HSBC Credit Cards = Consumer Finance?

Anonymous · ‎07-18-2008

Do HSBC CCs translate to consumer finance? My TU FICO report is showing this:

You have a consumer finance account on your credit report.

I can't think of what else it could be? Here's my "acounts" listing from the FICO...All credit cards...

AMEX

Barclays

CITI

Chase

BofA

WAMU

Providian (closed)

Anybody else see this kind of thing?? TU obviously sees this as a derog...

Thanks,

C

Anonymous · ‎07-18-2008

No, consumer finance accounts are always installment accounts. There are no revolving consumer finance accounts (at least, as far as FICO is concerned), so the HSBC CC isn't the source of the comment.

What installment accounts do you have reporting?

Anonymous · ‎07-18-2008

Thanks, Cheddar:

The only installment "loan" I have is an old Volvo North America from late 1998 (paid as agreed). It was actually a lease...

Could it be a coding error of some kind on one of the CC accounts?

Anonymous · ‎07-18-2008

Just out of curiosity, are consumer finance accts. always derogs? Would this be like financing new furniture or something?

Anonymous · ‎07-18-2008

Great question... I about to buy new furniture for my house, and didn't know whether it was better to go with the in-store "no interest" deal or just use a CC and then PIF?

Anonymous · ‎07-18-2008

Chazman wrote:

Thanks, Cheddar:

The only installment "loan" I have is an old Volvo North America from late 1998 (paid as agreed). It was actually a lease...

Could it be a coding error of some kind on one of the CC accounts?

Well, if that's your only installment account then that must be it. That really doesn't make sense to me that a Volvo loan would show as a CFL, though. Are you sure there are no other installment accounts at all? (Don't mean to beat a dead horse. Just trying to make sense of this.)

Anonymous · ‎07-18-2008

mrscharlie wrote:

Just out of curiosity, are consumer finance accts. always derogs? Would this be like financing new furniture or something?

They're not derogs, in the same sense that a late payment or a charge off or a collection is a derog. They do ding you a bit, but the impact is actually very small.

BTW, you will get dinged for the first CFL on your report, but not for each additional. It's only the presence of a CFL that causes the ding, not the number of them.

Yes, furniture loans are typically CFLs, as are loans from "subprime" arms of otherwise prime lenders, like Citifinancial (as opposed to Citi) or Wells Fargo Financial (as opposed to Wells Fargo).

Anonymous · ‎07-18-2008

Chazman wrote:

Great question... I about to buy new furniture for my house, and didn't know whether it was better to go with the in-store "no interest" deal or just use a CC and then PIF?

The in-store no-interest deal will almost certainly be a CFL. Only you can decide whether it's worth it to take the CFL ding in order to save some interest.

Anonymous · ‎07-18-2008

I double checked...Volvo's the only installment showing on the TU FICO report. Everything else is either credit card or charge account (1 AMEX).

Does it make sense to contact TU on this?

Anonymous · ‎07-18-2008

cheddar wrote:

Chazman wrote:
Great question... I about to buy new furniture for my house, and didn't know whether it was better to go with the in-store "no interest" deal or just use a CC and then PIF?

The in-store no-interest deal will almost certainly be a CFL. Only you can decide whether it's worth it to take the CFL ding in order to save some interest.

I did what they called the in-store financing for furniture and they went through GEMB for the financing. It doesn't show as a CFL on any of my reports. It was also no interest/payments for a year, but I chickened out of buying the house. (Good thing considering what I am going through with DI now)

This store also used Wells Fargo and Citi Financial, but GEMB approved me first, so. It reports as revolving though. Maybe that makes a difference? Plus I didn't actually use it.