worth $30K limit, which I requested to be lowered and took the least available, $3K. Now I want it increased to $10K, no dice. Rejected.

 

[levelnine]

Amex have changed something on the backend in the latest round of credit card offers. No longer approving everyone like they used to.

Can't imagine there's a whole lot you can do about it. Fortunately there's plenty of other providers out there ready and willing to take your business.

 

[thrillho]

Hopefully these churner denials aren't negatively impacting peoples' credit scores - it's a selection process, not based on anyone's actual credit...

 

[Dr Ralph]

I'd offer the same advice that I did here recently:

AMEX rejection

Hi all, I've just been knocked back for the AMEX platinum charge card based on a credit inquiry and having recently received a copy of my credit history I believe the decision is incorrect and would like them to review it. The letter that AMEX sent out informing me of my rejection only had a...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Post automatically merged: Feb 13, 2024

Hopefully these churner denials aren't negatively impacting peoples' credit scores - it's a selection process, not based on anyone's actual credit...

They will impact. But so what.

 

[DC3]

Not all card applicants fit the profile that the lender is seeking. If rejected, it may be better to just move on, annoying as it is.

 

[JohnK]

AMEX has some funky things like this. I have been with AMEX over 6 years now, but they won't approve my request to increase my credit limit to $10K. The card was initially approved worth $30K limit, which I requested to be lowered and took the least available, $3K. Now I want it increased to $10K, no dice. Rejected.

Have you tried incremental credit limit increases? Ask for $4500 or $6000?

 

[Ade]

Have you tried incremental credit limit increases? Ask for $4500 or $6000?

Nah, went from $30K to $10K to $3K to $10K again ... could have tried the incremental, but wasn't too keen after the rejection ...

 

[dein_gesicht]

Hopefully these churner denials aren't negatively impacting peoples' credit scores - it's a selection process, not based on anyone's actual credit...

Churning does very little to profiles. My equifax and experian (AU) scores are 871 and 859 respectively. In the last 12 months, I have applied for an closed 4 cards, just got approved for one more and declined for one

 

[andyrb]

Does anyone have any suggestions here?

Yes. Amex conducted an assessment based upon your personal circumstances and the information you provided. They chose not to approve your application.

Move on.

 

[luxury-lizard]

One more thing to consider here (unless the AmEx call centre already provided this information) is your credit history on one of the credit bureau may be incorrect. This happened to a friend of mine who was rejected by ANZ for a loan (details don't really matter here) - turned out one of the credit bureaux showed that she was a bankrupt - her data had been corrupted with incorrect information - took ages to get it sorted out. Credit bureaux was totally in the wrong but refused to assist in correcting the information.