Reporting to the credit bureaus...

[dcw0405]

Hey -

I have a question.  I've Googled and Googled and searched through the forums on here but haven't found a specific answer, which makes me believe that there isn't a specific answer to this question.  When and what exactly do credit card companies report to credit bureaus?  My Capital One statement was available on 01/26.  On 01/27 I paid my balance completely off so now it reflects a zero balance, but that's of course, not what my statement shows.  So my question is, will Capital One report my last statement balance or will they report my zero balance?  Is there any way to find out when our credit card companies actually report to the credit bureaus?  Any help would be appreciated!  Thanks so much.

[Anonymous]

Capital One reports ending statement balance.

There are a few companies that do not do this, and report actual balance on a particular day each month.  I don't recall exactly, but I think Juniper (Barclay's) reports our balance last day of the month, not on statement cut, and it is the balance as of the last day of the month, not the statement balance.

But generally, most CCC's report the statement ending balance.  And this is why many on this board PIF prior to the statement cut off, so that the ending balance is reported as zero.

[GregB]

I have a total of 22-26 accounts reporting to the CRAs. Experian has the 26 accounts showing so most creditors seem to report to them.

I use 2-3 monitoring services such as myFICO's Scorewatch.

ALL of them report the statement balance. I have heard some wierd ones will report at the last day or some such but have never seen it with my accounts with:

Amex 

BofA

BMW

CapOne

Chase

Citi

Discover

Home Depot

Honda

Kohl's

Lowes

Sears

I have seen an "extra" report on a CLI that was in addition to the statement balance. I have also seen some companies skip reporting for a month or even two and then report again as normal.

[Red22]

Looks like your new statement date is on the 26th of the month.  The new balance of zero will not report to the CRA's until 2/26/2010.  If you decide to use your CC  at anytime during February, make sure you pay your entire balance back to zero by 2/21/2010 if you want a "O" balance to be reported to the 3 Credit Bureau's.

someone else may chime in with more beneficial info regarding this issue!

[laz98]

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@GregB wrote:

I have a total of 22-26 accounts reporting to the CRAs. Experian has the 26 accounts showing so most creditors seem to report to them.

I use 2-3 monitoring services such as myFICO's Scorewatch.

ALL of them report the statement balance. I have heard some wierd ones will report at the last day or some such but have never seen it with my accounts with:

Amex 

BofA

BMW

CapOne

Chase

Citi

Discover

Home Depot

Honda

Kohl's

Lowes

Sears

I have seen an "extra" report on a CLI that was in addition to the statement balance. I have also seen some companies skip reporting for a month or even two and then report again as normal.

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you are thinking of orchard bank.  they report whatever your balance is on the last day of the month.  i can usually find it on my reports by the 3rd.

to answer the OP, different credit card companies report at different times.  they don't all report the same day.

[haulingthescoreup]

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dcw0405 wrote:

Hey -

I have a question.  I've Googled and Googled and searched through the forums on here but haven't found a specific answer, which makes me believe that there isn't a specific answer to this question.  When and what exactly do credit card companies report to credit bureaus?  My Capital One statement was available on 01/26.  On 01/27 I paid my balance completely off so now it reflects a zero balance, but that's of course, not what my statement shows.  So my question is, will Capital One report my last statement balance or will they report my zero balance?  Is there any way to find out when our credit card companies actually report to the credit bureaus?  Any help would be appreciated!  Thanks so much.

---

Here's as specific as I can get, although every now and again, a member will report something different:

The majority of CC's report the balance that shows on your statement, and they send it in on the statement date. This is NOT the due date; this is the date that the statement pops up online or is mailed out. Then you have to wait for the CRA's to update. Experian generally does so that night or the next day. I generally see Equifax update 5-6 days later, and TransUnion a few days after that. Sometimes EQ and TU flip-flop as to which will be later.

HSBC/ Orchard bank cards (not the pure store cards, like the Best Buy store card) report your balance as of the last business day of the month. So does US Bank. HSBC/ Orchard can be pretty bad about not actually sending in the info for several weeks, and at least once a year, they seem to say the heck with it and skip reporting for an entire month.

American Express reports the balance that shows on your statement, but they don't send it in until 4 weeks later. Then a few days after that, the new statement comes out, and it starts all over again. In effect, your CRAs will always be showing last month's balance on your reports. I make it a point to have my American Express card report $0 for this reason, as it's frustrating to wait nearly two months for it to cycle through on the reports.

CapOne is like most cards, reporting your balance on your statement and doing so on the statement date. And then of course you have to wait for the bureaus to update your reports.


eta: it appears that American Express has removed the reporting lag!

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 01-29-2010 02:41 PM

[dcw0405]

Great!!  Well, I may have missed the Capital One deadline by a day but the good news is I also completely paid off my HSBC card yesterday, which should (hopefully) report this at the end of this month.  Yay!  Thanks guys.  You've been so helpful.  I'm staying on TOP of my credit now instead of the other way around.

[Kiwill]

haulingthescoreup - are you saying that the HSBC Best Buy store card and Best Buy MC don't report the last day of the month?  I have the BB MC and would like to know if it'll report the last day of the month, I just paid in full earlier this month.

[haulingthescoreup]

The straight Best Buy store card (no MC logo) reports on the statement date. The Best Buy MC is not a store card --it's a co-branded bank card, because it has a Visa/ MC/ Discover/ AmEx logo. AFAIK, it reports the balance as of the end of the month, or at least, that's the impression I have gotten from others' posts.

If someone has a BB MC and access to reliable dates of updating, please clarify or confirm!

[Kiwill]

I guess that would be a good AND bad thing if true.  I paid in full both my BB MC and Orchard cards the second week of January, my BB MC statement closing date was on the 23rd so i've been looking for a FICO alert.  My Orchard statement drops on the 10th of February and I would have had to wait until mid to late february for an update to the CRA's.  If what you are saying that HSBC orchard and BB MC report the last day of the month then I "should" expect an update for both accounts at the same time, soon!  Fingers crossed!

Message Edited by Kiwill on 01-29-2010 11:33 AM