Credit Cards

[Cory]

Hello,

Can someone confirm this one. My CFNA (Firestone Complete Auto Care) Credit Card account is not reporting the credit limit to all three credit bureaus, but is reporting the high balance. I spoke with CFNA, and a representative said that they have a contract with the credit bureaus.

And the reasons they do not report is because, the credit limits are not guaranteed,  for example: you have a credit card with a limit of $800, and they drop it to $500, the $300 decrease affects your score rather than a high balance reporting to the bureaus every month. Now can someone jump in on this one and school me if the lady is pulling my leg, or that's plain truth.

If this is truth, my score is hurting right? I would think so. Where can I gather information that can serve as evidence to CFNA that's incorrect information? I don't believe that CFNA is a tad bit concerned about my credit score.

Thank you,

Cory

[fender]

Yep they only report your high balance... Buy some tires sometime and PIF and it will be helping your credit   I love the 90 days no interest, good card.

[Cory]

Okay thanks. That's the only thing I like about the card too, is that they have 90 days no interest.

Cory

[Revike]

CFNA reports the high balance, but it is ignored when your total CL and available credit are computed. For example, say your CFNA card has a $3000 CL, a high balance of $1000, and a current balance of $0. You have 4 other cards that have a total balance of $3000 and a total CL of $9000. The CRA will report your total available credit as $6000 (from only the 4 other cards), not $7000 or $9000. Your utilization will be computed as 33%, not 30% or 25% ...

Message Edited by Revike on 01-06-2009 10:59 PM

[Cory]

Thank you Revike. This is great information.

Happy New Year!

Cory

[BWduty]

I strongly suggest that anybody who wants to improve their credit score NOT get a CFNA credit card. I know they are the credit company who provides cards for Firestone and Plaza Tire Service. I would guess there are other companies as well. Before applying for a card please make sure you ask if it is CFNA. 

The problem is this -- they do not report credit limits to the bureaus. They report your current balance to all three bureaus, but report no limit. An essential part of raising your credit score is having a favorable debt to credit ratio. This ranges anywhere from 20%-35% depending on who you ask. If you have a $1 balance on a CFNA card, your debt to credit ratio on that account is infinitely negative because you're debt is $1 and your credit limit is unreported (which is considered ZERO by the bureaus).

I sent a few letters to their customer service department, and their responses were abysmal. I paid off the card just now, and will be canceling it as soon as the payment goes through. I see no reason in keeping a card that I can't use. My credit limit is $1200 and my balance is $159 but since they don't report a limit my overall debt to credit ratio is 75%. My only other credit card has a $200 limit so it's showing my overall debt as $159 and my overall available credit as $200. It should be $159 versus $1400 which would be about 11%. CFNA refuses to do anything about it since they are "not required by law to report credit limits". So much for customer service. I'm glad I paid it off before they got any of my money. 

I'm going to try to spread the word as best I can that this is a horrible practice and extremely bad customer service. I opened this account hoping to increase my credit score, and it has dropped it by over 20 points with all three bureaus. I've spent a couple years trying to raise my scores and this just set me back a good six months. The inquiry alone will haunt me for two years.