Topic Wiki

1)   What is a Financial Review?
In short - American Express occasionally freezes the credit card accounts of individuals with high-risk patterns, or for new account holders.
They request a lot of personal information, such as IRS tax returns, bank statements, letters from Banks ect…

Let’s break it down into 2 different types of Financial Reviews
A)   Mini Financial Review
B)   Financial Review

A)   Mini Financial Review

(please fill in info) This form of financial review, is usually a short process, it could be as short as one phone call. American Express might feel a need to verify your finances for whatever reason, and they could call you to verify information. Your accounts could be suspended from using until you get in touch with them, typically they will restore your accounts after a simple phone call.

B)   Financial Review
This type of Financial Review is very common. It often happens when opening a new account for the first time, usually if you are opening a Charge Card, or a Business Card or if on a new account you start off will a lot of high spending.
American Express will suspend your account/s, they will not remove the suspension until the review is over, which takes around 2 weeks.

If you cannot provide the required information, shut down your account right away.

2)   Triggers

Look below for a list of triggers and links.
 
3)   What will happen?
Your accounts will get suspended. You will be able to log in online, and see account activity, but you will get a message that charging is suspended.

They will contact you via phone and email. Once you get in touch with them, (typically) you will be assigned a specific representative to work on your case.

The will require mainly IRS Tax returns. The point of a Financial Review is to verify your income. They may also require Back statements, a letter from a Bank to verify your address, and other documents. People have reported that they did survive a Financial Review with just bank statements.

As long as you could provide the documents they request you will be fine, they might lower your credit lines, but you should be able keep your account open. Even as low as a $6000 tax return people have been able to survive a Financial Review.

In cases of a Financial Review after opening a Business Card, you will need proof of Business income.

If you cannot provide the required information, shut down your account right away.

As long as you could provide the documents they request you will be fine, they might lower your credit lines, but you should be able keep your account open. Even as low as a $6000 tax return people have been able to survive a Financial Review.

4)   What Steps Should I take?

Get in touch with Amex as soon as you could. Send in the request inform promptly. You will have a rep that will be working with you, and telling you what documents are needed. 4506-t is a transcript request from the IRS for you last tax return. You will need to fill out this form, fax it to Amex, it will take them 24-48 hours until they receive this form, they will request the tax return from the IRS that could take about a week.

Important: you only have 2 attempts to send them the fax, if they reject it after 2 attempts you will get shut down. You don't get more than 2 attempts. (source)
You may be able to get 3 attempts if you ask for a manager.

You need to be on top of it, if you don’t follow thru, they could shut your accounts down.


5)   What to do if American Express closed your accounts?

Once American Express closes your accounts, the only way to get back on is if you have the required information needed to pass a Financial Review. They will require you to request a 4506 form from the IRS (which will cost you $57) before they even approve any of your future applications.


To start you may want to read up here:

F/R triggers:
[/color]


Credit line of $25k or more
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=1438.msg10906#msg10906

Family member receiving FR can cause other family members to get Fr'ed as well
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=6223.msg74003#msg74003 http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=8.msg24759#msg24759

Living at same address as someone who was FR'ed
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=8.msg77046#msg77046

Using majority of CL
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=7526.msg87716#msg87716

Large cash advance
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=5908.msg82906#msg82906

Nothing...
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=2723.msg30062#msg30062

Changing name on business card
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=3589.msg38101#msg38101

Mint purchases
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=146.msg22932#msg22932

Amex Gift Card Purchases
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=2422.msg26670#msg26670
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=8.msg40106#msg40106

Unusual spending
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=8.msg7627#msg7627
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=3710.msg39597#msg39597

Amazon payments (possibly)
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=3657.msg88656#msg88656
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=3524.msg42436#msg42436

Using close to reported income
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/2537

Logging in online too much (!)
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=8.msg13741#msg13741

Prepaying
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=1712.msg13732#msg13732
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=3710.msg39725#msg39725

Adding Cardholders (many?)
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=8.msg49318#msg49318

Refunds exceeding total payments made on the card since it was opened
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=8.msg845606#msg845606
[/font]
Though not exactly F/R, it's worth mentioning that Amex takes returned payments very seriously.
They often shut all accounts without going through the F/R process.

