Selling Tradelines / Piggybacking Part II: $1000+/hr, 20-40k/yr. Side Gig

[MasterStache]

Hmm, I am pretty sure I got rewarded with a $25 bonus (2500 points) for activating the AU card and using it for a purchase with USAA. Going to try again with a new AU card and see if it happens again. If so that is a little added bonus. 

[ravevan]

Am I the only one who saw this and immediately thought “more Tradelines?”!

https://www.wsj.com/articles/barclays-mulls-u-s-push-as-activist-looms-1531738921?emailToken=219e8e6a23b234e65c47c8198d69cdbc9M9/kajpIFDcuaer08HCOUoe6XuY4jmY274whD50ooLJQnXmelSzUm5xFy7G69Dd+oBP2P6fvYt/tOjQPmJcDY0lGniWnU/7/c/O0dwOE2s%3D&reflink=article_copyURL_share

[frugalnacho]

How quickly do you add AU?  I got an email monday evening saying I had new AU to add, but I didn't have time to log in and get the info and call yet.  I got an email from TL company today asking if they were added saying there were due by 5/21 (the night I got the notification).  Now I'm ready to add them, but the email made it sound like if they weren't added by 5/21 she had to replace them, so I don't know if I should go ahead and add them or if she's going to move them to another card.  This card has been filling up consistently and I just removed 2 AU last week, so I expect I'd get another 2 slots right away.

Do you jump on adding AU immediately? What's a reasonable time frame to get them added?  I feel like it often takes a week or so to show up after adding them anyway.

Well apparently if you don't add them by the due date you don't get paid.  So I got 6 hours notice to add them (got emails at 5:29 PM and 5:48PM on 5/21 that were apparently due to add by 5/21).  Since I added them late (48 hours after notified) I got to take all the risk of adding weird names to my card, used up my 2 slots (since it's suspicious to remove AU so quickly I've been instructed to leave them), got to sit on the phone with citi for 20 minutes, and I don't get paid.  wtf new company?

I ended up getting an email that one of these adds didn't post.  When I look at my credit portal one is listed red, the other listed green indicating that one of them posted and the other one didn't.  I don't know how that makes any sense since I added them both during the same phone call, and the phone call was definitely just after the closing date.

So now I don't know if I am getting paid for neither of these, or just one.  I got a $75 deposit to my account, but I don't know if it's for one of these, or if it's to make up for the 3 previous sales they shortchanged me $25/each on.

[frugalnacho]

Just had a weird experience calling bank of america.  I am due to remove an AU so I call and ask them to remove the AU and they tell me the AU is not listed.  They check into it, and the AU was listed but was removed May 27.  wtf? I never called in to remove that AU, especially 6 weeks ahead of schedule.

I did not press them for details because I don't want to draw any more suspicion to myself, but WTF is going on with that?

EDIT: How do you see which AU are currently on your BoA account?  I have a different AU I've added that should still be on there, but I don't know how to verify that.  Hopefully they didn't just remove this AU without my request like they did the previous one.  I suppose I could call in and talk to a rep, but I'm afraid that would be suspicious and also I'd sound like an idiot for not knowing who my current AU are (even though I know who it's supposed to be).

[beekayworld]

How do you see which AU are currently on your BoA account?  I have a different AU I've added that should still be on there, but I don't know how to verify that.  Hopefully they didn't just remove this AU without my request like they did the previous one.  I suppose I could call in and talk to a rep, but I'm afraid that would be suspicious and also I'd sound like an idiot for not knowing who my current AU are (even though I know who it's supposed to be).

Interesting! I understand your reluctance to call and ask suspicious questions. I agree that it would be better to find out another way.

I don't see a way to find out on the BofA website. (Some of the other cards have sections where we can manage our AUs, but BofA doesn't even provide good results for info in their search bar! "Authorized users" or "add user" search terms return results like "What is Twitter?" HA! Useless.)

I would send an email to the TL company and ask how an AU could have been removed.  I wouldn't think the TL company could do it, or would do it, and would find it very difficult and rare for an AU to remove himself. The TL company is a good resource for these kinds of questions.

Also, the TL company runs credit reports on the buyers (to confirm the add occurred or didn't occur) so they will know which of the AUs were on the card as of the date of their last credit reports (IF it shows on the credit report).

