Which Credit Bureau Does American Express Use? (2024)

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The Platinum Card® from American Express

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4.8

Forbes Advisor created additional star ratings so that you can see the best card for specific needs. This card shines for this use, but overall the star ratings may differ when compared to other cards.

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See Also

Understanding American Express Financial Reviews - The Points GuyCan a Credit Card Company Put a Lien On My House If I Do Not Pay Them? - Law Office of Roland D. Waller - Probate and Real Estate Attorney - New Port Richey, FloridaWhat reasons can I dispute a transaction for?What is an American Express Financial Review?

5X Reward Rate

Earn 5 Membership Rewards Points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel and on flights booked directlyRead More

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Earn 80,000 points

Annual Fee

$695

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Credit Score

Excellent/Good(700 - 749)

Editorial Review

The Platinum Card is destined for frequent travelers who intend to fully leverage the rich set of luxury travel benefits and Platinum Concierge service. In the right hands, the classic status card’s staggering annual fee is well justified.

Pros & Cons

• High reward potential on flights and hotels booked through American Express Travel
• Multiple credits can help justify the fee
• Comprehensive airport lounge access
• Luxury travel benefits and elite status with Hilton and Marriott with enrollment

• Very high annual fee
• Maximizing the statement credits takes some work and could be unworkable for many
• Reward rate outside of travel is sub-par for a premium card

Card Details

• Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Apply and select your preferred metal Card design: classic Platinum Card®, Platinum x Kehinde Wiley, or Platinum x Julie Mehretu.
• Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.
• $200 Hotel Credit: Get up to $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings with American Express Travel when you pay with your Platinum Card®. The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay.
• $240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 back in statement credits each month on eligible purchases made with your Platinum Card® on one or more of the following: Disney+, a Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peaco*ck, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
• $155 Walmart+ Credit: Cover the cost of a $12.95 monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) with a statement credit after you pay for Walmart+ each month with your Platinum Card®. Cost includes $12.95 plus applicable local sales tax. Plus Up Benefits are excluded.
• $200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Platinum Card®.
• $200 Uber Cash: Enjoy Uber VIP status and up to $200 in Uber savings on rides or eats orders in the US annually. Uber Cash and Uber VIP status is available to Basic Card Member only. Terms Apply.
• $300 Equinox Credit: Get up to $300 back in statement credits per calendar year on an Equinox membership, or an Equinox club membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you pay with your Platinum Card®. Enrollment required. Visit https://platinum.equinox.com/ to enroll.
• $189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Breeze through security with CLEAR Plus at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues nationwide and get up to $189 back per calendar year on your Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Platinum Card®. Learn more.
• $100 Global Entry Credit: Receive either a $100 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Platinum Card®. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
• Shop Saks with Platinum: Get up to $100 in statement credits annually for purchases in Saks Fifth Avenue stores or at saks.com on your Platinum Card®. That’s up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
• $300 SoulCycle At-Home Bike Credit: Get a $300 statement credit for the purchase of a SoulCycle at-home bike with your Platinum Card®. An Equinox+ subscription is required to purchase a SoulCycle at-home bike and access SoulCycle content. Must charge full price of bike in one transaction. Shipping available in the contiguous U.S. only. Enrollment Required.
• Unlock access to exclusive reservations and special dining experiences with Global Dining Access by Resy when you add your Platinum Card® to your Resy profile.
• $695 annual fee.
• Terms Apply.

Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.

Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.

American Express offers myriad credit cards for consumers and businesses. The company offers a range of options from no annual fee cards to premium luxury cards. Amex has also partnered with a variety of brands—including Delta and Marriott—to offer credit cards designed to earn loyalty rewards with airlines, hotels and more. The number of cards available make it likely you can find an American Express card to suit your needs.

