Strategy to obtain US Amex

[levelnine]

This thread got so many pages. Tried reading pages but information and people experience is so scattered in different threads.

To add to sudoer, you should embrace the barriers to entry. It's what keeps most people from attempting to attain US cards. If the path was easy, it would become crowded and almost invariably be shut down or neutered in some meaningful way.

 

[desafinado74]

Was asked for address verification via bank statement when applying via GT. Since I didn’t want to go the hsbc premier route and tie up $9k I flew to the states (using points, tried out Polaris which was nice but clearly a lot of miles and points people in their J cabin) stayed with family and opened a couple of bank accounts (not for the faint hearted as they ask you what visa you are there on etc - not quite as straight forward as people make out on here. They also ask for your home address so if you got into one of those three way address verification phone calls the banker could say to amex what your real home address is). Amex wanted 30 days of transactions so had to wait for the debit card to come, make some purchases and then wait for a bank statement. Uploaded it and was accepted. There’s no way round this and it appears to me that amex are wanting address verification via bank statement increasingly. So those data points you see on here where people got GT automatically approved are not as common as a couple of years ago. Clearly what I did is not an option for everyone but I had the time to do this.

Hi Ecco,
Thank you for your informative post.
Which banks did you open accounts with ?
What type of documents did you use as proof of address ? (Did they ask for utility bills etc ?)
And how would the banks check your ESTA status ? Since the passport won't be stamped and there is no visa sticker ?

 

[QF_Flyer]

Thank you for replying. Did you do this yourself? Does HSBC send you an email to let you know of your Premier status ?

No worries. Yes I did, didn't bother changing my salary deposits so just moved it manually from ANZ and back (use the HSBC App for this, there's no Fast Payments online, annoyingly). About month 7 they sent me a letter (online in the messaging centre) welcoming me to Premier. I hadn't used a debit card for ages, so nothing was active, so I requested one and was sent the Premier debit card.

Incidentally yesterday I received an email inviting me to apply for the HSBC Premier credit card, which I did (as it seems a good "everyday" Aussie card which has no annual fee, a decent domestic earn rate and doesn't affect eligibility for SUB elsewhere), also 1.5x QF points (or HSBC Rewards, but this just means 0.75x Asia Miles, SQ Miles or Velocity Points) per $ for year one. Process was a pain, uploading online docs wouldn't work...so I sent a Fax for the first time in about 10 years.

I sent the Fax around midday (using a free trial in an iPhone app). Around 16:30 I got an email approval and the card was in Apple Pay 5 minutes later, which was pretty impressive despite the annoying need to Fax someone in 2024!

 

[Ecco]

Given your dedication, here's mine in return. Have just set up alerts and it works.

View attachment 394377

Thanks @sudoer. Btw thanks also for all the input you make on this site. I appreciate your insights. They are always helpful, respectful and constructive.

 

[Finale]

Was asked for address verification via bank statement when applying via GT. Since I didn’t want to go the hsbc premier route and tie up $9k I flew to the states (using points, tried out Polaris which was nice but clearly a lot of miles and points people in their J cabin) stayed with family and opened a couple of bank accounts (not for the faint hearted as they ask you what visa you are there on etc - not quite as straight forward as people make out on here. They also ask for your home address so if you got into one of those three way address verification phone calls the banker could say to amex what your real home address is). Amex wanted 30 days of transactions so had to wait for the debit card to come, make some purchases and then wait for a bank statement. Uploaded it and was accepted. There’s no way round this and it appears to me that amex are wanting address verification via bank statement increasingly. So those data points you see on here where people got GT automatically approved are not as common as a couple of years ago. Clearly what I did is not an option for everyone but I had the time to do this.

I personally think Amex does less address verification these days. Many years ago I hardly heard anybody getting through without it. That was why I added a checking account as a requirement on the first page of this thread. If you couldn't open the account and Amex still wanted to do verification, you had to wait a month and try again. I know quite a few people having to do it 3 - 5 times but still approved at the end. Made me think the length of relationship might help in some cases. I hope that is still the case as I got a couple of friends wanting to do GT soon.

A bank agent on the phone shouldn't say anything to Amex. They should ask you to say the address then confirm.

