American Express Membership Rewards - amex and credit problems

i guess you can say we all have our credit ups and downs.

5 years ago my amex platinum card went into defalt and i owed $75,000.
i paid it off over a year with out a BK.
i now work for a large company and make very good money.
bec. of my bad credit i use a debit card from my bank and 1 secured credit card that i have from citi (7500 line)
my company issues all managers and amex card.
will amex let them give me one?
also i am now married and my wife has great credit. can she apply for an amex and give me a card?

thanks in advance

i guess you can say we all have our credit ups and downs.

5 years ago my amex platinum card went into defalt and i owed $75,000.
i paid it off over a year with out a BK.
i now work for a large company and make very good money.
bec. of my bad credit i use a debit card from my bank and 1 secured credit card that i have from citi (7500 line)
my company issues all managers and amex card.
will amex let them give me one?
also i am now married and my wife has great credit. can she apply for an amex and give me a card?

thanks in advance

your wife can put u as a co-owner. But as far as approval..I have no idea. I think AMEX is kind of strict...aren't they?

AMEX probably will not approve you for a new card especially since 5 years is considered recent and it will still be on your credit report, plus Amex files never go away.

If you are required to have such a card for work, your company may be required to sign a guaranty agreement, ensuring payment in case you did not pay. Some companies will not sign such an agreement for employees with credit issues [former or current].

Your wife may be able to put you as an authorized user on her account, which of course is unrelated to the corporate card question. Just don't try for a joint account with her because her great credit, may take a downturn based on your not so good credit history.

your wife can put u as a co-owner. But as far as approval..I have no idea. I think AMEX is kind of strict...aren't they?

More specifically, you could probably have your wife make you an additional cardholder but NOT give Amex your SSN. They will take you just fine in this situation; I have added a cardholder with no SSN (foreign business partner) with no problem. Unfortunately that won't help rebuild your credit... If you do provide your SSN to Amex as an additional cardholder, it MAY affect your wife's credit, or at least her Amex credit lines (I would recommend you ask Amex as well as someone more qualified about this), but that would help rebuild your credit of course (assuming Amex didn't deny it based on your history with them.) Since they're just reporting current history I would guess that if you were an additional with your SSN on there it wouldn't do anything to your wife's credit overall, but again seek an answer from someone who's not just guessing at this.

Of course, also make sure that if you do get put on as an additional with your SSN that Amex is reporting your history to the credit agencies. It seems credit card companies often "forget" to report additionals unless prompted to.

as an additional card user i know they ask for a SSN.
that is why i was wondering if their internal files would trigger a red flag.

and i guess i now have a nother question about credit in general:
if i am an additional card user will i have the account added on to my credit file?
i thought i would just have use of the card, not responsability for it?

as an additional card user i know they ask for a SSN.
that is why i was wondering if their internal files would trigger a red flag.

They do ASK for an SSN, but you do not have to provide it to them, at least on a business account. In the case above, the person I was adding didn't HAVE an SSN. In the other case where I've had an additional cardholder, I just told them I didn't have the SSN available and they said that was fine and that I could add it later if I'd like.

It could be that personal cards are different. I've never added an additional cardholder on one.

and i guess i now have a nother question about credit in general:
if i am an additional card user will i have the account added on to my credit file?
i thought i would just have use of the card, not responsability for it?

They should be reporting to the credit bureaus if your SSN is on file. If they are not, have the primary cardholder call and ask if they can do so. I may be mistaken and this may only apply to joint accounts though...

Additional Cards: I have advised Additional Card applicant(s) that you may obtain, verify, exchange, and use information about them in the same manner as described above, that they may be responsible for payment of their own charges if I fail to pay them, and that their own credit records may be affected by nonpayment of the account. I understand that Additional Card(s) will not be issued to me if I have an unsatisfactory account with American Express or if the Additional Card applicants have ever had an unsatisfactory account with American Express.

Additionally, I believe our "friend" the Patriot Act now requires SSNs on all credit applications for terrorist tracking purposes. *Sigh*

I've added several additional cardholders on my personal plat card, as recently as three weeks ago, and never gave an SSN for any of them.

Amex used to ask for an SSN when you added someone, and if you didn't want to give it to them, you had to cook up an excuse (foreign uncle with no SSN, etc).
But on the most recent add'l card request (by phone), they didn't even ask for an SSN, they merely asked for the birthday of the add'l cardholder (to check for 18 years or older), and that was it.

So add'l cardholders' credit reports will never be hit negatively from this, since Amex doesn't have an SSN nor a, ahem, accurate birthday with which to ID the add'l cardholders to the credit bureaus.

...they merely asked for the birthday of the add'l cardholder (to check for 18 years or older)...
Actually, they'll add an additional plat at age 15.

Actually, they'll add an additional plat at age 15.

Even for US cardmembers?

Even for US cardmembers?

I only know about US cardmembers. The age is 15.