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Did you know that with American Express, you have the option to use Apply with Confidence to find out if American Express would approve your personal card application before you submit a card application?
This preliminary check is based on a soft credit inquiry and therefore does not affect your score. This step addresses the main hesitation we often hear on social media about American Express, provided you understand what it does not do—and it would be a shame to miss out!
The fear constantly returns for a new cardholder: apply for a card, get rejected, and leave a mark on your credit file for NOTHING.
American Express addresses this fear with an intermediate step, offering its Apply with Confidence “tool.” Its operation is simple, but its protection stops at a specific moment in the application process.
American Express refers to this step or tool by its English name, Apply with Confidence. On its educational page dedicated to credit checks, the issuer states it plainly:
The mechanism relies on a distinction that Canadian credit bureaus have used for a long time. Equifax Canada speaks of “hard credit inquiry” and “soft credit inquiry.” In industry jargon, the two English terms remain the most common: hard check and soft check.
A soft inquiry leaves a note visible on your own copy of your file, but it does not change your score and lenders do not take it into account. A hard inquiry, on the other hand, is visible and calculated.
However, note that in the case of an application for business cards or made by phone, you will not have access to this verification step.
The process is divided into two distinct moments when applying for an American Express credit card.
You open the page for the targeted American Express card and click the application button. American Express then collects basic information, without going further:
With this information, the issuer conducts a soft credit inquiry and evaluates your eligibility. American Express is categorical on its page: a soft inquiry has no impact on your credit score.
You then receive the eligibility verdict. At this stage, nothing has been officially submitted yet: you decide whether to continue or stop there.
If you choose to accept the card, American Express proceeds to the standard check, the one that counts.
The issuer specifies that hard inquiries can remain on your credit file for up to 36 months. Equifax Canada gives the same retention period for credit inquiries recorded in its file.
You can obtain this decision-making tool only for personal cards. We count nine personal American Express cards in Canada, versus four Business cards. It is the first nine that are of interest here.
Here are the cards that have this step:
This is where the preliminary check takes on its full value, and no one makes this calculation out loud. Take a common scenario: you are hesitating between two American Express personal cards, and you do not know which one would approve you.
The American Express Cobalt® Card costs $191.88 per year. The American Express® Gold Rewards Card costs $250. Two different products, two different approval profiles.
Without a preliminary check, testing both means two official applications, therefore two hard inquiries. At 36 months retention each, your file carries two marks for one card obtained. With the preliminary check, you test both and submit only one official application: one mark instead of two.
Push the reasoning to the scale of an active shopper. Three personal cards evaluated out of curiosity over three years means three hard inquiries in the old world, versus only one today. Over a period when each new credit application weighs in the calculation of your score, the difference is not symbolic.
An eligibility indication is not a contract. Three areas remain beyond the reach of the preliminary check, and these are precisely the ones that surprise new cardholders.
To go deeper into these last two points, two of our guides go further than this article.
Read our article on American Express card rejection and its real causes, which also details the waiting period before trying again.
Also consult our explanation of the American Express financial review and how to avoid it.
The preliminary check does not exempt you from preparation. It evaluates your file as it is today, not as it could be in two months. Three reflexes before starting the process:
This step has its merit: it transfers the risk of rejection from you to the issuer. You know, before committing, whether you will be accepted or not; thus, your file does not pay the price of your curiosity.
That said, it does not replace the selection work. A card you obtain without making it profitable remains a bad purchase, regardless of the number of checks avoided. Start by choosing the right card, then use the preliminary check to confirm your eligibility.
Finally, American Express specifies in its privacy statement that these decisions are based on automated processes. You have the right to request a review of this decision if you believe it does not accurately reflect your situation. So in case of rejection, do not hesitate to file a complaint if you are convinced of your choice.
To broaden the comparison beyond American Express, use our credit card comparator in Canada.
Do you prefer to start from an already sorted selection? Consult our ranking of the best American Express credit cards.
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