topic Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting? in General Credit Topics

Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

sarux3 — Fri, 06 May 2022 12:12:54 GMT

As part of my credit card paydown campaign these past couple months, I've currently got most of my Comenity accounts paid down to zero and now am just twiddling my thumbs while I wait for them to report to the CRAs. One, my Victoria's Secret account, has already crossed into the new billing cycle a couple days ago, but no statement has been generated (which I expected, since it's a $0 balance and that's how Comenity seems to do it). But, it's also not updating on my CR's, and now I'm left wondering what kind of lag I should expect for Comenty to report an update? For this particular card, it's not a big deal since I had a pretty small balance last statement, though I would like it to report the $500 CLI I received. But the others have decent balances last cycle (between 300-500 dollars) that are now at zero and I'd very much like those to update since I'm preparing for a few credit moves soon (auto refi, personal loan, etc) that will benefit greatly from showing all of my hard work reducing utilization, minimum payments, and DTI.

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

Remedios — Fri, 06 May 2022 12:17:39 GMT

@sarux3 how long ago did statement close?

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

sarux3 — Fri, 06 May 2022 13:14:34 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
@sarux3 how long ago did statement close?

Just a couple days ago, so I'll admit it could just be natural lag in reporting. But in the event that it's not, I'm wondering if it would make sense for me to go make tiny purchases at J Crew and IKEA before their statements close in a few days... sacrifice my $0 balances but ensure that lower balances and minimums get updated on time?

I noticed my Apple Card is doing this too -- paid off my installment balance and let the statement close at $0, and it's now been 6 days without an update to CRs. I'm a little antsy about getting that one updated since the April statement was slightly over 30% util with $900 CL and $50 minimum payment (due to installment), and I want it to be showing 0% util at $1400 CL with no min pmt.

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

Remedios — Fri, 06 May 2022 13:48:43 GMT

It is a "natural" lag.

Lenders send files in large batches which then need to be processed by CRA.

Anything from 24 hrs to couple of weeks is normal, every so often there might be a snag and it might delay update.

If there has been a change, lender must report accurate balance after statement closes. If you had reported balance last month and you paid it to $0.00 it must be reported.

I think you're confusing it with situations in which sone lenders not report when there is no activity and no change in balance since card wasn't used.

I understand being antsy, been there, done that, but I think patience will help you more than attempting to force reporting by having additional accounts report balances.

If those accounts report, it's possible you could experience scoring drop due to metrics such as number of accounts with balances and number of revolving accounts with balances.

Just give it more time, having additional accounts report balance doesn't make sense if goal is to increase score once accounts report

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

chiefone4u — Fri, 06 May 2022 13:56:37 GMT

I've had comenity store cards, including Victoria's Secret take 90 days to report a zero balance.

If you need it to report sooner you have two options you can try

1) Request a Zero Balance letter (I believe I used the secure message system on the website), for me it updated CRA's 3 days later -- may have been coincidence that it updated so quickly.

2) make a small purchase (they will update at next cycle).

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

sarux3 — Fri, 06 May 2022 15:07:06 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
It is a "natural" lag.
Lenders send files in large batches which then need to be processed by CRA.
Anything from 24 hrs to couple of weeks is normal, every so often there might be a snag and it might delay update.

If there has been a change, lender must report accurate balance after statement closes. If you had reported balance last month and you paid it to $0.00 it must be reported.
I think you're confusing it with situations in which sone lenders not report when there is no activity and no change in balance since card wasn't used.
I understand being antsy, been there, done that, but I think patience will help you more than attempting to force reporting by having additional accounts report balances.
If those accounts report, it's possible you could experience scoring drop due to metrics such as number of accounts with balances and number of revolving accounts with balances.
Just give it more time, having additional accounts report balance doesn't make sense if goal is to increase score once accounts report

Under normal circumstances where I'm just maintaining accounts and not planning anything major, I wouldn't care at all and would be happy to just let them ride until they finally reported as zero. But since I'm preparing to attempt an auto refi and apply for a large-ish personal loan over the next month or two, it's important to me that balances I've paid down for score-optimization purposes will report as such as soon as possible. My other lenders generally don't seem to have a problem with reporting balances paid off at the end of the statement cycle, so it's annoying to have to play these guessing games with Comenity. For the other two cards that are zero balance and nearing the end of their cycles, IKEA and J. Crew both reported about $350-400 each last month with minimum payments totaling $65. I'm presently skating the line of getting my overall utilization under 9% before I pursue my apps in earnest, so every dollar reported as paid off helps... and dropping $65 of min pmts from my DTI would be a big help in securing loan approval.

I know it's counter to what you proposed, but it's sounding to me that the best way forward may be to sacrifice a little bit of reported progress by spending like $10 each at IKEA and J. Crew before end of cycle so that my reported balances for this month drop from $750 to $20 and my minimums from $65 to $20. It's obnoxious, but more useful to me in the short term than having paid down my balances specifically to prep for these loan apps and then not have anything to show for that effort on the CR when it's time to take those HPs. Thank you for your excellent advice!

