Amex Platinum minimum income?

[jamran]

Hey all

My brother has been rejected for an amex platinum because his current income was deemed to be too low.

His salary is £45k per annum.

They did not want to disclose what their minimum requirement is when he called to enquire.

Anyone know of this change?

[VALittleRed]

They don’t usually have an income requirement. However they do take into account mortgage payments etc so if he has a large mortgage it’s possible that is preventing him getting it. Does he have any other debts including a mortgage? They are apparently tightening up giving credit to people with mortgages etc

[jamran]

No he doesn’t. When he called them, they specifically said that there was now a minimum annual salary requirement. However, they do not disclose it. That’s exactly what the representative said. Based on the personal income, he stated (£45,000), it was deemed too low.

Here’s an image of the email

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0edenFMNavFomqNpgPafqx67A

[NigelHamilton]

Ah, this is helpful, because I’ve been debating the benefit of referring my wife for the Plat (she’s currently the supp on mine and so some of the benefits would be the same). Her income is nowhere near that so it’s not worth me getting a rejection.

[Reney]

NigelHamilton wrote:

Ah, this is helpful, because I’ve been debating the benefit of referring my wife for the Plat (she’s currently the supp on mine and so some of the benefits would be the same). Her income is nowhere near that so it’s not worth me getting a rejection.

But there is a box for household income, can you not add yours to that box?

[NorthernLass]

If they’re not going to disclose this minimum salary requirement, surely that creates unnecessary work for them in filtering out applications from people who don’t earn enough? This sounds like the kind of nonsense Amex agents have increased churning out recently. Also there’s the issue of affordability – I have friends who have much larger household incomes than me but due to colossal mortgages and other commitments actually have less disposable income.

[Aquarius12]

Pretty sure when I referred my husband last year they asked about household income rather than his income (his is well below 45k & he was accepted)

[Reney]

https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/minimum-income-for-platinum

some info on this thread.

[Reney]

Aquarius12 wrote:

Pretty sure when I referred my husband last year they asked about household income rather than his income (his is well below 45k & he was accepted)

I remember a box for your income and another for other household income.

[jamran]

Aquarius12 wrote:

Pretty sure when I referred my husband last year they asked about household income rather than his income (his is well below 45k & he was accepted)

He asked about that also. His household income was £90k but they stated his own income was what determined whether he gets accepted or rejected. This is all rather confusing and excess

[Simey]

jamran wrote:

Hey all

My brother has been rejected for an amex platinum because his current income was deemed to be too low.

His salary is £45k per annum.

They did not want to disclose what their minimum requirement is when he called to enquire.

Anyone know of this change?

Have you guys done an eligibility checker perchance? I know that’s not a 100% confirmation but out of curiosity..

[sloth]

Simey wrote:

jamran wrote:

Hey all

My brother has been rejected for an amex platinum because his current income was deemed to be too low.

His salary is £45k per annum.

They did not want to disclose what their minimum requirement is when he called to enquire.

Anyone know of this change?

Have you guys done an eligibility checker perchance? I know that’s not a 100% confirmation but out of curiosity..

The eligibility checker is relatively pointless and rigged in favour of particular products. I was quoted. 4/10 for platinum and 8/10 for bapp and mr gold…I applied for plat and was accepted with limit 1/3 of salary. I’ve been an Amex cardholder for 25 years so was pretty confident of being accepted anyway, but was interested in what it said. Basically one’s experience has little relevance to others I feel

[Roberto]

The last one I did for my wife her part-time wages were less than £20k. Accepted.

[DonLee]

I have done the analysis on 10 recent applications all for my friends. Min income is around 50k and household income won’t count any more. You will receive a standard email states below if your income is not met:

After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that your application has been unsuccessful.

This decision was based on your current annual income stated on your application form. If you have other sources of income that were not included on your application form, such as additional household income or rental income, please contact us on 0800 032 7404 quoting the reference number above and we will be happy to review our decision.

Once again, thank you for considering American Express Card membership.

They will review your application when your income is above 50k when calling otherwise a straight no. AMEX has definitely raised the bar for acceptance as they used to accept 8k income for platinum card.

[trader363]

One of my referrals was rejected this week (estimating income at 40-45k) on a Platinum card aswell

[NorthernLass]

@DonLee, if they are excluding household income now, why are they asking applicants to contact them to declare said extra income?

[DonLee]

NorthernLass wrote:

@DonLee, if they are excluding household income now, why are they asking applicants to contact them to declare said extra income?

I don’t get it neither. They said the number they were looking is your own income. One of my friend were rejected on her 48k salary even she told them the household income was more than 120k.

[VALittleRed]

Oh wow, this is a bit frustrating to read, was planning to refer a family member but I might not bother now

[AFKAE]

DonLee wrote:

NorthernLass wrote:

@DonLee, if they are excluding household income now, why are they asking applicants to contact them to declare said extra income?

I don’t get it neither. They said the number they were looking is your own income. One of my friend were rejected on her 48k salary even she told them the household income was more than 120k.

I had a conversation with them on the phone and approval is driven by the applicants income. They only take into account household income to set the credit limit.

[harley]

Agree with comments, min income seems to be around 50-55k and household income now only counts for credit limit. If you have some savings and close to line then they also accept interest payments as income which allowed my friend to be approved from an inital decline

[VALittleRed]

harley wrote:

Agree with comments, min income seems to be around 50-55k and household income now only counts for credit limit. If you have some savings and close to line then they also accept interest payments as income which allowed my friend to be approved from an inital decline

This is frustrating as said family member planning to refer won’t qualify on the income but would qualify on the enhanced bonus they’re running! Likely other way round for me, might just qualify for the card but not the bonus 😬 can’t win. Would be good if HfP team could please informally confirm the new income requirement?

[Simey]

If you are thinking about it, might as well just go for it. 1 CC rejection will not ruin your credit history and be a shameful mark on your profile really. Worst they can say is no – then at least you’ll know! I don’t think there’s 1 set system they follow.

[AnotherRandomPerson]

Got rejected for income and I am very far below 40k (probably shouldn’t have even tried to apply with my income lol)
I guess this is a mini learning experience for that.

Anyway I don’t think someone like me who would have gotten the points and use the rewards then downgraded then downgraded again would have been a very profitable customer.

I am surprised though that they still have me a 4.5/10 for plat when they should have just given 0 and no false hope.

[CyberMan]

From personal experience, I started out with the gold card for just over a year, then did the upgrade route to the platinum (and thus getting 2x points targets), all while being on less than £40k income.
I get the feeling that the acceptance is all to do with the bigger credit risk picture, i.e exposure to other credit lines, mortgages, loans, finance agreements etc. If the applicant had multiple other cards, or another card with a high limit, that could also have had an effect.
I would definitely recommend maybe going for the gold card, fee free for the first year, hit the spend target to get the points, then take the upgrade route to platinum after the first year once you’ve got some history with Amex and they have a better picture of your spending profile.

[TravellingJake]

Just had a conversation with Amex.

Minimum income for platinum card is now £50k, change made in last 6 weeks or so.

Additional household income does not count. Only the income of the main card holder.

Re eligibility checker, they are looking at getting that updated to reflect the change.

If you applied and were unsuccessful due to salary, no hard credit search should have taken place so no mark on credit file.