Author Topic: Amex F/R Master Thread  (Read 1816885 times)

Offline elikay

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #960 on: January 23, 2012, 03:37:43 PM »
bump
 
my sister just got fr'ed. first they asked her for tax stuff so she sent in  our parents papers. now they want her bank statements. her accounts have basically nothing as she is now doing a medical internship and not getting paid. what are chances she will pass the fr? should she just cancel her cards?
 
my sister just got fr'ed. first they asked her for tax stuff so she sent in  our parents papers. now they want her bank statements. her accounts have basically nothing as she is now doing a medical internship and not getting paid. what are chances she will pass the fr? should she just cancel her cards?
my sister just got fr'ed. first they asked her for tax stuff so she sent in  our parents papers. now they want her bank statements. her accounts have basically nothing as she is now doing a medical internship and not getting paid. what are chances she will pass the fr? should she just cancel her cards?

Offline mclovin

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #961 on: January 23, 2012, 06:55:39 PM »
well i guess that answers the question of whether anyone even saw my posts

Offline Wolf

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Re: Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #962 on: January 23, 2012, 08:34:42 PM »
well i guess that answers the question of whether anyone even saw my posts
take it Ez bro. Everybody sees everybodys posts, if they didn't answer obviously they don't know or don't have any experience with your case.
But I'll tell you what I picked up here in ddf, tell her to call up and ask them that whatever they decide they should let her know before they do anything, they might give her chance to close it herself, so no reason to freak out now and close the accounts now, don't forget once you get fried, there's no applying again unless u submit what they want.
I would suggest to send in what they want and she should explain to them that she's in school etc, and that's why her accounts are low... I feel that the truth will work best. Worst come to worst they might just give her low cl and get off get back.

Offline dans fan

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #963 on: January 23, 2012, 10:14:56 PM »
take it Ez bro.Worst come to worst they might just give her low cl and get off get back.
take it easy bro on giving advice. worst comes to worst they will close her accounts
my sister just got fr'ed. first they asked her for tax stuff so she sent in  our parents papers. now they want her bank statements. her accounts have basically nothing as she is now doing a medical internship and not getting paid. what are chances she will pass the fr? should she just cancel her cards?

if you  are desperate for advice; i would guess they will prob shut her account. the q is  taking a chance of getting shut, how bad is getting shut down. i would guess as far as amex is concerned, not such a big dif bt user closing under fry or amex closing due to fry. as faras other banks : if you already have accounts with them it shouldnt hurt so bad if you dont have account it can make it harder  so it depends what else she has going for her. all of the above is how it affects future cc app not mortgage or other loans

Offline Saver2000

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #964 on: January 23, 2012, 10:55:10 PM »
take it easy bro on giving advice. worst comes to worst they will close her accountsif you  are desperate for advice; i would guess they will prob shut her account. the q is  taking a chance of getting shut, how bad is getting shut down. i would guess as far as amex is concerned, not such a big dif bt user closing under fry or amex closing due to fry. as faras other banks : if you already have accounts with them it shouldnt hurt so bad if you dont have account it can make it harder  so it depends what else she has going for her. all of the above is how it affects future cc app not mortgage or other loans

When applying for a mortgage,  the lender can't see the whole report -  just the score?

Offline Wolf

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #965 on: January 23, 2012, 11:08:09 PM »
take it easy bro on giving advice. worst comes to worst they will close her accounts
I said he should try to keep it open only "AFTER" they tell him that they will let him close the account first.

And mclovin, take advice only from dans fan, as only he is entitled to give it....

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #966 on: January 23, 2012, 11:12:05 PM »
take it easy bro on giving advice. worst comes to worst they will close her accountsif you  are desperate for advice; i would guess they will prob shut her account. the q is  taking a chance of getting shut, how bad is getting shut down. i would guess as far as amex is concerned, not such a big dif bt user closing under fry or amex closing due to fry. as faras other banks : if you already have accounts with them it shouldnt hurt so bad if you dont have account it can make it harder  so it depends what else she has going for her. all of the above is how it affects future cc app not mortgage or other loans

If you get shut down from Amex - it will be hard to get back on

I know first hand

Offline dans fan

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #967 on: January 23, 2012, 11:23:22 PM »
When applying for a mortgage,  the lender can't see the whole report -  just the score?
they do see. what i meant to say is they are a little more picky so "closed by lender/issuer" might have a worse affect than cc app
I said he should try to keep it open only "AFTER" they tell him that they will let him close the account first.