If you do decide to call BofA to be sure, maybe you can call and say you want to confirm that an AU is still on. If they say "No, would you like to add him back?" ask if he was able to remove himself and say you will chat with him and find out if he removed himself and get back to them.

Frankly, I wouldn't bother. I would just communicate with the TL company to get as close to the perfect answer as possible.  If the card wasn't on an AU's last credit report, it doesn't mean he's not still an AU on the card; it just didn't report correctly (yet). But if the card WAS on someone's last credit report, then you know he was an AU as of the last closing date anyway.

The rarity and difficulty of an AU removing himself wouldn't make it worth my while to investigate to the nth degree.

[beekayworld]

How do you see which AU are currently on your BoA account?  I have a different AU I've added that should still be on there, but I don't know how to verify that.  Hopefully they didn't just remove this AU without my request like they did the previous one.  I suppose I could call in and talk to a rep, but I'm afraid that would be suspicious and also I'd sound like an idiot for not knowing who my current AU are (even though I know who it's supposed to be).

Interesting! I understand your reluctance to call and ask suspicious questions. I agree that it would be better to find out another way.

I don't see a way to find out on the BofA website. (Some of the other cards have sections where we can manage our AUs, but BofA doesn't even provide good results for info in their search bar! "Authorized users" or "add user" search terms return results like "What is Twitter?" HA! Useless.)

I would send an email to the TL company and ask how an AU could have been removed.  I wouldn't think the TL company could do it, or would do it, and would find it very difficult and rare for an AU to remove himself. The TL company is a good resource for these kinds of questions.

Also, the TL company runs credit reports on the buyers (to confirm the add occurred or didn't occur) so they will know which of the AUs were on the card as of the date of their last credit reports (IF it shows on the credit report).

If you do decide to call BofA to be sure, maybe you can call and say you want to confirm that an AU is still on. If they say "No, would you like to add him back?" ask if he was able to remove himself and say you will chat with him and find out if he removed himself and get back to them.

Frankly, I wouldn't bother. I would just communicate with the TL company to get as close to the perfect answer as possible.  If the card wasn't on an AU's last credit report, it doesn't mean he's not still an AU on the card; it just didn't report correctly (yet). But if the card WAS on someone's last credit report, then you know he was an AU as of the last closing date anyway.

There's got to be like a 99% chance that someone you added is still on. And if the TL says his credit report shows he is still on (most likely), just leave it until they instruct you to remove it.

The rarity and difficulty of an AU removing himself wouldn't make it worth my while to investigate to the nth degree.

[Arbit Trage]

Just to get an update (sorry if already covered)...okay to use Discover? Thinking about adding it with the old company.

[erutio]

Expect closures with Discover. 

I had one discover card closed last summer.  They will blacklist you also, because after my card was closed, I tried to apply for a new one, ~9 months afterwards.  They responded with something to the effect of "Due to your previous history, you cannot apply for more Discover cards."

My wife has a discover card that we are seasoning. Once the tradeline is old enough to sell, we plan to churn through selling as many spots as we can, before they inevitably shut down the card. 

[Orin!]

Expect closures with Discover. 

I had one discover card closed last summer.  They will blacklist you also, because after my card was closed, I tried to apply for a new one, ~9 months afterwards.  They responded with something to the effect of "Due to your previous history, you cannot apply for more Discover cards."

My wife has a discover card that we are seasoning. Once the tradeline is old enough to sell, we plan to churn through selling as many spots as we can, before they inevitably shut down the card.

@erutio
How many slots did you sell and how fast before they closed? And did you have any ther “irregular” activity around that time that would have caused them to close? And were you running purchased through it as well?

[erutio]

How many slots did you sell and how fast before they closed?

I sold a total of 7 spots from Jan 2017 to July 2017.  Never more than 2 at a time.  It went like Jan 2, Mar 2, May 1, Jul 2 spots. Closed in Jul 2017.

And did you have any ther “irregular” activity around that time that would have caused them to close?

No irregular activity as far as I know.  I got paid for all spots.  I just logged in one day and my Discover online account said I had $0 available credit.  Somewhere in the middle of this thread are a few posts describing from other members what happened when they tried calling the executive office.

