@Anonymous wrote:
I have been led to believe that creditors report balances after statement cuts. However, I took advantage of a recent denial to pull my Experian, and it shows a balance from several days after receiving the card, despite not having cut a statement yet. Is that just a glitch of them reporting just after opening the card, or can I expect intermittent unscheduled reporting from Discover? (Goal here is to manage utilization and reporting at zero). (This is my first time holding a Discover card).
In other words, should it be my practice to wait a week or so after receiving a card to use it, until they do an initial report?
I hope this is the correct board for this question -- if not, feel free to move it.
I had the exact same thing when I got the card a couple months ago. When they reported the new account, they also reported the small balance I had that day. After that they have just reported the normal statement ending balance.
Some of the credit card companies will do mid-cycle updates if there are large purchases during the month -- I guess to warn other lenders in case you are going on a run -- but I can't recall if Discover is one of them. Also Chase will report a payoff midcycle, which seems fairer, but most only report a large increase but not a payoff.
Discover is the only card I've gotten that reported the card balance when they reported the card.
(When I heard there was talk of selling their card division, I figured I'd get in before they sold it in case it's a back door into another line).