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I just checked my TrueCredit and they are still reporting "highest balance" on me. My credit line with them is 900, but it shows as 349, which until recently when I had to put new rotors and brakes on the car, was the highest amount I had spent on the card.
Now that I've looked this up, I'm aggravated, because Experian is showing my current balance as 539, and my limit as 349, making it look as though I am overlimit. Grr.
I strongly suggest that anybody who wants to improve their credit score NOT get a CFNA credit card. I know they are the credit company who provides cards for Firestone and Plaza Tire Service. I would guess there are other companies as well. Before applying for a card please make sure you ask if it is CFNA.
The problem is this -- they do not report credit limits to the bureaus. They report your current balance to all three bureaus, but report no limit. An essential part of raising your credit score is having a favorable debt to credit ratio. This ranges anywhere from 20%-35% depending on who you ask. If you have a $1 balance on a CFNA card, your debt to credit ratio on that account is infinitely negative because you're debt is $1 and your credit limit is unreported (which is considered ZERO by the bureaus).
I sent a few letters to their customer service department, and their responses were abysmal. I paid off the card just now, and will be canceling it as soon as the payment goes through. I see no reason in keeping a card that I can't use. My credit limit is $1200 and my balance is $159 but since they don't report a limit my overall debt to credit ratio is 75%. My only other credit card has a $200 limit so it's showing my overall debt as $159 and my overall available credit as $200. It should be $159 versus $1400 which would be about 11%. CFNA refuses to do anything about it since they are "not required by law to report credit limits". So much for customer service. I'm glad I paid it off before they got any of my money.
Some of the credit bureaus DO show "high balance" in place of credit limit when computing your FICO score. Even so, it is not fair to force the consumer to make a large purchase just to show a decent figure in this equation. I've also heard that after any change to your actual credit limit such as an increase or decrease this amount goes back to "zero" or "unreported" since everything on the account resets in the report to the bureaus. Some credit bureaus just list the limit as "zero" or "unreported" regardless of high balance if an actual credit limit isn't provided by the creditor.
I'm going to try to spread the word as best I can that this is a horrible practice and extremely bad customer service. I opened this account hoping to increase my credit score, and it has dropped it by over 20 points with all three bureaus. I've spent a couple years trying to raise my scores and this just set me back a good six months. The inquiry alone will haunt me for two years.
I'm curious if sending a statement to the credit bureaus showing my limit will cause them to show my true credit limit. I've done quite a bit of searching and can't find much information on this. I know creditors aren't required by law to report credit limits. I also know the credit bureaus are required by the FCRA to report as much information as they can to ensure their reports are as accurate as possible. So will they update the information if I provide it myself? The only report I've seen of this is one person who said the information was updated for a few months then went back to zero. I really wanted to use this account to help improve my FICO score. Due to the fact that I have such a limited credit history after my bankruptcy a couple of years ago, $1200 of available unutilized credit would make a fairly large impact on my score, and in turn allow more creditors to extend offers to me.
I just log in, curious about this account, mainly to make sure that they have not closed it due to inactivity. And I was given a credit limit increase of $900.00 some time ago, without my initiation. Now, I'll go and buy some tires for my car just because.
Cory
@GST2008 wrote:
Is there any benefit to having this card other than another line of credit? I get all my car care done at Firestone, but have never really bothered to get the card. Is there any on-going discount or rewards or anything for using it or just the initial cheap oil change?
Once you get the card, they send you all kinds of discount offers provided you charge your service on the card. Just pay the required minimums and PIF before the 90 day / no interest period ends.
A local high-quality independent shop was bought out by Firestone last year, and their charges increased noticeably after the buyout. I switched to another high-quality independent shop, which costs less than Firestone even with the discounts, so I no longer use Firestone and I'm sure they will eventually close my account, which is fine with me.
For me, with a $0 statement balance, EQ reports my previous high balance as a surrogate CL, while EX and TU report the CL as $0.
There were posts elsewhere that CFNA might be changing their policy and reporting a genuine CL starting in June, so we will need to wait and see if that becomes true ...
I like it for the fact of the ninety day no interest payment option. I don't use it at all, but I think I might for some tires.
Cory
@waqaszm1 wrote:
i had the same problem with my firestone card - the not reporting of the credit limit. but there is one way to fix that. dispute the credit limit with the credit bureaus and tell them the actual credit limit. they will update it. that is what i did for experian (online) and equifax, transunion - now all three reports show my actual credit limit. thanks.
Whoa!
You can do this? I have had the card for months and have not use it YET.. as you can see, I originally asked my question months ago....just happing to be scanning all the posts here and was happe to see that people actually responded. I have not checked in a while, but I am pretty certain that my $1200.00 limit is not reporting. I would love to have some work done on my car, but cannot afford to have another $200 or $300. CL report.. and it looks like I am over that limit.
I figure I should used the card before they actually close the account. I have jsut been afraid to do so. Has anyone else done what Waqaszm1 has done and had it work?