I applied for the American Express charge card and was declined solely for too many inquiries and the pre-approval is for the same card. I have no negative credit, late payments, missed payments. Just wondering how I could be declined and then sent a pre-approval.
Pre-approval does not mean guaranteed approval even for American Express. It just means that you meet the criteria for applying. How long is your credit history? I think AMEX likes to see 2 lines in good standing for 1 or 2 years.
I have installment loans that are older than 2 years, but my credit cards are all less than a year old, about six months.
Yes, more than 6 inquiries in 6 months is reasons for denial. When they send out the pre-approval letters, they are sent in batches or waives. So the first batch goes out and then they send out a second batch like 4-6 weeks later in case you did not reply to the first. Since mail marketing has a return rate of like 2%, they want to maximize that return because sometimes people do not take the initial offer, but change their minds when they get a second or third. Thus, the mailings are locked in--it does not matter if you even get the card--they will still send them out because they have already gone through the system. They do not follow-up after the first batch is sent out, only when they do conduct a new mass mailing for the next quarter.
Jason Do you know what the minimum FICO is for AMEX? Also if you have roughly 27 positive accounts and 4 negatives, oldest one being from 1977 (paid off mortgage) a 2nd paid off mortgage, current and open is 1 bank installment loan, car loan, 3 Major cards and 2 stores all current no lates. FICO is 593. Inquiries in the past 6 months are 6 exactly. All other accounts are closed but listed paid as agreed. The only 4 negatives are 1 CC settled from1995, and 3 small collections for $28, $25 and $343 listed as consumer disputes investigation in progress.
Re: Jason Kathy, What AMEX card are you talking about (each card has different requirements). Yes, I know the FICO scores, but cannot reveal that over the net. I need to explain that I do not work in new accounts, and that dept is very secure and thus I cannot say whether or not you would qualify for a card. Although I am familiar with some criterias, I cannot make approval decisions and thus cannot say if you would get a card or not. The only way to know for certain is to apply. One inquiry will not kill your credit report, and if you get denied, you will know exactly why and what you can work on to improve your credit.
