Amex Credit Card Approvals without a Hard Pull

Amex has recently been approving some credit card applications without any hard pull on the credit report.

Amex has always been a bit lenient with hard pulls: their hard pulls get combined and they also don’t always hard-pull your credit when denying you. 

Numerous Reddit users noted that their recent Amex card applications haven’t been resulting in any hard pull at all.

People first noticed it on the leaked 100k personal Platinum applications, but it’s also been found on just about every other card too, both charge cards and credit cards. Most of the reports I’ve seen were regarding personal cards; unclear if business cards have the same leniency.

Initially the thinking was that if you’ve applied within the past 30-days they won’t do another hard pull, but some people have seen this even beyond 30-days. YMMV.

It’s not clear why they aren’t consistently hard pulling. It might be some sort of glitch or maybe they use more leeway with soft-pulling than other banks do or maybe they have other verification methods outside the standard credit bureaus.

I would have said that this is a new policy not to hard pull existing cardmembers, but there’s one data point indicating no pull for a first card which is really crazy. There’s a good chance that data point is an anomaly, and the real change here is that they stopped hard-pulling for existing cardholders. This makes sense.

In conclusion it’s worth noting that of late there’s a bigger emphasis on the number of cards approved as opposed to hard pulls, especially with regards to Chase and their 5/24 rule. Still always nice to save a hard pull on a credit card application. And if you apply for an Amex business card, you might get away with no hard pull and there won’t be a new account showing since Amex business cards don’t report to the credit bureaus.

Please share your own recent data points with Amex applications in the comments. Click here to learn how to monitor your credit for free.

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arshi007
arshi007 (@guest_769129)
June 11, 2019 11:14

Recently applied for the AmEx Morgan Stanley Plat and got approved without a hard pul. Not my first AmEx card though.

Karsinogen
Karsinogen (@guest_617223)
July 15, 2018 23:59

I applied for the Delta Platinum Biz on 07/08 as my first AMEX card. Instant approval for $5K and no hard pull.

Anke
Anke (@guest_614475)
July 8, 2018 02:25

I recently applied for two of the new Hilton personal cards and got instantly approved with no hard pull. I have a Blue Sky from 2012. I had pre-approved offers for PRG and Platinum but not for the Hilton cards.
6/9: Hilton Honors
6/24: Hilton Ascend

mm12k3b
mm12k3b (@guest_604610)
June 12, 2018 10:53

I applied for the Amex Delta platinum card a few months ago, and was instantly approved for a $20k+ limit and no hard pull. I have no other accounts with American Express, and have never applied through them before. Seems kinda sketchy to me…

Albert
Albert (@guest_587659)
April 28, 2018 17:48

I’m an existing Amex business and personal credit card customer and my simply cash plus was a hard pull even though there was a “preapproval.” This was a Biz credit card. I’m not sure if on the personal side it also results in a hard pull. The preapproval says we will use existing information we have on file for you…. etc. Truth is, you don’t really no until you apply.

Ven
Ven (@guest_570502)
March 15, 2018 14:05

one more DP, applied for PRG 50K with 2K spend last week as it showed up on my offers. no hard pull..wow Amex

LC
LC (@guest_568335)
March 9, 2018 17:11

This is YMMV, even for the same customer. So in the last 8 months I have only received a hard pull once out of maybe 8 days applying. Some were charge, some were non charge cards. As recent as January I applied for a non charge and charge card same day no hard pull. 2 days ago, applied for a non-charge card (delta plat personal) with a mailer code and it was a hard pull.

psh
psh (@guest_568329)
March 9, 2018 17:03

Applied for the SPG Biz card on 3/6, no hard pull showing on any of the bureaus.
Had not applied for any Amex cards for over a year.

Josh
Josh (@guest_531647)
December 6, 2017 18:30

DP if this thread is still monitored: Approved for the Amex PRG (50k MRP bonus/$2k spend in 3 months) with no hard pull, my only other Amex card has been my Delta Skymiles Platinum, which I’ve had for 10+ years. I’m 11/24.

Rob
Rob (@guest_514071)
November 12, 2017 17:03

I forgot to mention that I was pre-approved for the business blue Plus Credit Card. I don’t know if that has anything to do with me not getting a hard pull?