Thread: Can you still do a soft pull from Amex to check approval?

I have been researching a LOT today about this and it seems all the information I've found -- even in the last 8-12 months -- is very outdated.

If you are not an Amex credit/charge card holder, is there still a way to provide basic info to Amex and allow them to tell you what you're likely to be approved for? This feature seems to be invisible or a myth and I am afraid to go through the application process because I do not want another hard pull.

My history is:

-- late payments in May 2012 brought my credit from 721 --> high 500s (has gone up since)

-- One of those late accounts was Capital One card which I thought was closed but wasn't and was recently approved for another Capital One card with a crappy $300 limit (total $800)

-- In the last month, I've become an Amex W-word, opening a prepaid card (which supposedly helps you build a history with them and may increase your chances of an approval? rep would neither confirm nor deny that), opening a high yield savings account with $2500 deposit and will deposit $2000 every month from here forward

-- In the last week, became add'l cardholder on my father's Amex Plat card (still waiting for that card) which I was told by a rep would make me inherit my father's account and credit history with Amex (yes, she said CREDIT) and would positively affect my score as long as the acct remains in good standing

-- My girlfriend (who lives with me) keeps getting offers from Amex gold, so if she takes the offer and makes me an add'l cardholder, will that help or is that just overkill? She never ever ever misses a payment or does anything financially irresponsible.

-- Perhaps most importantly, all debt is GONE and I just paid my maxed capital one bill off in full a month early... not sure how much that helps or if it's just wishful thinking that credit bureaus care about that.

Any information is appreciated. I am trying to decode this system and patience is absolutely not a virtue of mine.

Mike

I was looking for this as well & had no luck. I think it's been taken off the website.

Thanks a lot for your help. You're right. I ought to be patient here and just keep building my credit. My Experian and Transunion reports both say I have too many inquiries in the last year (when getting an auto loan last month, one dealer played a bait-and-switch type deal after getting my credit app, so I had to go somewhere else. That's the reasoning.)


Just to clarify one thing, I was told by Amex that by becoming an add'l cardholder on my father's card, I would inherit his account history with Amex right now and that it would show up as an account on my credit report, which can only be good as long as he keeps the account healthy. I'm not sure if I would actually inherit his AAoA but that'd be awesome since he's been a member since 93.

I have also been paying about double on my auto loan payment the last two months. Does anybody know if paying double on an auto loan will make any difference to credit bureaus or am I delusional?

Again, thanks in advance.

Paying double on your auto loan will not help you much with your score. The best thing you can do is stay patient, do not apply for any new credit and make sure you pay everything on time. You've got to let the inquiries fall off, which takes 2 years and you've got to get the late payment long in the past. Don't do anything that involves applying for new credit for at least two years. Don't change your cell phone plan, move into an apartment, change utilities, nothing!

I sort of want to wait a few months until my scores increase above 700 then at least TRY for a charge card so I can see what their issue is for denying me. I think for certain that having so many American Express services will be at least a minor factor in their system's decision making. If their system can detect I have $10k+ savings with them, that I am an authorized user on two accounts, and that I spent X amount on their crappy prepaid card every month, that should count for something. Yes I'm an optimist. :-D

If nothing else, it will make for excellent research for anyone else trying to do what I am trying to do and make time fly.

You're right. I guess it depends if the "piggybacking" thing works, where Amex reports my name and info to the credit bureaus for this Platinum account. If they do, then I will get a huge boost based on this account's history. It is a business account that has charged $30-40k a month for the last several years.

Just got the Platinum card last night. Doesn't feel good though since I can't use it. Says member since 13

And yeah my girlfriend is dragging her feet but ultimately she will apply for the card this weekend because a) she lives in my apartment for free and b) I provide unlimited back rubs in 2-minute intervals (very powerful persuasion tool). Oh and something about love.

If you become an authorized user on your father's Amex card, they will report his card information (good and bad) to your credit report. This happened to my wife and I. I have an Amex Platinum now but it began as a Gold account way back in 1989 when I got my first job after college. After my wife and I got married, we consolidated finances. She joined me on my Amex and her credit reports show that her oldest active credit is indeed that card. Also, at one point my wife was an authorized user on her mother's Amex card, but she ended the use of that card after we got married (although she had barely ever used it). Recently her credit report resurrected that her use of this card was still active (old bad data from Amex) and we have asked them to fix it. So right now, my wife's oldest credit card on her report is technically that card since it was opened back in 1983.

Likewise, she had a Chase Slate card (now upgraded to a Freedom) which I joined as an authorized user and so that information going back to 1998 is on my credit report. We have a third card (a Bank of America World Mastercard which is being changed to a 3-2-1 card) and I am the primary. We were perplexed as to why this card wasn't on my wife's credit report only to realize that I never put her down as an authorized user (we seldom use the thing). Since putting her on as an authorized user will improve her credit score, I'm moving to correct that mistake.