And mclovin, take advice only from dans fan, as only he is entitled to give it....
chill bud. my point is your past 2  post are very misleading (at best)
If you get shut down from Amex - it will be hard to get back on

I know first hand
yup. what is imp for him to know if its harder than if he closes during a fry. afaik if they shut you down due to a fry when you reapply they fry you again. if you close the acc and never clear the old fry when you reapply they fry you again. so i dont see a big dif
« Last Edit: January 23, 2012, 11:28:17 PM by dans fan »

Offline mclovin

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Re: Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #968 on: January 24, 2012, 02:09:11 PM »
take it Ez bro. Everybody sees everybodys posts, if they didn't answer obviously they don't know or don't have any experience with your case.
sorry, i was being sarcastic. someone complained i was reposting my question to often. i felt that reposting it around a day later after there was a whole page of completely diff discussion in between was not so bad bec it might have been forgotten.
take it easy bro on giving advice. worst comes to worst they will close her accountsif you  are desperate for advice; i would guess they will prob shut her account. the q is  taking a chance of getting shut, how bad is getting shut down. i would guess as far as amex is concerned, not such a big dif bt user closing under fry or amex closing due to fry. as faras other banks : if you already have accounts with them it shouldnt hurt so bad if you dont have account it can make it harder  so it depends what else she has going for her. all of the above is how it affects future cc app not mortgage or other loans
the main focus of my question was that if she is telling amex she is a dependent of my parents how important are her own accounts. i wanted to know if anyone had experience with that

Offline dans fan

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #969 on: January 24, 2012, 09:28:59 PM »
.the main focus of my question was that if she is telling amex she is a dependent of my parents how important are her own accounts. i wanted to know if anyone had experience with that
the first 3 times you asked i saw this "what are chances she will pass the fr? should she just cancel her cards?"  i didnt see where you asked " how important are her own accounts"

Offline mclovin

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #970 on: January 24, 2012, 09:54:01 PM »
the first 3 times you asked i saw this "what are chances she will pass the fr? should she just cancel her cards?"  i didnt see where you asked " how important are her own accounts"
i guess i didnt spell it out but i did say the story  that 1st sent my parents stuff but then they asked for hers. oh well, thanks though

Offline Simba

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #971 on: February 08, 2012, 09:17:48 PM »
I am a bochur and just applied for a Starwood Pref Guest, I wrote I am self employed, and I make 80,000 a year (I guess it was too much!!). My score was 728 which I thought would be good enough

They answered me:

American Express
PO Box 31525
Salt Lake City, UT 84131

February 8, 2012

Ref: 20120396003051USD

Dear ...... .....,

Thank you for applying for the Starwood Pref Guest(R) Card. Before we can finish processing your application, we need to verify some information with you.

Please complete the following on the 4506-T form:

Complete lines 1 - 4 as instructed.
In line 6, please request tax form "1040" and check the box at the end of line 6a.
In line 9, fill in the end date of your most recently filed tax return. Please note that your previous year's tax transcript will not be available from the IRS until August 1st of this year. To ensure prompt processing, please only request the most recent year available. (Ex: 12/31/20XX)
Please sign and date where indicated at the bottom of the page.
If you filed a joint tax return, please ensure that your spouse has also signed the signature block.
To ensure timely processing please print clearly.
Please note that you do not need to reveal alimony, child support or separate maintenance if you do not want this considered in this application.

OR

If you are employed and you have not filed an income tax return in the past year, please provide us with your most recent pay stub. You can either fax this information to 1-801-945-2884 or mail this information to our address noted above.

OR

If you are not employed, please provide us with your most recent asset statement or bank statement. You can either fax this information to 1-801-945-2884 or mail this information to our address noted above.

You can send us this information by fax at 1-801-945-2884 or you can mail it to us in the enclosed postage-paid envelope. Please make sure to include the reference number listed above.

If you have any questions regarding this form, please contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 or visit irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4506t.pdf.

If we don't receive this information from you within 30 days of the date on this letter, we will be unable to provide additional consideration to your application. Please note that once we receive your documents, you can expect to hear from us within 2 to 3 weeks. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thank you for your interest in American Express.


Sincerely,

Tammy Weinbaum
SVP and General Manager




I don't think I could complete the following on the 4506-T since I have no job and pay no taxes..

What would the 2nd option mean?? ''If you are employed and you have not filed an income tax return in the past year, please provide us with your most recent pay stub. You can either fax this information to 1-801-945-2884 or mail this information to our address noted above.''

Any chances to get accepted??

