hello, I have had the amex secured optima card since 1999 and it has never been late, I was thinking about closing this account as my credit is better and they are not offiering me anything in the mail as far as unsecured etc.. I need input from any current or former optima secured card holders as what I should do with this account..... Thanks in advance.. Mike
I can't answer your question personally, but: Can you call AMEX and ask for an upgrade? The age of the account and the good payment history is good. Even if this doesn't answer your question, at least it got kept/moved back up to the top.
I had to ask my CU for and upgrade from secure to unsecure, and they said yes. I think it is worth a phone call.
Mike, Apply for a card before you close the account. AMEX has amnesia when it comes to the discontinued secured card product. It has no value to them in terms of upgrade potential. Ultimately, your credit score and file will determine if you qualify for a traditional card product from AMEX. What's your situation and scores? CardKid
Do what CardKid said but when you apply for an AMEX product, make sure it is an Optima card like the Delta SkyMiles, etc. That way, if you are denied, you can call back, plead your case, use the Secured Optima as ammo, and get a manual override for an approval. AMEX New Account reps can manually approve for Optima cards but not for Charge cards. Once you get a regular Optima card, you can then product transfer to just about anything you want. This is basically what I did when I was trying to go from secured Optima to regular.
kbanger - it was offered in the EASY CREDIT heydays - and a few folks were fortunate to get it - but MP was successful with it. They way they advertised it - you pretty much were told that after 1 yr of excellent payments, you would get an unsecured card. A lot of people didn't - then AMEX tightened credit - like the rest of America. aarrfff MP$40 - dogman
Dog thanks, I need more cc tl but i will not go with cap1, FCNB, prov. I am improving my scores every month and hope to be in the 600s around xmas. Dog can you look at my was blind but now I see post and tell me what you think.