And were you running purchased through it as well?

Yes, like $3-5 worth of amazon gc per month that where AUs.

[dragoncar]

Wow!

This is concerning. I believe, no one was reporting blacklisting before.


I got my BOA closed in the past, but not only BOA let me keep other BOA accounts, they also let me to open new ones later on.

probably, nobody tried before

this sounds like a case for that guy that cues credit card companies, if they're apparent reason for denying the application was "your history"

[Padonak]

I got my BOA closed in the past for "irregular AU activity", but not only BOA let me keep other BOA accounts, they also let me to open new ones later on.

BOA also closed my card for the same reason. Haven't tried applying for new accounts, but other accounts I have with them are still open.

[Orin!]

One may want to occasionally run a larger transaction than just $3-$5 through the card a month.

[Car Jack]

One may want to occasionally run a larger transaction than just $3-$5 through the card a month.

I have no proof, but just put myself in the shoes of the cc company.  If they look at your account and see that you add an AU and then charge only amazon GCs, that is sure screaming "Tradeline".  What I do is literally use the card that the AU goes on to do the next purchase I need to do.  Gas, grocery shopping, lunch out.  At least it's something different every time.

[erutio]

I have no proof, but just put myself in the shoes of the cc company.  If they look at your account and see that you add an AU and then charge only amazon GCs, that is sure screaming "Tradeline".  What I do is literally use the card that the AU goes on to do the next purchase I need to do.  Gas, grocery shopping, lunch out.  At least it's something different every time.

Yeah, I get that.
But I'm putting the small charges on my account to make sure to the tradeline reports to the credit bureaus for the new AUs, not necessarily to throw the CC companies off the scent of tradelines being sold. 
If they really wanted to shut down accounts for tradeline selling, they would look at the AU history and easily figure it out. A couple of different transactions here and there doesn't make it NOT look like you're selling tradelines.

I actually would like to do some version of what you do, but I didn't have enough monthly transactions at the right exact times to make it work.  I also don't want to carry my catalog of credit cards with me at all times.  I thought maybe I'd go to the gas station and buy a pack of gum or something, but that involves extra travel and planning, and sometimes an extra trip out the house. I guess this is one of those Mustachian people problems.  AMZ GCs were the path of least resistance, takes about 15 seconds online, and I just put my credit cards away next to my computer until next month.   

[Orin!]

Anyone had closures on discover in the last couple months?

Maybe they finished their review?

I know they were doing all sorts of reviews 3-5 months ago. Asking for documents from various people I know that do have a discover card but never had anything to do with tradelines.

One good thing about Discover is that right after you add the AU it reports it to credit agencies. Does not wait until closing statement.

[dragoncar]

Anyone had closures on discover in the last couple months?

Maybe they finished their review?

I know they were doing all sorts of reviews 3-5 months ago. Asking for documents from various people I know that do have a discover card but never had anything to do with tradelines.

One good thing about Discover is that right after you add the AU it reports it to credit agencies. Does not wait until closing statement.

They may have finished their review, but if they do another one in a year you are hosed.  IMO if you choose to enroll your discover card, burn it to the ground.  I’m salty that I only got two sales and lost my card (and potentially blacklisted).  I should have asked for a reduced commission or something to sell more spots if I was going to lose it anyways

[Orin!]

I am hard to believe that only two AUs added would cause them to a) think you are selling tradelines, 2) cause them to close you down. I know that at that time Discover was pretty much asking everyone to send them a copy of drivers license and SS card and filled out ssa-89 (form they use to verify you as legit and not synthetic) and only gave you a 10 day time period to get this letter and send it back (clock started from when they mailed it to you, so really you only had 5 business days to handle and send back). Anyone who didn’t do that was closed down. So maybe it was that? Or you had a super sketch person added as an AU. But isn’t that was these middle men are paid to detect and handle?

[dragoncar]

I am hard to believe that only two AUs added would cause them to a) think you are selling tradelines, 2) cause them to close you down. I know that at that time Discover was pretty much asking everyone to send them a copy of drivers license and SS card and filled out ssa-89 (form they use to verify you as legit and not synthetic) and only gave you a 10 day time period to get this letter and send it back (clock started from when they mailed it to you, so really you only had 5 business days to handle and send back). Anyone who didn’t do that was closed down. So maybe it was that? Or you had a super sketch person added as an AU. But isn’t that was these middle men are paid to detect and handle?