 

[nthd_nthd]

Was asked for address verification via bank statement when applying via GT. Since I didn’t want to go the hsbc premier route and tie up $9k I flew to the states (using points, tried out Polaris which was nice but clearly a lot of miles and points people in their J cabin) stayed with family and opened a couple of bank accounts (not for the faint hearted as they ask you what visa you are there on etc - not quite as straight forward as people make out on here. They also ask for your home address so if you got into one of those three way address verification phone calls the banker could say to amex what your real home address is). Amex wanted 30 days of transactions so had to wait for the debit card to come, make some purchases and then wait for a bank statement. Uploaded it and was accepted. There’s no way round this and it appears to me that amex are wanting address verification via bank statement increasingly. So those data points you see on here where people got GT automatically approved are not as common as a couple of years ago. Clearly what I did is not an option for everyone but I had the time to do this.

Was planning the same. What was your reply when they asked what visa you were on? I have BOA, US Bank, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo on my list but not sure If I can get them done during a short period of time they fly out. Destination is HNL and thinking of a short hop over to get them done and come back.

Is this achievable in 1/2 day?

 

[desafinado74]

Was planning the same. What was your reply when they asked what visa you were on? I have BOA, US Bank, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo on my list but not sure If I can get them done during a short period of time they fly out. Destination is HNL and thinking of a short hop over to get them done and come back.

Is this achievable in 1/2 day?

Unfortunately those above mentioned banks have no branches in HNL. You gotta goto LA, San Francisco, Seattle etc on the mainland to open accounts.

 

[desafinado74]

No worries. Yes I did, didn't bother changing my salary deposits so just moved it manually from ANZ and back (use the HSBC App for this, there's no Fast Payments online, annoyingly). About month 7 they sent me a letter (online in the messaging centre) welcoming me to Premier. I hadn't used a debit card for ages, so nothing was active, so I requested one and was sent the Premier debit card.

Incidentally yesterday I received an email inviting me to apply for the HSBC Premier credit card, which I did (as it seems a good "everyday" Aussie card which has no annual fee, a decent domestic earn rate and doesn't affect eligibility for SUB elsewhere), also 1.5x QF points (or HSBC Rewards, but this just means 0.75x Asia Miles, SQ Miles or Velocity Points) per $ for year one. Process was a pain, uploading online docs wouldn't work...so I sent a Fax for the first time in about 10 years.

I sent the Fax around midday (using a free trial in an iPhone app). Around 16:30 I got an email approval and the card was in Apple Pay 5 minutes later, which was pretty impressive despite the annoying need to Fax someone in 2024!

Thanks so much for your detailed reply.
How do you time your movement of 9k ? For example, do you deposit it at the start of the month, keep it there until the start of the following month, withdraw, and a few days later, deposit it back ?

Haha, speaking of faxes, it is still common in USA. Had to fax some docs to AMEX USA last year.

 

[Ecco]

Hi Ecco,
Thank you for your informative post.
Which banks did you open accounts with ?
What type of documents did you use as proof of address ? (Did they ask for utility bills etc ?)
And how would the banks check your ESTA status ? Since the passport won't be stamped and there is no visa sticker ?

I went to wells and BoA. They both didn't ask for proof of address or want to sight my esta. I said I was staying with family. But they do insist on putting your home address as well as your US address. Wells asked me to fill out a declaration saying I have a W8Ben tax form. Luckily I had one from my US brokerage account.

Also to keep both accounts fee free you need to have $500 usd balance in it at all times.

I was able to load my debit cards onto Apple wallet whilst in the US. Did require a verification call to their call centre. However I couldn't load my Amex green card which I got this week. Must be geofenced.

Hopefully this will be a worthwhile exercise with the better bonus and earn and transfer rates especially on travel etc. Also not having the 3% fx fee that I have on my Amex plat will help. But as someone mentioned up thread there's still the Amex USA 1% fx spread you incur putting charges on your us cc to take into account. I'm not planning to sign up for multiple US ccs. Will prob spend on my local Amex plat and transfer over once a year.

 

[Ecco]

Was planning the same. What was your reply when they asked what visa you were on? I have BOA, US Bank, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo on my list but not sure If I can get them done during a short period of time they fly out. Destination is HNL and thinking of a short hop over to get them done and come back.

Is this achievable in 1/2 day?

I would just do a couple. I stayed for 10 days so I could get the debit card although my family member could have rang me through the card details. I used the card for 4 days then came back.
When you say you are there on esta they just tick it off this list but they then know you are only visiting.
Are Wells Fargo and BOA etc in Hawaii?
If you make appointments you could do it in half a day.
I think Chase want an ssn number to open a bank account.