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Fri, 06 May 2022 15:19:33 GMT

@sarux3 wrote:
@Remedios wrote:
It is a "natural" lag.
Lenders send files in large batches which then need to be processed by CRA.
Anything from 24 hrs to couple of weeks is normal, every so often there might be a snag and it might delay update.

If there has been a change, lender must report accurate balance after statement closes. If you had reported balance last month and you paid it to $0.00 it must be reported.
I think you're confusing it with situations in which sone lenders not report when there is no activity and no change in balance since card wasn't used.
I understand being antsy, been there, done that, but I think patience will help you more than attempting to force reporting by having additional accounts report balances.
If those accounts report, it's possible you could experience scoring drop due to metrics such as number of accounts with balances and number of revolving accounts with balances.
Just give it more time, having additional accounts report balance doesn't make sense if goal is to increase score once accounts report
Under normal circumstances where I'm just maintaining accounts and not planning anything major, I wouldn't care at all and would be happy to just let them ride until they finally reported as zero. But since I'm preparing to attempt an auto refi and apply for a large-ish personal loan over the next month or two, it's important to me that balances I've paid down for score-optimization purposes will report as such as soon as possible. My other lenders generally don't seem to have a problem with reporting balances paid off at the end of the statement cycle, so it's annoying to have to play these guessing games with Comenity. For the other two cards that are zero balance and nearing the end of their cycles, IKEA and J. Crew both reported about $350-400 each last month with minimum payments totaling $65. I'm presently skating the line of getting my overall utilization under 9% before I pursue my apps in earnest, so every dollar reported as paid off helps... and dropping $65 of min pmts from my DTI would be a big help in securing loan approval.

I know it's counter to what you proposed, but it's sounding to me that the best way forward may be to sacrifice a little bit of reported progress by spending like $10 each at IKEA and J. Crew before end of cycle so that my reported balances for this month drop from $750 to $20 and my minimums from $65 to $20. It's obnoxious, but more useful to me in the short term than having paid down my balances specifically to prep for these loan apps and then not have anything to show for that effort on the CR when it's time to take those HPs. Thank you for your excellent advice!

So, your train of thought here is, they're lagging on reporting a zero balance, but they will jump to report a non-zero balance? Why do you think there will be a difference in how quickly the two report?

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

sarux3 — Fri, 06 May 2022 15:49:46 GMT

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
So, your train of thought here is, they're lagging on reporting a zero balance, but they will jump to report a non-zero balance? Why do you think there will be a difference in how quickly the two report?

Comenity always reports non-zero balances to the CRAs "on time" (after statement cycle closes), in my experience at least. While I don't have much first-hand experience with how they report zero balances aside from this instance I'm currently experiencing with my VS account -- I frankly never paid that close of attention to it before, aside from noting that statements were not being generated for zero balance -- a cursory check for opinions online seems to indicate that this may be a pattern of reporting behavior from Comenity.

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

sarux3 — Fri, 06 May 2022 15:51:52 GMT

@chiefone4u wrote:
I've had comenity store cards, including Victoria's Secret take 90 days to report a zero balance.

If you need it to report sooner you have two options you can try
1) Request a Zero Balance letter (I believe I used the secure message system on the website), for me it updated CRA's 3 days later -- may have been coincidence that it updated so quickly.
2) make a small purchase (they will update at next cycle).

90 days! Wow... I'm sure it's a YMMV situation but that's wild that they would take so long if left to their own devices. Thank you for the advice!

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

FinStar — Fri, 06 May 2022 17:52:24 GMT

@sarux3 wrote:
@chiefone4u wrote:
I've had comenity store cards, including Victoria's Secret take 90 days to report a zero balance.

If you need it to report sooner you have two options you can try
1) Request a Zero Balance letter (I believe I used the secure message system on the website), for me it updated CRA's 3 days later -- may have been coincidence that it updated so quickly.
2) make a small purchase (they will update at next cycle).
90 days! Wow... I'm sure it's a YMMV situation but that's wild that they would take so long if left to their own devices. Thank you for the advice!

As @chiefone4u mentioned upthread, I've seen some variances where it can take up to ~60 days for the reporting to reflect on CRAs if you leave things as is. What I've usually done in the past (if time permits during the statement cycle + for science), is a 'forced' zero reporting wherein a nominal purchase/payment is done in the same statement cycle. Then, once the cycle closes, it takes about a week or so to view the staggered results on CRAs.

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

sarux3 — Fri, 06 May 2022 18:30:00 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
As @chiefone4u mentioned upthread, I've seen some variances where it can take up to ~60 days for the reporting to reflect on CRAs if you leave things as is. What I've usually done in the past (if time permits during the statement cycle + for science), is a 'forced' zero reporting wherein a nominal purchase/payment is done in the same statement cycle. Then, once the cycle closes, it takes about a week or so to view the staggered results on CRAs.