Both adds were successful, then a year later account closed.  I described in greater detail upthread.  Used the "new" company so maybe they did let a scammer through, but others have had similar experiences. 

[Car Jack]

Got a sale on new company with Discover.  All of the cards I use on any tradeline is one I assume will be closed, so I don't care.

[Padonak]

Has anybody tried to dispute account closure due to selling tradelines, particularly with BofA? Is it worth disputing?

[Orin!]

I don’t know what all this concern is about closed cards. Yes it is good to know which ones are touchy at what time.

I have 16 cards. 7 of them I am using for personal use. 9 of them I am using for tradelines. I made 3k in three months. All my nine cards have ~3 AU lines sold. Let’s say I continue to run ten hard and do ~3 lines every two months. Let’s say five cards get closed down in six months (that would be more than expected) then I would have made 12k by then. Let’s say I keep running my five remaining cards hard for six more months and make another 4.5 k and all those then get closed down. Ok so I walk away a year from now with 16.5k. Maybe I some of those banks I can’t reopen a card with and others I can. There are plenty of banks out there. I still have my other 7 I never sold tradelines with. Maybe I just apply for some new cards and move my business over to them and start using my previous 7 cards for tradelines and make another 14k in the next year.

I am working with a different company that is aggrsssively marketing to the people who want tradelines.It is a booming area in demand and anyone who tells you otherwise is not tracking with the benefits a regular person gets from increased credit score in the idiotic buy things now on credit world we live in.

[MasterStache]

I don’t know what all this concern is about closed cards. Yes it is good to know which ones are touchy at what time.

I have 16 cards. 7 of them I am using for personal use. 9 of them I am using for tradelines. I made 3k in three months. All my nine cards have ~3 AU lines sold. Let’s say I continue to run ten hard and do ~3 lines every two months. Let’s say five cards get closed down in six months (that would be more than expected) then I would have made 12k by then. Let’s say I keep running my five remaining cards hard for six more months and make another 4.5 k and all those then get closed down. Ok so I walk away a year from now with 16.5k. Maybe I some of those banks I can’t reopen a card with and others I can. There are plenty of banks out there. I still have my other 7 I never sold tradelines with. Maybe I just apply for some new cards and move my business over to them and start using my previous 7 cards for tradelines and make another 14k in the next year.

I am working with a different company that is aggrsssively marketing to the people who want tradelines.It is a booming area in demand and anyone who tells you otherwise is not tracking with the benefits a regular person gets from increased credit score in the idiotic buy things now on credit world we live in.

Seems pretty logical to be concerned about closed cards. Many of us, including myself, dabble in travel hacking. Card closures comes with a risk of being blacklisted as well. With many CC companies clamping down on churners, adding in being blacklisted really starts to tighten the noose as far as churning goes. Plus many of us, again myself included, don't have a shit ton of cards in the system.

[Padonak]

Any tips on increasing credit lines to make credit cards eligible for selling tradelines and getting paid more?

I have many cards but only 3 of them can be used for tradelines at the moment. I shifted my credit lines from other cards to those cards so other cards with the same banks have something like 1-5K credit limits. There seems to be a maximum total credit limit with issuers like Barclays and BofA because when I apply for new cards with them they no longer auto approve me even though my FICO is pretty high. I have to call them and re-distribute credit limits from other cards with the same bank to a new card before they finalize approval process and send it to me. I have a regular job and a pretty decent salary as well. Not sure what else I can do to increase my credit limit.

[secondcor521]

Any tips on increasing credit lines to make credit cards eligible for selling tradelines and getting paid more?

I have many cards but only 3 of them can be used for tradelines at the moment. I shifted my credit lines from other cards to those cards so other cards with the same banks have something like 1-5K credit limits. There seems to be a maximum total credit limit with issuers like Barclays and BofA because when I apply for new cards with them they no longer auto approve me even though my FICO is pretty high. I have to call them and re-distribute credit limits from other cards with the same bank to a new card before they finalize approval process and send it to me. I have a regular job and a pretty decent salary as well. Not sure what else I can do to increase my credit limit.

