Declined Applications – Does an appeal work?

[Gothbe]

There seems to be an increasing trend of refused Amex applications. My son was recently declined for Gold as his first credit card. He lives at home, with minimal costs and has an income of £21k.
On the application he didn’t mention other “household” income as we weren’t sure that a mother and fathers income represented household income in the normal sense. My question is whether our income would have made a difference and if so do we have a good chance that Amex will overturn their decision? Does he have to telephone or can he email with information confirming he lives at home and detailing our income. What email should he use?

[WillPS]

Sounds sketchy including parental income as household income. He is a financially independent adult right?

Either way Amex products aren’t designed to be ‘first’ credit cards and it’s highly likely he was turned down for this reason. Get another credit card – you can use eligibility checkers like Compare the Market or MSE to get a rough guide as to what he might be accepted for (expect to see 0s for Amex). Also check directly with whoever he has the best banking relationship with as they’ll be able to use internal records.

Use it and pay in full each month. Do this for 6 months and run the eligibility check again.

If nothing will have him due to lack of credit history look to build one – get a contract (not prepaid) SIM card in his name for starters, check electoral roll etc. 6 months, eligibility check.

Rinse and repeat.

[JDB]

It’s also definitely worth getting children a supplementary Amex as soon as they are 18 – while it doesn’t say anything re their creditworthiness, Amex draws comfort from the connection in assessing applications, even if initially on minimum wage where other providers aren’t interested. Amex Gold is a very common first credit card for this reason.

[WillPS]

JDB wrote:

It’s also definitely worth getting children a supplementary Amex as soon as they are 18 – while it doesn’t say anything re their creditworthiness, Amex draws comfort from the connection in assessing applications, even if initially on minimum wage where other providers aren’t interested. Amex Gold is a very common first credit card for this reason.

This is true. My fiancee was able to get a decent limit credit card (more than mine actually) after a few years as a supp on mine, despite only having a basic part time job herself. She did have some other credit history tho (not a credit card).