topic Re: what should I do? in Credit Cards

what should I do?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:13:45 GMT

Hi everyone!

three days ago I posted that I applied and was approved for BOA Bankamericard reward visa. I received a credit watch alert this morning from experian reporting a new acct on my CR. Somehow the bankamericard acct is already reporting on experian. I haven't even received the card yet. The biggest problem is that it is showing type of acct as Flex Spending no limit reported.

what should i do? before i signed up for the card the cs rep confirmed that it will report a limit.

I called BOA credit reporting this morning and after a record time of 2 hours on hold they told me they don't know anything about it but advised not to dispute it because the account is too new. They said, i should wait few months for the card to report correctly.

any advise? please help

Re: what should I do?

llecs — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:16:18 GMT

I would wait. I'd wait for the card (any yes, BofA will report before you receive the card) and then pull the CRs again to double-check. After that, I would call BofA. It won't take a few months. I'd call a couple days after receiving the card.

Re: what should I do?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:21:23 GMT

@llecs wrote:
I would wait. I'd wait for the card (any yes, BofA will report before you receive the card) and then pull the CRs again to double-check. After that, I would call BofA. It won't take a few months. I'd call a couple days after receiving the card.

should I wait for BOA to report the first statement balance before pulling the CRs?

Re: what should I do?

llecs — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:50:31 GMT

It probably wont matter. I'd call them when the card comes in. You'd want to look for any identifying info on the card that indicates that the CL won't report.

Re: what should I do?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:28:01 GMT

@llecs wrote:
It probably wont matter. I'd call them when the card comes in. You'd want to look for any identifying info on the card that indicates that the CL won't report.

thanks. I'll wait till the card arrive. BOA service rep specifically told me that I was approved for a credit limit of $8000. if the card really comes with no pre-set limit, would it be a bad idea to close it?

Re: what should I do?

llecs — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:34:33 GMT

Max09 wrote:
@llecs wrote:
It probably wont matter. I'd call them when the card comes in. You'd want to look for any identifying info on the card that indicates that the CL won't report.

thanks. I'll wait till the card arrive. BOA service rep specifically told me that I was approved for a credit limit of $8000. if the card really comes with no pre-set limit, would it be a bad idea to close it?

Don't close it. The damage with the new account is already done. Closing it won't help you any. I'd ask them to report a limit.

Re: what should I do?

CodeMonkey — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:35:00 GMT

Max,

It's probably one of the "no pre-set limit" cards that does not report a CL - I have a Signature Visa with B of A and have the same issue.

If it is a big enough concern to you, you can probably call in and have them product change you over to a card that does report CL, so that way you'll have your $8k limit reported.

I'm hoping one of these days FICO will change so that all of these higher-end "no limit" cards do report their credit line amounts - I have a few of them - we'll see!

Good luck.

Re: what should I do?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:59:47 GMT

@CodeMonkey wrote:
Max,

It's probably one of the "no pre-set limit" cards that does not report a CL - I have a Signature Visa with B of A and have the same issue.

If it is a big enough concern to you, you can probably call in and have them product change you over to a card that does report CL, so that way you'll have your $8k limit reported.

I'm hoping one of these days FICO will change so that all of these higher-end "no limit" cards do report their credit line amounts - I have a few of them - we'll see!

Good luck.

Yes, it definitely is a concern to me. I am already having trouble with transunion reporting my amex charge card as a revolving accnt with no limit.

what upsets me is that I was very clear with the cs rep before I signed up. I told him, I do not want a no limit card and he confirmed that bankamericard reward visa is NOT a "no limit card". He said it will absolutely report a limit. Now, who knows how much damage this is going to do to my scores.

Re: what should I do?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:04:16 GMT

A little confusion here... maybe its just the wording you used, but an AMEX 'charge' card doesn't have a preset limit. What type of AMEX card are you trying to get TU to fix?

Re: what should I do?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:18:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
A little confusion here... maybe its just the wording you used, but an AMEX 'charge' card doesn't have a preset limit. What type of AMEX card are you trying to get TU to fix?

I have a green amex charge card and for some reason Transunion is reporting as a revolving account with no limit. I have disputed over and over for the last 6 months and they don't to want change it. I even got amex credit reporting to do a manual update. Transunion is still coding wrong and now they refuse to invistigate it. They even threatned me in writing that if i don't stop disputing the information on this acct they will delete it.

this is why I don't want to have any more cards that to don't report a limit.

Message Edited by Max09 on 11-07-2008 02:17 PM

Message Edited by Max09 on 11-07-2008 02:18 PM

Re: what should I do?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:24:42 GMT

AMEX Green, Gold and Plat don't have preset limits, so they can't report a max limit to the CRAs. TU can't help you with this. You should stop disputing.

However, Open Credit accounts (such as the Green card) help the credit mix 'portion' of your FICO score. They just aren't used in the utilization calc.

