Thread: Amex backdating - it can be a process sometimes

Originally Posted by whoo hoo

Can someone clarify this for me? If I get the Costco AMEX and then later the Zync, will the Zync backdate to the Costco AMEX? The above post seems to indicate as such but isn't that clear.

Let's say for example you have a costco american express card with a date of 2008, you want to change it over to a zync, an account mgr said yes you can. any cards .

Just emailed AMEX. I asked them if they can backdate my AMEX Blue to 2008 (when I owned my first AMEX via Bank of America) but they said they can't do it.

Here's their response:

Dear XXXXXXXX,

Thank you for writing in.

I checked with the technical team and they told me it will not be possible to back date the Card as per the regulations.

I appreciate your understanding in this matter.
Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXX
Email Servicing Team
American Express Interactive Services

What's the point of backdating? No one really cares how long you've been a cardmember. They just care whether the magnetic stripe works!

Originally Posted by DoingHomework

What's the point of backdating? No one really cares how long you've been a cardmember. They just care whether the magnetic stripe works!

The point of backdating is that it can help your AAoA. For instance if someone first became a member of Amex in 1985 and then now in 2011 opened a new Amex, that new Amex would report as opened in 1985. Bham! 26 years of credit history even though it is a new account.

And some people do care, or are at least impressed with how long someone has had an account. People in their 40s and 50s should have at least one account from the 1980's or earlier. Otherwise, it would appear that they ran into some problems at some point in their life that made them start all over.....

If you mean the cashier not caring about the Member Since date on the card, you have a point. But in terms of this forum, most people agree that Amex's backdating is delicious.

Originally Posted by soyanks

Just emailed AMEX. I asked them if they can backdate my AMEX Blue to 2008 (when I owned my first AMEX via Bank of America) but they said they can't do it.

Here's their response:

Of course they cannot do it. BofA and Amex are not connected. BofA issues Amex cards pursuant a license just as they do with Visa and MasterCard. You wouldn't expect every bank and or credit union you have to backdate all your subsequent Visa and MasterCards to the date you first got one from another bank. (this was not meant to sound catty by the way).

It was worth a shot though.

Backdating is awesome. I had an American Express in 2005 which I had closed in 2008. 2005 would be my oldest open account, so it would be cool if any Amex I open will give me my oldest history. I just got a Zync this week that had Member Since 11 on it. I called them and they said they'll send me a new card that says 05. When I log in, it still says member since 2011 on the site, so I'm what I'm wondering now is if this changes when I activate the new card or if it should have been changed already.

I think they just backdate it to the year you got your first amex, but what I don't understand is why they backdate in the first place? Are there benefits involved or is it just to show how long you've been in posession of an AMEX card?

No idea why AMEX does this but they do. Basically they report to the credit bureaus that your new card was opened on the first year you were a member (whether you were an AU [but you better keep the proof] or got your first card) and the month you got your new card.

For example, I added my wife (who never had an AMEX) to mine in Dec 2011. In January 2012, she applied for a card herself. Her card is being report as being opened since 1/2011.

Why does it help? One of the key things in FICO is age and breadth of your credit file. AAoA (average age of accounts) is a important yardstick. So if you open a bunch of credit cards, you not only lose because you got a bunch of new credit, inquiries, etc. You also lose because your AAoA is decreased. With AMEX, that doesn't have to be the case. In fact, if I was a teenager who understood credit (boggle) or more likely, a parent, I would add my child to my AMEX as soon as I could and make sure to create an online profile to for sure lock in their member date (of course I wouldn't be stupid enough to give them the card).

Originally Posted by FutureBillionaire

How specifically does Amex backdating work? I want to apply for the Blue Cash Preferred as my second Amex.

AMEX believes that once you become a member, you are a member for life. Any additional accounts are just extensions of your membership; therefore, they all share the same Member Since year.

If you open subsequent accounts, they should be able to find you in their system and the new account(s) are backdated to the year of your original member year but with the correct month that you opened the new account. Say you opened your first AMEX in 1986 and you opened a Blue Cash Everyday today; it would report as opened 3/86.

If you had your first AMEX many, many years ago, like in 1986 and closed it many, many years ago say in 1988 you may have to prove to AMEX that you were a member or ask them to search their archives.

I found out quite by accident the joys of AMEX's backdating. I opened a Gold card in 1999 and closed it in 2005. I accepted one of their many offers for a Blue in 2008 and when I checked my bureaus I saw that the Blue reported as opened 9/99. I opened a Zync this January (reports as opened 1/99) specifically for the backdating to help my Average Age of Account.

Backdating, it is a beautiful thing.