Does anyone have a Neiman Marcus card?

[ChesterPDexter]

I got one last summer and the $2,500 CL reported nicely; I bought something small; paid for it, and then just recently bought something small again.

My question is this:  I just looked at my CR and I see "0" listed as the CL for Neiman Marcus.  I called them and they said they never display in reports to the consumer the CL but they would to lenders such as those involved in shopping for a house, etc.

I know this is not true (unless it is a new policy) because I've been seeing $2,500 as my CL on my Equifax CR for months until just recently.  I wonder if it is because I have not used the card for a while.  I hope it will reappear now that I've made a purchase.

I guess my questions are:  1.  Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon, and

2.  Does the $2,500 CL go into the computation of my debt/credit ratio, even if it does not display?

[haulingthescoreup]

Are you looking at a full report, one directly from a CRA, or a secondary report from myFICO, TrueCredit, CreditSecure, etc?

Sometimes information that's on the full report doesn't transmit properly or display at all on these secondary reports. Your scores are generated from the full reports, though, so if the info is there, it does get used for scoring.

[ChesterPDexter]

It's straight from the Equifax website.

[haulingthescoreup]

That's pretty weird!

I can't remember if you're one of those who keep really low util. If you are, you can try letting a good-sized balance report one month and see if your increased util shows up on the FICO EQ report.

Otherwise, we'll have to hold off and wait for a Neiman-Marcus card holder to show up. I'm trying to remember is psychic said he had one, but I just don't know for sure one way or another. Sorry!

[ChesterPDexter]

I checked the report and saw that the calculation is easy.  They obviously just take your amouts owed and compare them to the credit limits listed and come up with a ration.  They sure do NOT include the Neiman Marcus credit line of $2,500 when it is displayed as zero.

Oh well - I can only hope that now that I've bought a lil' something from them (I found a cookie tin for $20 including shipping - with cookies in it) that they'll go back to reporting my credit limit.  That will improve my ratio.  That's why I got the card, after all!  (Shhh!  Don't tell NM that.)

[Chopbrocoli]

Indeed, that is weird. Neiman Marcus is backed by HSBC and they should be reporting the limits on your report. I have the Saks store card (HSBC Backed as well) and they report my limit. I use credit check total when pulling my reports.

[Creditaddict]

I believe Neiman Marcus is considered a charge account and they don't report limits because they automatically to charge over your limit by 20 or 30% I forget since I worked there. It does not really work in your favor when you want to add a nice CL to your util but does work in your favor if you use your card a lot and carry balances.

[jmbfl]

My Neiman Marcus card went the way of many other good things twentyish years ago!

[H2GirlyGirl]

I, too, received my Neiman Marcus card last month and was hoping for a nice jump in my score because of the $2k limit they gave me...well, today, I pulled and NO GO!  The are not reporting a limit for me either, which causes my util to be 63% rather than 31%.

Please keep me updated as to what you find out....

[H2GirlyGirl]

Just wanted to follow up after I did a little more investigating...

When I calculated my util without my NM card at all, I got 68%.  MyFico EQ reports shows 67%...

The highest balance I have carried on my NM card is $37.  When I plug that amount in as my "credit limit", I then calculate a 67% util. 

Would that make sense?  Or am I just wishful thinking and it's really a matter of rounding??

If my "high balance" is what is fueling the CL amount, then I'll just go buy a new Louis Vuitton and take it back after a few weeks...ha!

Ohh!!  I just found and article about it  http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/YourCreditRating/CardsThatHurtYourCreditRating.aspx

Message Edited by H2GirlyGirl on 02-19-2009 04:30 PM