Reply To: Current wait times after acceptance

[JDB]

AFKAE wrote:

whuaremassive wrote:

Just updating to say we have now had an email with a rejection, 10 days after applying and getting online approval

I’ve just had that today as well. It blamed Experian credit reference check, so I looked it up 999. Phoned the number on the Amex email rejection and he said it was their internal referencing system. So, I said that’s not what the email says. After a bit of silence he said he would put it back for a review from their approvals team. He said expect to hear in 3-5 days. Let’s see what happens next.

The Experian ‘number’ is a complete irrelevance/gimmick – credit card companies have their own systems/algorithms/criteria and don’t use the so called credit score. Amex is particularly idiosyncratic, using its own proprietary long term data and factors in such things as household income although that has no effective value if it comes to the crunch (ie collecting bad debts).

Banks and other credit providers are naturally tightening their lending criteria in light of severe pressures on most household incomes, rapidly rising interest/mortgage rates and the worsening UK and global economic situation that will lead to job losses and defaults. They are also being pressed on this front by the PRA and FCA.

If you have lots of credit cards with big limits, even if utilisation is very low and they are paid off each month, that’s not good for new applications; it’s a sign of financial weakness, not strength. In this environment, it’s going to be a mistake to be playing around with cards, opening and closing accounts assuming you are sure to get another one.