How to qualify for an Amex card without negatively affecting your credit score.
American Express offers various benefits and promotions. Visit their website for more information.
A hard inquiry or hard pull is completed by credit card issuers when you apply for a credit card. This temporarily decreases your credit score by a few points for up to a year and remains on your credit report for two years.
Submitting credit card applications only when you are confident of approval is beneficial. While many credit cards offer pre-approval or pre-qualification, it does not guarantee approval. However, with the "Apply with confidence" feature of certain American Express cards, you can determine if you will be approved before a hard pull is made on your credit reports.
CNBC Select provides an explanation of how this feature works and recommends alternative credit cards to consider if you are unable to obtain approval for the top Amex cards.
How to use this feature
Applying for an Amex card without a hard inquiry on your credit report is straightforward. Simply apply as usual, and Amex will inform you of your eligibility using a soft credit inquiry. A hard inquiry is only performed if you decide to accept the card.
If this feature is available, the top of the application will have a message similar to the one below confirming you can proceed without impacting your credit score.
Click the blue continue button at the bottom of the page after completing the application.
When applying for a business card, you will receive a pop-up window indicating eligibility for the offer and asking if you want to accept it. For consumer card applications, you will be taken to a page where you can review the terms before continuing, and you will also receive a pop-up window indicating eligibility for the card's welcome offer. However, Amex typically limits eligibility for the welcome bonus to once per lifetime per card type.
If you click "continue and submit" from the final pop-up window, your credit will be pulled and a hard inquiry will be added to your credit reports. However, you can cancel the application at any time before that without any impact on your credit.
Which Amex cards does this feature apply to?
The apply with confidence option is available for most American Express cards, including the American Express® Gold Card, business cards like The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, and co-branded cards issued by American Express, such as the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card and Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card.
Alternate cards if you're not approved with Amex
The Credit One Bank Wander® Card is a top travel credit card for average credit. It earns 5X points on eligible flights, dining, and gas, and 10X points on eligible hotels and rental cars booked through the Credit One Bank travel partner site. These points are worth one cent each when used for statement credits, making it an effective way to earn 5% to 10% back on these purchases.
If you are at least 18 years old and enrolled at an eligible college or university, the Discover it® Student Cash Back is a great option for building your credit profile and earning rewards. You will earn a healthy 5% cash back on the first $1,500 in combined purchases you make in quarterly rotating categories. Additionally, with a new Discover it Student Cash Back card, you will receive an intro 0% APR for six months on purchases (after that, a variable 18.24% to 27.24% APR applies). However, there is a 3% intro balance transfer fee, up to 5% fee on future balance transfers (see terms)*.
Using services like Experian Boost™ and eCredable Lift, you can boost your credit score by adding payment data for select services and utilities to your credit report.
Considering pairing your card with an Amex bank account
American Express offers checking and high-yield savings account options to simplify your financial life by keeping your card and bank accounts under one roof.
The American Express Rewards Checking account offers a 1.00% APY and does not charge monthly maintenance fees. Additionally, you will receive Membership Rewards points for every eligible debit card purchase (one point for every $2 spent).
Bottom line
Applying for a credit card that you're pre-approved or pre-qualified for is a smart idea because it reduces the risk of adding a hard inquiry to your credit report while having your application denied. However, with American Express, you can typically apply and know with certainty whether you will qualify for a card's welcome offer.
Why trust CNBC Select?
Our goal at CNBC Select is to deliver top-notch service journalism and in-depth consumer advice to our readers, enabling them to make well-informed decisions when it comes to their finances. Each credit card story we publish is the result of thorough reporting by our team of experienced writers and editors, who possess a wealth of knowledge about credit card products. At CNBC Select, we are committed to maintaining our journalistic standards and ethics, even when it comes to earning commissions from our affiliate partners on many offers and links.
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Not all lenders use Experian credit files or scores, and some may not see improved scores or approval odds.
To learn about the rates and fees for the Discover it® Student Cash Back, please visit this link.
