topic Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report in Credit in the News

Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

hrdsurfer — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 05:06:27 GMT

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/why-the-largest-credit-card-companies-are-suppressing-actual-payment-data-on-your-credit-report/

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

GZG — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 05:08:34 GMT

@hrdsurfer wrote:
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/why-the-largest-credit-card-companies-are-suppressing-actual-payment-data-on-your-credit-report/

I've asked about this before, it's a shame they aren't mandated to report this information, great find

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

DONZI — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 05:34:40 GMT

If someone thinks it's an advantage to them having payment amount shown, don't do AZEO and only pay after statement cuts.

Balance gets reported, payment patterns easily extrapolated.

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

NoHardLimits — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 06:11:44 GMT

@DONZI wrote:
If someone thinks it's an advantage to them having payment amount shown, don't do AZEO and only pay after statement cuts.
Balance gets reported, payment patterns easily extrapolated.

Without showing actual payment data, it's difficult to distinguish between those who pay-in-full after a statement cuts and those who carry a balance from month to month. For example, let's say I have a credit card which i use to consistently charge $5000 each month and pay in full after the statement cuts. The way things are reported now, my balance would be $5000 every month so it looks like I might be carrying it from month to month.

The way I've been dealing with this issue is to rotate the cards which report a balance. That way, each card will sometimes show a balance but mostly report zero. Trended data will show usage and pay offs for each card.

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

DONZI — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 08:22:36 GMT

Seems like an excellent point that I completely didn't think about.

I guess a work-around would be to alternate between 2 or more cards. (lol, just like you mentioned above that I just read after writing that)

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

OmarR — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 18:12:35 GMT

"The responses suggested companies withheld information in an attempt to make it harder for competitors to offer their more PROFITABLE and less risky customers better rates, products, or services."

I don't think the PIF'ers are the target demographic here.

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

SouthJamaica — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 18:46:28 GMT

@hrdsurfer wrote:
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/why-the-largest-credit-card-companies-are-suppressing-actual-payment-data-on-your-credit-report/

Wow, that's unsettling.

Thanks for posting it.

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

SeaProbe — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 21:10:17 GMT

@OmarR wrote:
"The responses suggested companies withheld information in an attempt to make it harder for competitors to offer their more PROFITABLE and less risky customers better rates, products, or services."

I don't think the PIF'ers are the target demographic here.

In part I agree.

Don't forget the charge card customers who happily pay AFs year after year. I imagine those are quite profitable overall.

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

OmarR — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 21:34:08 GMT

@SeaProbe wrote:
@OmarR wrote:
"The responses suggested companies withheld information in an attempt to make it harder for competitors to offer their more PROFITABLE and less risky customers better rates, products, or services."

I don't think the PIF'ers are the target demographic here.
In part I agree.

Don't forget the charge card customers who happily pay AFs year after year. I imagine those are quite profitable overall.

Good point. Myself being a non-AF person, I didn't think about that.

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

markbeiser — Sun, 26 Feb 2023 20:21:49 GMT

@OmarR wrote:
"The responses suggested companies withheld information in an attempt to make it harder for competitors to offer their more PROFITABLE and less risky customers better rates, products, or services."

I don't think the PIF'ers are the target demographic here.

I'd go so far as to say that PIF'ers that juggle cards to maximize cashback/travel rewards, and chase SUBs, are an actual enemy to them!🤣
According to the year end reports, across all my cards I got about $2300 in cash back rewards, SUBs, and speacial offers on stuff I was going to buy anyway, but paid $0.00 in fees or interest, all on personal cards, with no travel involved.

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

SweetCreditObsession — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 02:08:50 GMT

How unethical!😤

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

Lou-natic — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 15:05:33 GMT

Since the CFPB knows about it now, and has it on record that some of these banks don't intend to go back to reporting things properly just for a competitve advantage then it's time to do something about it. If every bank has to report accurately then no one has an advantage and the problem is solved.

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

Roisin — Sat, 11 Mar 2023 00:11:19 GMT

Hm, it kind of cuts both ways, and makes a case for acquiring and maintaining more cards than one might actually "need." Thanks so much for the read.

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

tcbofade — Sat, 11 Mar 2023 14:06:35 GMT

@markbeiser wrote:
@OmarR wrote:
"The responses suggested companies withheld information in an attempt to make it harder for competitors to offer their more PROFITABLE and less risky customers better rates, products, or services."

I don't think the PIF'ers are the target demographic here.
I'd go so far as to say that PIF'ers that juggle cards to maximize cashback/travel rewards, and chase SUBs, are an actual enemy to them!🤣
According to the year end reports, across all my cards I got about $2300 in cash back rewards, SUBs, and speacial offers on stuff I was going to buy anyway, but paid $0.00 in fees or interest, all on personal cards, with no travel involved.

Right behind ya.

Cleared $2100 last year with very little travel involved.

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

James3 — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 15:42:49 GMT

@NoHardLimits wrote:
@DONZI wrote:
If someone thinks it's an advantage to them having payment amount shown, don't do AZEO and only pay after statement cuts.
Balance gets reported, payment patterns easily extrapolated.
Without showing actual payment data, it's difficult to distinguish between those who pay-in-full after a statement cuts and those who carry a balance from month to month. For example, let's say I have a credit card which i use to consistently charge $5000 each month and pay in full after the statement cuts. The way things are reported now, my balance would be $5000 every month so it looks like I might be carrying it from month to month.

The way I've been dealing with this issue is to rotate the cards which report a balance. That way, each card will sometimes show a balance but mostly report zero. Trended data will show usage and pay offs for each card.

With your strategy, are there any repercussions to letting the full balance report on your statement rather than paying part of it before the statement cuts? Assuming the percentage of your credit used doesn't change, would it affect you negatively to have a balance of $50, $500, or $5,000 on your statement?

Re: Why the largest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment data on your credit report

NoHardLimits — Sat, 18 Mar 2023 18:42:20 GMT

@James3 wrote:
@NoHardLimits wrote:
@DONZI wrote:
If someone thinks it's an advantage to them having payment amount shown, don't do AZEO and only pay after statement cuts.
Balance gets reported, payment patterns easily extrapolated.
Without showing actual payment data, it's difficult to distinguish between those who pay-in-full after a statement cuts and those who carry a balance from month to month. For example, let's say I have a credit card which i use to consistently charge $5000 each month and pay in full after the statement cuts. The way things are reported now, my balance would be $5000 every month so it looks like I might be carrying it from month to month.

The way I've been dealing with this issue is to rotate the cards which report a balance. That way, each card will sometimes show a balance but mostly report zero. Trended data will show usage and pay offs for each card.
With your strategy, are there any repercussions to letting the full balance report on your statement rather than paying part of it before the statement cuts? Assuming the percentage of your credit used doesn't change, would it affect you negatively to have a balance of $50, $500, or $5,000 on your statement?

Utilization as a percentage does not seem to affect my FICO8 scores unless I go over roughly 29% on a single card. On the other hand, there seem to be dollar amount thresholds that will cost me points. I usually lose one point when my combined reported balances go over $2000-ish, and up to 4 points over $8000-ish. I haven't let more than $9k report on my primary cardholder accounts since I started keeping track of my reported balance stats in 2015. VantageScore3 fluctuates more than FICO8, perhaps at double the pace. I've found no pattern when it comes to authorized user accounts.

Percentage of accounts with balances also seems to affect my scores when I hit about 50% of accounts showing a balance.

Of course, these data points are only applicable to my personal profile. Your mileage may vary.