Funny you should mention that... that's exactly what I did with my VS account this past cycle. I had PIF'd it before the April statement cut but neglected to account for the fact that they'd charge interest still since it was a carried balance, so on the April statement I owed like $3. So this past cycle I took DW shopping, put about $300 on the card and then paid it off in full once the purchases posted. Same situation with my Ann Taylor account, I'm just waiting on that statement cycle to close as well.

I know that I'm really splitting hairs at this point and that, in the end, it's probably not a huge deal and will not prevent me from getting good results on my planned auto refi and personal loan apps.

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

FinStar — Fri, 06 May 2022 19:07:55 GMT

@sarux3 wrote:
@FinStar wrote:
As @chiefone4u mentioned upthread, I've seen some variances where it can take up to ~60 days for the reporting to reflect on CRAs if you leave things as is. What I've usually done in the past (if time permits during the statement cycle + for science), is a 'forced' zero reporting wherein a nominal purchase/payment is done in the same statement cycle. Then, once the cycle closes, it takes about a week or so to view the staggered results on CRAs.
Funny you should mention that... that's exactly what I did with my VS account this past cycle. I had PIF'd it before the April statement cut but neglected to account for the fact that they'd charge interest still since it was a carried balance, so on the April statement I owed like $3. So this past cycle I took DW shopping, put about $300 on the card and then paid it off in full once the purchases posted. Same situation with my Ann Taylor account, I'm just waiting on that statement cycle to close as well.

I know that I'm really splitting hairs at this point and that, in the end, it's probably not a huge deal and will not prevent me from getting good results on my planned auto refi and personal loan apps.

Well, at least there is piece of mind knowing that you tested a variety of methods to obtain the right reporting for your needs. Even if there is a lag, at least you know how to approach it going forward if there is ever a need.

I remember something similar happened with my Sportsmans Guide Visa, used it for a fairly large purchase (nothing crazy), statement generated, subsequently reported balance to CRAs, then I PIF. At the next cycle, the CRAs were still reporting the prior balance, this went on for two cycles (even though it had been PIF for a while). So, used the card at Costco, transaction posted, PIF, then waited. Once the next cycle generated, I monitored CRAs, and sure enough $0 was reported within 2 weeks (give or take).

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

sportsguy83 — Fri, 06 May 2022 19:18:27 GMT

Well, this is a very timely thread.

I just paid off a closed Comenity account (formerly Barclays/NFL Visa) in good standing and was curious when it would report to the CRA. On my CR it is still listed as a Barclays account (it just transferred to Comenity in the middle of April) so I assume by the end May it will report as a Comenity account with a $0 balance. However, after reading this perhaps I should prepare myself for the end of June. There is no real rush, I'm gardening for a few months but anxious to get it reporting $0 because feel like it's dragging down my scores - current reporting balance is $3300.

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

sarux3 — Sun, 08 May 2022 14:30:16 GMT

Update: my Victoria's Secret account finally showed an update on my CR this morning, with $0 balance and my increased CL. So, five days after the end of cycle... longer than usual but thankfully earlier than I feared. Based on this activity, I think I am going to bite the bullet and let the zero balances ride on IKEA/J.Crew, which are closing cycles over the next couple days. I still have a couple weeks before I had planned to make HP-incurring moves, so I'll just cross my fingers that Comenity doesn't drag their feet on them for too long. Will report back

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

chiefone4u — Sun, 08 May 2022 23:30:52 GMT

@sarux3 wrote:
Update: my Victoria's Secret account finally showed an update on my CR this morning, with $0 balance and my increased CL. So, five days after the end of cycle... longer than usual but thankfully earlier than I feared. Based on this activity, I think I am going to bite the bullet and let the zero balances ride on IKEA/J.Crew, which are closing cycles over the next couple days. I still have a couple weeks before I had planned to make HP-incurring moves, so I'll just cross my fingers that Comenity doesn't drag their feet on them for too long. Will report back

Good to hear they have gotten quicker with their feet-dragging methods when reporting zero balance.

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

sarux3 — Wed, 18 May 2022 23:04:07 GMT

Another update: the zero-balance Comenity accounts have been trickling their way into my CRs, and only today (11 days after the statements closed) have they all reported across each of the three CRAs. So, I've learned that Comenity will report a $0 balance, they're just going to take their sweet time doing it YMMV of course...

Re: Timing of Comenity zero-balance reporting?

sportsguy83 — Mon, 23 May 2022 15:45:21 GMT

@sarux3 wrote:
Another update: the zero-balance Comenity accounts have been trickling their way into my CRs, and only today (11 days after the statements closed) have they all reported across each of the three CRAs. So, I've learned that Comenity will report a $0 balance, they're just going to take their sweet time doing it YMMV of course...

Same experience here. My transferred Barclays account now shows on my CR as Comenity but it didn't report reported my 4/23 statement balance until 5/9 so it seems I will have to wait until 6/9 for it to report my $0 balance.