A couple of ideas:

1.  Be more aggressive about reallocating.  Most credit card minimum limits are $100 or $500.  If you have a $5K card, that's $4.5K to $4.9K that could be reallocated.  You can even close the smaller card and move the whole CL over.

2.  Increase your reportable income.  Look at all available options, including a raise at work, reporting the side income from piggybacking as additional income, etc.

3.  Become an AU yourself by buying a monster line from someone like me.  Another forum member did that on the theory that banks will match CLs on larger lines.  He had me add him to a $27.5K line, and he reported that it worked for him.  I've got lines up to $60K.

4.  Get cards from other issuers.  If you have maybe a $60K income, you could probably get a single $20K line from a smaller issuer regardless of your Chase and Citi limits.  Check the list of issuers that piggybacking works with, of course; I have a nice line with Alliant but the AU companies don't work with them (at least Old and New Company do not).

But yeah, you're right...most issuers will have a max total limit they'll extend you on all cards with them.  It seems to be mostly a function of your reported income, not your credit score.

Good luck!

[Orin!]

@MasterStache
Once you have been dabbling in travel hacking a bit longer you will see you can sign up for so many cards every few months and will soon have more cards than you can do anything with. If your credit age and depth is low and you only have three cards to your name then you shouldn’t do tradelines until you build your credit up a bit, or at least yes - take a conservative approach.

@Padonak
BofA you can request credit line increases online without any hard query to your credit. Barclays would be a hard pull so I would lay off that. What other lines do you have? I request credit line increases on all my cards every 3-6 months if they don’t do hard pulls.

@secondcor521
Reportable income is key. Also look at what they define as your reportable income. Most definitions I have seen from banks include a wide definition.

[MasterStache]

@MasterStache
Once you have been dabbling in travel hacking a bit longer you will see you can sign up for so many cards every few months and will soon have more cards than you can do anything with. If your credit age and depth is low and you only have three cards to your name then you shouldn’t do tradelines until you build your credit up a bit, or at least yes - take a conservative approach.

Been travel hacking for many years now with several dozen cards between my wife and I, but thanks for the advice. You are missing the keyword "churning." I can tell you from personal experience signing up for tons of card every few months has become increasingly difficult, again with rules being instituted by numerous CC companies. Add in blacklisting, and the going just gets tougher 

[Orin!]

@MasterStache
Once you have been dabbling in travel hacking a bit longer you will see you can sign up for so many cards every few months and will soon have more cards than you can do anything with. If your credit age and depth is low and you only have three cards to your name then you shouldn’t do tradelines until you build your credit up a bit, or at least yes - take a conservative approach.

Been travel hacking for many years now with several dozen cards between my wife and I, but thanks for the advice. You are missing the keyword "churning." I can tell you from personal experience signing up for tons of card every few months has become increasingly difficult, again with rules being instituted by numerous CC companies. Add in blacklisting, and the going just gets tougher

Ok - just pointing out the math and the rough odds. I personally think 20k over the next year even if all my 9 cards get shut down and I get blacklisted with those banks (4) would be worth it and I think that all of them being shit down and being completely blacklisted with all of ten is beyond all datapoints seen. Like from what I have seen BofA might close your one card but let you open another.

And if those 4 banks all blacklisted me there are plenty of other banks to go to. And banks are not fancy enough from what I see to cross reference black lists.

Just putting out the numbers for “worst case” scenarios.

But each to their preference.

[dragoncar]

@MasterStache
Once you have been dabbling in travel hacking a bit longer you will see you can sign up for so many cards every few months and will soon have more cards than you can do anything with. If your credit age and depth is low and you only have three cards to your name then you shouldn’t do tradelines until you build your credit up a bit, or at least yes - take a conservative approach.

Been travel hacking for many years now with several dozen cards between my wife and I, but thanks for the advice. You are missing the keyword "churning." I can tell you from personal experience signing up for tons of card every few months has become increasingly difficult, again with rules being instituted by numerous CC companies. Add in blacklisting, and the going just gets tougher

Ok - just pointing out the math and the rough odds. I personally think 20k over the next year even if all my 9 cards get shut down and I get blacklisted with those banks (4) would be worth it and I think that all of them being shit down and being completely blacklisted with all of ten is beyond all datapoints seen. Like from what I have seen BofA might close your one card but let you open another.