 

[desafinado74]

I went to wells and BoA. They both didn't ask for proof of address or want to sight my esta. I said I was staying with family. But they do insist on putting your home address as well as your US address. Wells asked me to fill out a declaration saying I have a W8Ben tax form. Luckily I had one from my US brokerage account.

Also to keep both accounts fee free you need to have $500 usd balance in it at all times.

I was able to load my debit cards onto Apple wallet whilst in the US. Did require a verification call to their call centre. However I couldn't load my Amex green card which I got this week. Must be geofenced.

Hopefully this will be a worthwhile exercise with the better bonus and earn and transfer rates especially on travel etc. Also not having the 3% fx fee that I have on my Amex plat will help. But as someone mentioned up thread there's still the Amex USA 1% fx spread you incur putting charges on your us cc to take into account. I'm not planning to sign up for multiple US ccs. Will prob spend on my local Amex plat and transfer over once a year.

Thank you for the lengthy reply.
Do you have an ITIN yourself ?
I have one, and i was wondering if i need to fill out a W8BEN form too.
Did you bring a copy of your completed W8 form from your brokerage account too ?

 

[Ansett Nostalgic]

So is a real US bank account a must to make this work now?

 

[Phoenix-1]

Bit of an odd situation - my FICO score through Bank of America is now returning "score unavailable". For the last two months it's worked fine. Anyone run into this issue? I can still see it through Amex (albeit, a different number/calculation I'm assuming). I don't really care too much about it being visible but I do worry something has gone on in the backend that may affect the next card application.

Also what impact does a rejection have on credit score in the US? I've got roughly 14 months of credit history now and a decent FICO score (761) so I would like to apply for a Chase card.

 

[nthd_nthd]

Unfortunately those above mentioned banks have no branches in HNL. You gotta goto LA, San Francisco, Seattle etc on the mainland to open accounts.

Yes, I was planning to hop over from HNL

 

[nthd_nthd]

I would just do a couple. I stayed for 10 days so I could get the debit card although my family member could have rang me through the card details. I used the card for 4 days then came back.
When you say you are there on esta they just tick it off this list but they then know you are only visiting.
Are Wells Fargo and BOA etc in Hawaii?
If you make appointments you could do it in half a day.
I think Chase want an ssn number to open a bank account.

no, none of them in HNL, Have to take a flight into either SFO or LAX but reckon worth it to get it done.

 

[Daventry]

DP - Bonvoy Brilliant annual fee posted 2 weeks ago, asked about retention offers on chat today. Answer was ‘Nope’

 

[levelnine]

Also what impact does a rejection have on credit score in the US?

You'll get an additional inquiry (hard pull) on your credit report, but that's about it.

The two banks you're most likely to consider at this stage — Amex and Chase — don't really care about inquiries. Citi, C1 & BoA do.

 

[Ecco]

Thank you for the lengthy reply.
Do you have an ITIN yourself ?
I have one, and i was wondering if i need to fill out a W8BEN form too.
Did you bring a copy of your completed W8 form from your brokerage account too ?

I don’t have an Itin currently.
They didn’t ask to see the w8ben form. The guy just ask me if I had filled one out. It was only at Wells Fargo that they asked me that question. I’m not sure if you need a w8ben for each financial institution or just a one that covers every one.

 

[Ecco]

no, none of them in HNL, Have to take a flight into either SFO or LAX but reckon worth it to get it done.

I got a request from GT to see a bank account that was 30 days old, so if you have no US transactions on it not sure if that would be ok. If you don’t stay until you get the debit card, which takes about a week then you can’t put any transactions on it after opening the account. Apparently you could use a virtual card after opening the bank account but only if you can download the BOA or Wells app, which I couldn’t do as my iCloud account is not US based. I didn’t want to attempt to have a US iCloud logon on the same phone as I read that doing that wipes all your local Apple wallet cards. Or something like that. A lot of hoops to jump through…

 

[Daventry]

Y

I got a request from GT to see a bank account that was 30 days old, so if you have no US transactions on it not sure if that would be ok. If you don’t stay until you get the debit card, which takes about a week then you can’t put any transactions on it after opening the account. Apparently you could use a virtual card after opening the bank account but only if you can download the BOA or Wells app, which I couldn’t do as my iCloud account is not US based. I didn’t want to attempt to have a US iCloud logon on the same phone as I read that doing that wipes all your local Apple wallet cards. Or something like that. A lot of hoops to jump through…

You need a US iTunes ID, not an iCloud ID. The former won’t clear out your wallet