AMEX rejection

[levelnine]

Has anyone been rejected but later approved?

I've tried to sign P2 up for Plat Charge on 3 occasions in the last 12 months - each 90+ days apart. All rejected. She hasn't opened a card in 9+ months.

Some recent data points on an OzBargain thread show people having a similar experience. Seems like once Amex flags you as a churner, you're blacklisted for an unspecified period of time.

 

[doctorstrangelove]

Has anyone been rejected but later approved?

I've tried to sign P2 up for Plat Charge on 3 occasions in the last 12 months - each 90+ days apart. All rejected. She hasn't opened a card in 9+ months.

I was rejected in January 2024 in all likelihood for previous churning as there were no other obvious red flags. I had applied for an AMEX Platinum just after my 18 month exclusion period had ended. I reapplied in September 2024 and was instantly approved. My last credit card opened prior to this was in September 2023.

 

[pyramidforce]

Has anyone been rejected but later approved?

I've tried to sign P2 up for Plat Charge on 3 occasions in the last 12 months - each 90+ days apart. All rejected. She hasn't opened a card in 9+ months.

I have been rejected jan2023, may2024, oct2024. However, each of those times I had opened another card somewhat recently.

Im coming up on 90 days since oct2024. Will have been 10 months since my last card in march 2024. Will apply for plat edge instead of plat. Hopefully something will work!!

 

[N0mad]

Has anyone been rejected but later approved?

I've tried to sign P2 up for Plat Charge on 3 occasions in the last 12 months - each 90+ days apart. All rejected. She hasn't opened a card in 9+ months.

i'll report back shortly, rejected last Feb for Plat charge and opened instead for P2. Planning on downgrading hers and reapplying for myself next month. I haven't opened or closed a card since Dec 22 so hoping i'm in the clear now.

 

[Airbumps]

i'll report back shortly, rejected last Feb for Plat charge and opened instead for P2. Planning on downgrading hers and reapplying for myself next month. I haven't opened or closed a card since Dec 22 so hoping i'm in the clear now.

Will be interested to hear how you go - I'm very curious how long it takes for one to get off the amex cough list!

 

[N0mad]

Will be interested to hear how you go - I'm very curious how long it takes for one to get off the amex cough list!

will report back with success or otherwise once i apply, looking to minimise any overlap between me and wife given the cost of the card.

 

[I love to travel]

I wonder why Amex are clamping down so hard? The cost of buying points is negligible and they get the merchant fees when we use them. It still must be a win for them. Given other banks are extending exclusion periods something in the market has shifted

 

[MooTime]

I wonder why Amex are clamping down so hard? The cost of buying points is negligible and they get the merchant fees when we use them. It still must be a win for them. Given other banks are extending exclusion periods something in the market has shifted

I agree.
Seems Amex may even limit approvals to once per 18 months on their cards, not just the bonus sign up points.

General comment, not saying it's hard n fast rule.

 

[burneracc]

Has anyone been rejected but later approved?

I've tried to sign P2 up for Plat Charge on 3 occasions in the last 12 months - each 90+ days apart. All rejected. She hasn't opened a card in 9+ months.

Yeah, I had an empty credit report, got rejected from the plat, called and was advised to open a different cc and then reapply to amex after 6 months of credit history. The only thing on my credit report at the time was an Optus postpaid plan (no phone finance or anything though, purely the month to month plan) so it made sense in all honestly.

At the time I figured that my income would be what guaranteed plat approval (am a recent graduate but income ~160k) however amex seemed to take actual credit history quite importantly and didn't care for my income. Letter specifically said issue with credit history. Re applied to amex after 6 months of making payments on some random commbank card (was treated like a criminal lol, such a bad experience but thats another story) and then was approved for plat instantly.

How is P2 credit report? What did the rejection letter say? Any chance that opening a generic card just to have some activity on the report might help?

 

[sudoer]

How is P2 credit report?

5+ years history, all at current employer, nearly 2 years at current address, mortgage, no other credit cards or lines of credit, no defaults/late payments...

She has churned Amex twice previously, last card closed in Sep 2022.

The rejection letter was the usual vague wording but I'm almost certain it's either the frequency she has applied for and closed a range of other cards previously, or that she's been an Amex customer on and off in the past. Her file is otherwise flawless and 900+ with both Equifax and Experian.

 

[pyramidforce]

Not looking good for me. Same 5-10 day email for the platinum edge. Have no idea what it is but looks like I'm still on the wrong list.

 

[Gremlin]

I wonder why Amex are clamping down so hard? The cost of buying points is negligible and they get the merchant fees when we use them. It still must be a win for them. Given other banks are extending exclusion periods something in the market has shifted

There's a lot more cost involved for the lender in establishing a card than simply buying points. They will be losing good money on serial churners.

 

[I love to travel]

There's a lot more cost involved for the lender in establishing a card than simply buying points. They will be losing good money on serial churners.

That may be so but still doesn't account for why are they clamping down now

 

[Gremlin]

That may be so but still doesn't account for why are they clamping down now

Because they are getting better at tracking and matching applicants longitudinally from their own data rather than relying on credit agencies to provide a direct match. They are also improving their ability to measure customer lifetime value, whilst their machine learning models are getting better at predicting future customer lifetime value, including at inception and including behaviours identified when previously a customer. They can now also do these matches and scores at scale at relatively low cost and incorporate into their acceptance process in a way that would not have been financially viable even a few years ago.

I don't work with Amex, but a number of my customers are doing similar things that help them weed out serial loss-making customers.

 

[Jubified]

I suspect I may be on the naughty list too. Originally had amex qantas in 2019 and then again in 2021. Tried applying for velocity last year Jan but rejected. Tried amex plat yesterday and was giving the 5-10 BD email. The application didn’t ask for expenses which I thought it was weird.

10 credit enquires over the past 5 years on my file.

I was hoping to use the amex plat as a keeper card.

 

[I love to travel]

I suspect I may be on the naughty list too. Originally had amex qantas in 2019 and then again in 2021. Tried applying for velocity last year Jan but rejected. Tried amex plat yesterday and was giving the 5-10 BD email. The application didn’t ask for expenses which I thought it was weird.

10 credit enquires over the past 5 years on my file.

I was hoping to use the amex plat as a keeper card.

That is not a lot of churning to be on the naughty list. Maybe AMEX is not an option for churning any longer...sad

 

[sudoer]

The application didn’t ask for expenses which I thought it was weird.

This is normal for Amex

 

[Coathanger]

This is normal for Amex

Presumably they use HEM + % rather than making applicants go through a manual tally?