And if those 4 banks all blacklisted me there are plenty of other banks to go to. And banks are not fancy enough from what I see to cross reference black lists.

Just putting out the numbers for “worst case” scenarios.

But each to their preference.

Those numbers were best-case, though.  Worst case is you get a single sale and they blacklist you.  I only got two.  If I had made anywhere near 20k (also very optimistic) I would consider it even.

[FrugalSaver]

Had another Bank of America add fail. :(

[longtry]

I haven't read all of those ~3000 posts, but it seems this strategy applies to the US only. How many banks are there that accept foreigners opening cards? In case it's not possible, are there markets with characteristics similar to the US (consumerism, highly developed financial system, tradeline/piggyback companies available...) that welcome foreigners to enter? Thank you.

[arebelspy]

I haven't read all of those ~3000 posts, but it seems this strategy applies to the US only. How many banks are there that accept foreigners opening cards? In case it's not possible, are there markets with characteristics similar to the US (consumerism, highly developed financial system, tradeline/piggyback companies available...) that welcome foreigners to enter? Thank you.

I am not aware of any other countries this works in. It is a feature of the way our credit scoring system works.

I believe you need a U.S. SSN for the vast majority of credit card institutions (from very breif research some apparently, like Amex, may let you "transfer" your credit history from other countries they are in, if you have cards with them, but Amex doesn't work for tradelines).

[Shade00]

Got an email this evening for a last minute add as they call it requesting the add by the end of day tomorrow for my Discover card. This is the first add I've had in 10 months or so and I'm not sure why the add must be done by tomorrow. My statement closing date isn't until the 2nd and I have a payment slated to go at the end of the week to pay off the balance, which due to a large purchase exceeds 15% utilization. I can move the payment up to tomorrow so it will hopefully post but I didn't even think this would show on the AUs credit report until at least my close date. Is that right? I feel bad but I may not be able to take this add also due to traveling and poor internet access.

[arebelspy]

Got an email this evening for a last minute add as they call it requesting the add by the end of day tomorrow for my Discover card. This is the first add I've had in 10 months or so and I'm not sure why the add must be done by tomorrow. My statement closing date isn't until the 2nd and I have a payment slated to go at the end of the week to pay off the balance, which due to a large purchase exceeds 15% utilization. I can move the payment up to tomorrow so it will hopefully post but I didn't even think this would show on the AUs credit report until at least my close date. Is that right? I feel bad but I may not be able to take this add also due to traveling and poor internet access.

Discover does not not wait until closing statement, it reports AUs immediately.

I'd move up the payment and add the AU (probably will take about the same amount of time as it took to write this post--3-5 min), but email them immediately if you can't.

They've seen increased sales, and people not seeing sales have seen them, but a bunch of people have flaked on doing the adds, so they've had to remove some people (thus seeing increased activity going forward for those who do their adds).

[Shade00]

Got an email this evening for a last minute add as they call it requesting the add by the end of day tomorrow for my Discover card. This is the first add I've had in 10 months or so and I'm not sure why the add must be done by tomorrow. My statement closing date isn't until the 2nd and I have a payment slated to go at the end of the week to pay off the balance, which due to a large purchase exceeds 15% utilization. I can move the payment up to tomorrow so it will hopefully post but I didn't even think this would show on the AUs credit report until at least my close date. Is that right? I feel bad but I may not be able to take this add also due to traveling and poor internet access.

Discover does not not wait until closing statement, it reports AUs immediately.

I'd move up the payment and add the AU (probably will take about the same amount of time as it took to write this post--3-5 min), but email them immediately if you can't.

They've seen increased sales, and people not seeing sales have seen them, but a bunch of people have flaked on doing the adds, so they've had to remove some people (thus seeing increased activity going forward for those who do their adds).

Thanks, very helpful. I will do my best to get it straight with them. I'd like to do the add and if things pick up, I'm very happy for it. Difficult for me to do this last minute but I don't want to lose the opportunity going forward.