If you need cards with max limits, apply for Visa/MC/Discover, but not Signature Visa.

Message Edited by writemikep on 11-07-2008 02:24 PM

Re: what should I do?

CodeMonkey — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:25:59 GMT

I believe what he's trying to say is that the charge card is incorrectly reporting as a revolving account without a limit, and therefore it's hurting his UTL - charge cards aren't supposed to report as revolving, so their UTL isn't factored into your revolving totals.

Correct me if I'm wrong. (It has been known to happen. )

Re: what should I do?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:30:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
AMEX Green, Gold and Plat don't have preset limits, so they can't report a max limit to the CRAs. TU can't help you with this. You should stop disputing.

However, Open Credit accounts (such as the Green card) help the credit mix 'portion' of your FICO score. They just aren't used in the utilization calc.

If you need cards with max limits, apply for Visa/MC/Discover, but not Signature Visa.

Message Edited by writemikep on 11-07-2008 02:24 PM

transunion can help if they code it the right way. equifax and experian have it coded as Other - Terms: 1 month and it does not factor into my util. I don't see why transunion cannot do the same thing.

Also, I did not apply for a signature visa. I applied for bankamericard reward visa. I only apped after customer service rep confirmed that it is a limit card and that it will report an $8000 limit which I was approved for.

Re: what should I do?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:33:05 GMT

@CodeMonkey wrote:
I believe what he's trying to say is that the charge card is incorrectly reporting as a revolving account without a limit, and therefore it's hurting his UTL - charge cards aren't supposed to report as revolving, so their UTL isn't factored into your revolving totals.

Correct me if I'm wrong. (It has been known to happen. )

THANK YOU !. That is exactly what i was saying. they just won't re-investigate it. even Amex agrees that it shouldn't report as revolving and was gracious enough to update the acct manually twice with transunion.

Re: what should I do?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:33:42 GMT

TU may lump all non-mortgage, non-installment TLs under 'revolving'..... on truecredit, my AMEX Plat looks like my AMEX Gold Delta Skymiles, except high limit is empty.

I know Equifax specifies open vs revolving, and credit vs charge on their reports. Not sure what TU does...

A way to get around the issue is to keep the balance small (or zer) on the green card, and use one of your revolving credit cards to report a monthly balance.

Re: what should I do?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:41:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
TU may lump all non-mortgage, non-installment TLs under 'revolving'..... on truecredit, my AMEX Plat looks like my AMEX Gold Delta Skymiles, except high limit is empty.

I know Equifax specifies open vs revolving, and credit vs charge on their reports. Not sure what TU does...

A way to get around the issue is to keep the balance small (or zer) on the green card, and use one of your revolving credit cards to report a monthly balance.

Yep! that is what I've been doing. I carry no balances on any of the other cards. I let the discover more card report a very small balance every month but pif it after statement. I use the amex for business expenses and I pay twice a month before statement closing date. Still, sometimes a small balance sneaks in just at closing date - and regardless of what the amount is, TU shows I am maxed out on the amex.

Re: what should I do? BankAmericard

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:02:09 GMT

llecs

I just logged into my BOA acct and the BANKAMERICARD Reward Visa is already showing even though I haven't received the card yet - and it says my credit limit is $8000. So it does have a limit but reporting it as Flex Spending.

Re: what should I do?

notmyname — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:10:42 GMT

I have three amex chargers and two credits : TU gets them all correctly . So, knowing that they can , keep fighting them. (nicely) I would keep calling until I got someone sympathetic and get their contact info just in case.

Under account type they have the chargers listed as OPEN ACCOUNT. ( I hope you are not get a dope that sees right under that where is says account condition ........open)

NMN

Re: what should I do? BankAmericard

llecs — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:14:13 GMT

Max09 wrote:
llecs

I just logged into my BOA acct and the BANKAMERICARD Reward Visa is already showing even though I haven't received the card yet - and it says my credit limit is $8000. So it does have a limit but reporting it as Flex Spending.

You can call now, but I would wait for the card to look for any language or details on the literature that would indicate a flex spending account.

Re: what should I do?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:35:30 GMT

Thank you for you feedback. It is helpful to know that they can do it. I will continue fighting it - nicely - so far I've been getting their customer service in india. They are very nice but unfortunately they don't really understand it whenever I try to explain it to them. I also did a dispute online.

The last letter I received from transunion was pretty stern. they accused me of frivolous dispute under FCRA rules.

any ideas on how i can keep pushing this without getting my TL deleted?
@notmyname wrote:
I have three amex chargers and two credits : TU gets them all correctly . So, knowing that they can , keep fighting them. (nicely) I would keep calling until I got someone sympathetic and get their contact info just in case.
Under account type they have the chargers listed as OPEN ACCOUNT. ( I hope you are not get a dope that sees right under that where is says account condition ........open)

NMN