Consumer complaint received 2018-08-14
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: FL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card
Sub-issue: Application denied

Complaint:
Received my 4th denial letter from American Express.. 2 we're from initial applications and 2 were from the reconsiderations after I called and tried to get them to change their minds. I am not just disappointed in there decision to deny me again, I'm really feeling discrimination is at play here. I'm XXXX and XXXX XXXX. I completely disagree with there assessment in there denial letter.. like I stated in my phone conversation with for reconsideration. I had some issues in the past but have completely turned my credit around into positive waters and have learned from the past mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes in life and everyone deserves a second chance when they've paid for them, not to be defined by them. For example, I started my journey with a $ XXXX.secured credit  card and now have earned 3 Major unsecured credit cards..2 Major department store card's..my 2 year old credit union car loan at 7 % and recently paid off credit union loan that was used for maintenance on said vehicle so that my wife could be sure to get to her job in the pharmacy. All my accounts are current and never late. Most have XXXX balances as I have the utmost respect for making my bills and debt our top priority..if I do have a balance it is around 9-10 % of my utilization..one month over the summer I did have my utilization up on a few cards because my son who is a three time XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX and two time XXXX XXXX needed to fly from XXXX Florida to XXXX  Wisconsin for his competition and won XXXX XXXX in the entire world.. but the next month I paid off or brought my balances under 10 %. American Express gave me the usual generic rejection response which would be fine if it was true.. It claims that I don't pay enough on my cards or balances are too high..how is that accurate when I pay my accounts somewhere twice or even more time 's a month to keep my utilization low. They told me that I don't spend enough, so I guess being careful and responsible is not what they're looking for? It's true that I never liked being in debt so I am careful what I purchase, but as the father of XXXX children XXXX of which are in college and also work since they were XXXX I definitely spend a considerable amount of money on groceries..gas.. clothes and school related material.. numbers may tell a creditor what they are looking for, but it doesn't tell the whole picture. For example my wife and I just celebrated 30 years together and are having a house built to celebrate our life together and that of our children..and hopefully grandchildren some day soon.. we wear the same clothes day in and day out for years because we aren't wasteful and can't afford to be..we have fed..clothed..schooled..protected.. provided.. cared and loved our XXXX beautiful children and continue to do so.. I have a son that recently accepted a very similar offer from your company after being bombarded with daily offer 's from many credit card companies..the funny thing is I don't know how your computer or human scoring/algorithm works because my son who has your card in his wallet works part-time and goes to school and although responsible for his debt..he is completely dependent on his parents to provide a roof over his head and food in his mouth and pay for his healthcare..we also have less debt and way more income and lower credit utilization but some how he qualifies and I don't. Doesn't make sense to me unless you're not interested in giving credit cards to " older '' .. XXXX or someone who won't run his cards up paying the interest for years to come.. but maybe that's just how it looks.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation