Citibank Credit Bureau Pull?

[jazzyvar84]

Good Morning All!

Does anyone know from which bureau does Citibank actually pull? The rep told me that it is liable to be from any of the major three, but I know the experts on here are more capable of giving me a more direct answer. Also, if they pull Experian, my score is stuck at about 657. I have one collections account showing and uti is at 49% across the board. I intend to pay off $3,000 in debt within the next two weeks and pay to have the one collections account removed? Would this be enough to push me into the 700 range like my Transunion score? Will Citi approve me?

Oh, yeah! I also have a citi secured card that I opened in March with $500. Don't ask why. 

Does anyone else use experian for credit card approvals? 

I know I've asked 8,000 questions, but you guys are always so helpful. 

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

[Remedios]

Citi frequently pulls two CRAs, usually EX and one other. It will depend on your overall profile and location.
For me, it was a single EX pull.

[Ficoproblems247]

They pulled EX and EQ for me.  I'm in Michigan.

[coldfusion]

With Citi it is a YMMV as to which CRA(s) they pull. Experian is common but they will sometimes pull from Transunion and occasionally from Equifax.  It isn't unusual for them either to pull reports from both Experian and Transunion for a new application. 

As for who pulls from Experian, most of the larger banks that issue cards pull by default from Experian with 2 notable exceptions being USBank and BarclayUS (Capital One pulls from all 3 majors), credit unions mostly pull from Transunion or Equifax.  However,  there is a caveat in that there is no 100% certainty as to which CRA or CRAs an issuer may or may not use for a given application.   Bottom line is if you're interested in applying for a specific card you should research the issuer to see who they generally pull from. 

[rafy023]

Citi pulled EX and EQ for me when I applied for the DC card a few days ago. 

I think removing a collections account could improve your score significantly. The $3,000 you're going to pay will bring your UT down to what? If you're paying $3,000 out of a total of $50,000 in debt then it may not be a huge jump in score but if it's out of $10,000 then I believe it would be significant and may get you up to 700. You may have a shot with Citi once you're in the 700s IMO. 

[jazzyvar84]

Thank you for your response! I have about $10,000 worth of credit card debt. $5,000 of that is from a card that I am an authorized user on. Would that count, too, or just the cards that are actually mine? 

[Remedios]

That counts too. You take the good with the bad when it comes to AU accounts
As far as utilization goes, it's as if it was your own.

[jazzyvar84]

Do you think it would hurt my score to remove that card? It is a Chase card that my grandmother let me use to pay some medical debts and college courses I needed for my job. If I remove it, I don't it would be the same as closing an account would it? 

[calyx]

Removing it is not the same as closing it, so if you asked to be removed, your grandmother would still have an open account.

Whether or not it helps or hurts more depends on how much its history is contributing to your aging factors.    One of the reason people are AUs is to help increase the age of files, but as you see, it can be complicated when you consider utilization.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that utilization carries far more weight than age in scoring. If you remove yourself from that card, your utiliazation amount drops from $10k to $5k. That may be a good thing or it may not be. What is the limit on that card, and what are the limits and balances on all of your cards? Knowing that will help us help you with whether to remove yourself. In a vacuum though, removing that card and paying $3k off takes your balances from $10k to $2k, which looks very favorable. 

If you will supply that additional info, we can make more educated guesses as to what path will be most beneficial.