Strategy to obtain US Amex

[blacksultan]

Just sounded quite convoluted - was mainly just amused at them suggesting it!

Oh ok . I found it quite strange as well . But great option if it’s true .

 

[albyd]

How will you change how you use your US cards going forward ?

I think we’ll see what happens. I reckon that what happened in the UK is a good example of what might happen.. some merchants like govt. billers will BIN block foreign cards and others will surcharge them.

Individual face to face merchants will likely allow them and play the DCC game with us.

In short, I’ll keep using them and see what happens. I reckon it will take time to roll out the changes to merchant terminals much like it took hospitality businesses to roll surcharging out. I think it will be much faster this time around. YMMV

 

[Tiki]

Some Aussie billers, in my case Vodafone and Urban Utilities (water) won't take my Citi AA although if I was desperate to make a minimum spend I can pay at Aus Post in person. Barclays and Chase are still ok with paying utilities. Sometimes they send a code to my Tello which works fine, don't know why Citi doesn't do that.

Has anyone tried Bilt? US bloggers and YouTubers are raving about it but I can't see much use if you don't have a US based rental or mortgage.

 

[Finale]

For DP, existing customer applied for 8th Chase card (Hyatt Business).

- Sent to fraud.

- The agent didn’t verify identity through the app. The phone didn’t work. Questions seemed simple this time. Birth month and year plus the limit on any Chase card.

- Same old ITIN not matching the credit file issue. Then worked on my application for like 20 mins.

- Got sent to another team and was asked why I needed another business card. Then asked if I was okay moving some limit from another card. Makes sense as my total Chase limit was already $62k with $85k income on the app. Whole call was 40 mins.

- The app got sent to manual review and I was told I would hear back in 24 hours.

- Got a missed call a few hours later (already slept), then got a letter asking me to call.

- 5 Hard pulls 3x Ex, 1x TU, 1x EQ

- Called and verified identity through the app this time. The agent worked on the app for like 15 mins, then transferred me to another team.

- They asked again to confirm the limit reallocation, then approved.

 

[blacksultan]

For DP, existing customer applied for 8th Chase card (Hyatt Business).

- Sent to fraud.

- The agent didn’t verify identity through the app. The phone didn’t work. Questions seemed simple this time. Birth month and year plus the limit on any Chase card.

- Same old ITIN not matching the credit file issue. Then worked on my application for like 20 mins.

- Got sent to another team and was asked why I needed another business card. Then asked if I was okay moving some limit from another card. Makes sense as my total Chase limit was already $62k with $85k income on the app. Whole call was 40 mins.

- The app got sent to manual review and I was told I would hear back in 24 hours.

- Got a missed call a few hours later (already slept), then got a letter asking me to call.

- 5 Hard pulls 3x Ex, 1x TU, 1x EQ

- Called and verified identity through the app this time. The agent worked on the app for like 15 mins, then transferred me to another team.

- They asked again to confirm the limit reallocation, then approved.

Surprised . Was always told limit cant be moved to have an application approved !
Hence I lowered limits on existing cards to make approval easier !

 

[Franko Costa]

Surprised . Was always told limit cant be moved to have an application approved !
Hence I lowered limits on existing cards to make approval easier !

My last ink was I was approved by moving credit around. Only biz for biz though

 

[albyd]

Has anyone tried Bilt? US bloggers and YouTubers are raving about it but I can't see much use if you don't have a US based rental or mortgage.

I thought Bilt’s superpower was for US mortgage or Rent payments. That creates capacity to earn outsized multipliers on other spend. I think 2x on the C1 cards (if you can get them as c1 IME is hard to get approved with initially though applying with an AU IP rather than a VPN got me to ‘yes’) pretty simple.

Anything else I’ve missed?

 

[blacksultan]

My last ink was I was approved by moving credit around. Only biz for biz though

Can you move credit line from personal to have personal card approved ?

 

[nj12]

. I think 2x on the C1 cards (if you can get them as c1 IME is hard to get approved with initially though applying with an AU IP rather than a VPN got me to ‘yes’) pretty simple.

Forgive me if you've mentioned this earlier in the thread but how did you get around the State Drivers License Verification for C1 identity? I'm looking to expand outside of Chase and Amex (11 Cards combined) but there doesn't appear to many recent DP's for C1 and Citi approvals with ITIN only.

 

[Tiki]

I thought Bilt’s superpower was for US mortgage or Rent payments. That creates capacity to earn outsized multipliers on other spend. I think 2x on the C1 cards (if you can get them as c1 IME is hard to get approved with initially though applying with an AU IP rather than a VPN got me to ‘yes’) pretty simple.

Anything else I’ve missed?

Citi Strata Premier has 3x on Groceries and Gas Stations amongst other things which covers a lot of everyday spend. I haven't gone for any C1, they just seem too paranoid and have shut people down with no recourse. I have Citi AA so right now I am putting spend on it because I need more AA and to show them what a good customer I am so they will give me the Strata Premier in a couple months. Bilt has great partners but I can't see any value for people who don't physically live in the USA.

 

[blacksultan]

Forgive me if you've mentioned this earlier in the thread but how did you get around the State Drivers License Verification for C1 identity? I'm looking to expand outside of Chase and Amex (11 Cards combined) but there doesn't appear to many recent DP's for C1 and Citi approvals with ITIN only.

I got 2 Citi . Normal process like chase .

 

[Grrr]

I have Citi

Earlier reports on this thread seemed to say Citi was just as twitchy ?
No issues with fraud blocking in your experience ?

 

[blacksultan]

I got 2 Citi . Normal process like chase .

With itin .

 

[blacksultan]

Earlier reports on this thread seemed to say Citi was just as twitchy ?
No issues with fraud blocking in your experience ?

When the card is new . Yes . They then send a 4 digit verification code to you address .

 

[albyd]

Forgive me if you've mentioned this earlier in the thread but how did you get around the State Drivers License Verification for C1 identity? I'm looking to expand outside of Chase and Amex (11 Cards combined) but there doesn't appear to many recent DP's for C1 and Citi approvals with ITIN only.

I found that applying without an VPN. Previously, I’ve been approved but they then wanted a state ID - that was their version of ‘show us’ for suspected fraud. Try applying without a VPN or try a residential VPN as discussed up-thread.