American Express appears to primarily pull credit reports from Experian, but this doesn’t mean it doesn’t occasionally pull from one or both of the other major consumer credit bureaus as well. Though all evidence is limited to anecdotal data, it appears TransUnion may be the second most-likely bureau Amex will pull from. American Express’ free credit report guide—the Amex MyCredit Guide—pulls reports from Experian.

Credit Bureau Used by State

No matter what state you live in, American Express appears to be most likely to pull your report from Experian. It may, for some products or as an additional check in some cases, pull from Equifax or TransUnion.

Amex reports your account status and activity to credit bureaus within a few days after your monthly statement date, once per month. In some cases it can take up to 45 days.

For new accounts, it can take up to 30 to 60 days to show up on your credit report.

How Often Does Amex Report to Credit Bureaus?

American Express reports to all three major credit bureaus once per month, typically a few days to a week after your monthly billing cycle. In some cases, changes may be reflected right away in your credit report. For others, it may take more than a month to update.

If, for example, you pay your bill before you receive the billing statement, you might see a change on your credit report sooner than if you paid the bill just after receiving the statement because American Express only reports once a month.

How Long Does It Take Amex To Report to Credit Bureaus?

Amex generally reports to credit bureaus a few days after your monthly statement date. Your statement date is usually the monthly anniversary of the day you opened the account, but there’s an option to change this. New cards may show up on your credit report immediately, but can sometimes take a few billing cycles to appear.

When Does American Express Report Late Payments?

American Express reports late payments on the same monthly cycle as its regular updates to the credit bureaus. Late payments do not impact your credit score until they are at least 30 days past due. However, you will still be charged late fees and interest, even if the late payment is not reported to credit bureaus.

There are three major credit bureaus in the U.S.: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. These companies are responsible for providing consumer credit reports to organizations, authorities and other companies who then use the information to predict risk. The industry turns a hefty profit each year from selling credit information, which has been voluntarily provided to them by banks, lenders and other data furnishers.

No credit bureau collects the exact same information on a consumer. A report drawn from one credit bureau may have slightly different information compared to one drawn from another, for a variety of reasons. This makes it impossible to determine which credit bureau is the most accurate. Most credit bureaus will rate your credit based on a standardized system, called your FICO Score. Lenders are likely to check this score when assessing your credit and to base their decision on your rating.

Though credit bureaus may differ slightly on the exact number of your FICO Score, since each score falls within a range (for example, a score between 670 and 739 is considered good credit), extreme differences between FICO scores issued by credit bureaus are unlikely.

Consumers can obtain a free copy of a credit report via AnnualCreditReport.com, the only website officially authorized to generate free reports.

Each consumer is entitled to at least one free credit report per year from each of the three major agencies—this is the law.

Reports don’t need to be requested all together. Someone interested to see an Equifax report in May can request a TransUnion report in July and an Experian report in December. While no one is obligated to request reports, consumers may ask for them whenever they desire.

Credit bureaus often provide subscription services to consumers to help track scores and other report information, but these services often charge fees and do not provide access to reports from other bureaus.

If you find an error, you can and should dispute information on your credit report. This requires preparing sufficient documentation of the error before contacting the error-reporting bureau online, by mail or by phone. Credit bureaus will investigate claims and release findings within 30 days.

When the results of an investigation cause a change in your credit report, you will receive a free, updated copy of your report (though this may take another 45 days). If you’re unhappy with the results of the dispute, you may resubmit a complaint or error report with additional information to support your case—but expect this to open another investigation and take more time.

If you’re concerned about your FICO Score while applying for an American Express credit card, first pull your free Experian credit report to see what data Amex will be most likely to base its final decision on.

You can also use the company’s preapproval feature to check if you’re approved for a card. Simply fill out the application, and Amex will tell you if you will be approved. If you end the process at this point, there is no impact to your credit score. If you continue to submit your application, you will receive a hard pull on your credit report.

If you have a reason to be concerned about your credit report, it may be better to focus on rebuilding and strengthening your credit score across all bureaus—it’s never guaranteed that American Express will pull from any specific credit bureau.