[Orin!]

@dragoncar
Perhaps you should have been doing more adds and it would have been more worthwhile. If you were doing two slots every two months for a year and then been shut down you would have walked away with 2k (assuming this is a 10k plus line that is over 2 years old). Instead you did two slots and then nothing for a year and then were shut down.

There is a lot of demand out there for these lines. I am using a different company than the old or new, but all I am saying is there is demand. The company I work with takes several actions to vet users and I am sure the new and old companies do to - but nothing is foolproof.

[longtry]

from very breif research some apparently, like Amex, may let you "transfer" your credit history from other countries they are in, if you have cards with them, but Amex doesn't work for tradelines.

Thanks @rebel, that's also what my prior research turned out. How unfortunate.
On a related note, from what I read on the net, one of the better ways to get an SSN is to work for a US company. But can I work outside the US while still benefit from the SSN? Are there even better, easier methods to get SSNs? Oh, and are there any members here on MMM fora who own a business & are kind enough to give me a token job?

[Orin!]

from very breif research some apparently, like Amex, may let you "transfer" your credit history from other countries they are in, if you have cards with them, but Amex doesn't work for tradelines.

Thanks @rebel, that's also what my prior research turned out. How unfortunate.
On a related note, from what I read on the net, one of the better ways to get an SSN is to work for a US company. But can I work outside the US while still benefit from the SSN? Are there even better, easier methods to get SSNs? Oh, and are there any members here on MMM fora who own a business & are kind enough to give me a token job?

Read this:
https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10096.pdf

[dragoncar]

@dragoncar
Perhaps you should have been doing more adds and it would have been more worthwhile. If you were doing two slots every two months for a year and then been shut down you would have walked away with 2k (assuming this is a 10k plus line that is over 2 years old). Instead you did two slots and then nothing for a year and then were shut down.

There is a lot of demand out there for these lines. I am using a different company than the old or new, but all I am saying is there is demand. The company I work with takes several actions to vet users and I am sure the new and old companies do to - but nothing is foolproof.

This advice is gold.  Right up there with “make more money” and “be more attractive”

[arebelspy]

This advice is gold.  Right up there with “make more money” and “be more attractive”

To be fair, have you even tried those things?

[hgjjgkj]

New company has been very quiet for me lately

[secondcor521]

New company has been very quiet for me lately

A recent email said that New Company thinks there are audits going on at several of the banks that they use.  If your cards are with those banks, the New Company has rested them for you until they believe those audits are done.

[missundecided]

I didn't get that email. Care to share the list of banks?

[beekayworld]

I didn't get that email. Care to share the list of banks?

I received an email from the new company that they will no longer accept  USAA, Cap 1, US Bank, or Elan. They expect it to be temporary while the companies do internal reviews.

[secondcor521]

I didn't get that email. Care to share the list of banks?

Matching what @beekayworld wrote above...from the email:

"5.  At this time we are not selling USAA, Cap 1, US Bank, or Elan. This is because we feel the risk is too high for possible card closures due to internal reviews being conducted by the aforementioned banks. Based on past experience this is a temporary situation and we will resume using those cards most likely within the next 1-2 months."

[missundecided]

Obviously missed that post. Thanks!

[ThatGuy]

This advice is gold.  Right up there with “make more money” and “be more attractive”

To be fair, have you even tried those things?

It's not possible for those of us who are butt ugly and stupid.

[Orin!]

This advice is gold.  Right up there with “make more money” and “be more attractive”

To be fair, have you even tried those things?

It's not possible for those of us who are butt ugly and stupid.

It’s still possible to try

[dragoncar]

This advice is gold.  Right up there with “make more money” and “be more attractive”

To be fair, have you even tried those things?

It's not possible for those of us who are butt ugly and stupid.

It’s still possible to try

There is no try

[longtry]

Read this: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10096.pdf

Thanks Orin! It's a legal document, and my head gets a little dizzy whenever it comes to reading such, but I think there are answers to my questions:
- No I won't be able to work outside the US & get an SSN, at least at 1st.
- Working is still the best method.
Please correct me if I'm wrong. For the last part of my questions, maybe I'd have to post at the 'Ask a Mustachian' forum...