AMEX Plat Charges Declined and Review?
 

Hello guys,

I just got my AMEX Plat card yesterday (also my first AMEX), and today, I went to make a first couple of charges.

$500 at Target (redcard) and $1.99 at 7-11...and they were all declined!

So I went to call AMEX. They said "I took a look at the account and what we're actually going to have to do some additional research to find out exactly why the card is not working for you as soon as we completed the research. We'll get back in touch with you."

I then asked them if this meant I have gone over my limit?

His response was "Um, as far as the exactly the reason as far as the exact reason, that's why we're going to need to do additional research and get back in touch with you."

Guys, what does this mean? Will they ask me to do a financial review?

PS. I had charged $100 AA gift card and $100 Global Entry fee last night and they both went through

I had put in $500 in the "Check your Spending Ability" Tool last night, and it said the amount will be approved, so that's why I made the $500 Target purchase today. I feel soo stupid now! >.<)

You shouldn't be worried about the FR if your stated income on the application is about the same as your actual income in your tax return.

Actually, they are not the same since a huge portion of my stated income is "unearned" income from my family members. They deposit a chunk of money into my account several times per year (not following any certain schedule).

On my application, I had combined both of my earned and un-earned income, so I'm not sure if this would be okay with AMEX?

Good luck with that!

(Bye bye Platinum Card)

This is standard operating procedure for a first AMEX card.

Usually you see a red message on the site saying to call a specific number. You call it from the phone number on your CR or app, answer some verification questions and you're good to go.

Not a FR.

I haven't seen any red messages on the site asking me to call a specific number yet. Are you implying that it should appear soon?

Read the financial review thread. This is pretty common - brand new card, you immediately take it to buy gift cards to manufacture spending, you get hit with a financial review.

If it's an FR, they'll cut off your card and require you to consent to them checking your tax returns. You'll also be assigned a rep that will handle your case.

I was also in the same boat, sort of. I drew income off a trust during my time in law school and had no idea if it was included on my tax return. I told them that, but they said it didn't matter, all they cared about was my return.

My cards were left untouched, but I don't know why. I am pretty sure I also included all household income when I got my cards a year prior, which was much different than what I made.

I haven't bought gift cards. I only wanted to put in $500 into the Target redcard....but that $500 could mean anything when buying at Target.

So far, no notice from AMEX, but it's been about 12 hours since I last called them.

may be a red herring. Reloading my AFT with my Platinum Delta Amex resulted in a decline as well but as a "fraud alert". might be that? shrug

were you able to continue to make purchases after that?

I assume that you successfully activated the new card first? Sometimes I've been asked to get on the phone with an AmEx rep to convince them that it's me when I either have a newly renewed card or when my spending pattern looks unusual for me or looks like it might be a case of fraud. I've also experienced apparent declines when the merchant or website didn't process the transaction correctly; in those cases, usually AmEx doesn't even see an attempt to use the card.

Nevertheless, IMO it's not wise to use a new Plat card for MS or in a way that could be viewed as irresponsible, especially if your application wasn't a straightforward case of regular salary income that can be easily verified.

Yeah, I had activated the new card first. But I'm just concerned about their remark needing to do more "research" into my account.

Arrgh, I was targeted for the 100K offer and I was hoping to MS $3k in a month before I leave for Europe.

If they ask for FR and don't want to see my bank statements of my unearned income, maybe I'll just cancel the card and apply for AMEX in the future when I have regular income that can be shown on my tax return. I'm looking at getting a Chase Sapphire Card.

I believe Amex closing your card versus you doing it makes no difference on your credit report, so I'd just go ahead and go through the FR unless you said you make $100,000 and only make $10,000 a year.

I was in the same boat as you were and made it through fine. I did fax in the trust fund I drew off of even though they said it would not factor into their decision.

This doesn't sound like an FR though if they haven't called you to inform you you'll need to fill out the 4506T form before you could use your cards again.

Good news, guys! It was just fraud department asking me if I had attempted those charges, and now, my account is clear!! Whew!

But I was wondering how I can MS spend $3000 in a month, especially if I make another trip to Target? I was thinking about doing $500 charges per Target trip...for example, $500 on Monday and wait for that charge to post, then pay that off. Make another $500 change and repeat until I hit $3000 spend in a month ($1000 per week).

Or do you have any other suggestions how I can MS in a month while not making it look too suspicious? I do plan to make other small purchases mixed in.