Thx

Offline gozalim

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #972 on: February 08, 2012, 09:32:44 PM »
word of warning: i once wrote Self employed $65K and was called and asked about my business (different bank). evidently they don't assume self-employeds make that kind of money. safer to pick an appropriate profession.

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #973 on: February 08, 2012, 09:35:41 PM »
I don't think I could complete the following on the 4506-T since I have no job and pay no taxes..

What would the 2nd option mean?? ''If you are employed and you have not filed an income tax return in the past year, please provide us with your most recent pay stub. You can either fax this information to 1-801-945-2884 or mail this information to our address noted above.''

Any chances to get accepted??

Thx

The 2nd option means - you would have to show that you are making money - your paystubs...

If you cant show amex you are making money there is no chance you'll get on.

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #974 on: February 09, 2012, 12:33:55 AM »
The 2nd option means - you would have to show that you are making money - your paystubs...

If you cant show amex you are making money there is no chance you'll get on.

I don't think I could show them.. The most I could do is show them the past months statements of 500 to 700 dollars on my BOFA credit account or my spending of a few thousand on my checking account.. Would it work??

What if I call them, and explain them that I started a business of selling electronics lets say and my plan is to do the 80,000 and that's what I meant by "self employed making 80,000 a year". But for now I can't prove it, so at least if they could give me a small credit line.. explaining them how for me is important to open with them etc. etc. Would this work??

That's the number I found in the internet..

1.  American Express Credit Card Reconsideration
877-399-3083/866-379-3643 – new accounts

Thanks for your help

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #975 on: February 09, 2012, 09:01:55 AM »
That's the number I found in the internet..

1.  American Express Credit Card Reconsideration
877-399-3083/866-379-3643 – new accounts

Thanks for your help

Deff call them, but from my experience they want to see documents.

Showing them accounts with a $500 to $700 is a joke.

Offline AJK

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #976 on: February 09, 2012, 09:23:07 AM »

I don't think I could show them.. The most I could do is show them the past months statements of 500 to 700 dollars on my BOFA credit account or my spending of a few thousand on my checking account.. Would it work??

What if I call them, and explain them that I started a business of selling electronics lets say and my plan is to do the 80,000 and that's what I meant by "self employed making 80,000 a year". But for now I can't prove it, so at least if they could give me a small credit line.. explaining them how for me is important to open with them etc. etc. Would this work??

That's the number I found in the internet..

1.  American Express Credit Card Reconsideration
877-399-3083/866-379-3643 – new accounts

Thanks for your help

You have zero income to show them? Both of the items in bold are showing expenditures as opposed to income.

If you have zero income, you have a very slight chance of passing/getting an approval, IMHO.
2015: 116K bkd | 1.6M brnd | F: OZ,NH,AA,EK | J: UA,CA,TK,DL,TN,AF,VA | LIH,NRT,ROR,PEK,CNS,BOB,MEL,TLV & Pacific Hopper

Offline dans fan

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #977 on: February 09, 2012, 11:50:24 PM »

I don't think I could show them.. The most I could do is show them the past months statements of 500 to 700 dollars on my BOFA credit account or my spending of a few thousand on my checking account.. Would it work??

What if I call them, and explain them that I started a business of selling electronics lets say and my plan is to do the 80,000 and that's what I meant by "self employed making 80,000 a year". But for now I can't prove it, so at least if they could give me a small credit line.. explaining them how for me is important to open with them etc. etc. Would this work??

That's the number I found in the internet..

1.  American Express Credit Card Reconsideration
877-399-3083/866-379-3643 – new accounts

Thanks for your help
if your acc is not open yet and they are doing a rev to see if you will be approved then you dont have to worry about getting shut down, you just might be declined

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #978 on: February 10, 2012, 08:21:14 AM »
if your acc is not open yet and they are doing a rev to see if you will be approved then you dont have to worry about getting shut down, you just might be declined
But you wont be able to get on even if you re-apply until they get the documents they want

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Re: Amex Financial Review
« Reply #979 on: February 10, 2012, 09:05:08 AM »
if your acc is not open yet and they are doing a rev to see if you will be approved then you dont have to worry about getting shut down, you just might be declined

-1

As Name Changed said, this [very likely] isn't a normal decline.
2015: 116K bkd | 1.6M brnd | F: OZ,NH,AA,EK | J: UA,CA,TK,DL,TN,AF,VA | LIH,NRT,ROR,PEK,CNS,BOB,MEL,TLV & Pacific Hopper