How do banks know your income?

[haulingthescoreup]

Not sure where OP went, but BofA asks your income when you initially apply and when you ask for a CLI. And as CWCID (I think it was) pointed out, never give a lender an income figure that you can't prove. You wouldn't believe the number of posts by people who flat-out lied about their incomes, get a financial review, and are now in complete panic.

At any rate, if your income has increased substantially, you might want to let them know this. Normally this occurs during a CLI, but there must be a way to update this info. I took a quick look on their site and didn't see anything, but you might try calling CS. But that's a whole lot like dancing through an active minefield, so I would go back to your local branch and update through them.

But sometimes, this message is just a generic excuse for "We want to have some more cash on hand, and you seem to have a lot of unused credit, so we're going to take some back to make our numbers look better."

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 01-18-2010 09:08 PM

[ficoChanger]

Thanks all.  I'm going to give my bank a call and just see if they can look up what they think my income is.  I can easily prove my income via W2 and paychecks so is not a concern.

[creditwherecreditisdue]

Depending on which bank it is asking questions like that right now could open a big can of worms...

[ficoChanger]

How so?  How could asking them if my income is up to date hurt me?  I'm not asking for a credit increase or opening up a new card.  I just want to make sure they have the correct information IF I ask for those things.

[haulingthescoreup]

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ficoChanger wrote:

How so?  How could asking them if my income is up to date hurt me?  I'm not asking for a credit increase or opening up a new card.  I just want to make sure they have the correct information IF I ask for those things.

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The general idea is that you don't want to have the twitchier lenders looking at your account closely for no particular reason. But if incorrect income info has affected your second card, it might well be worth pursuing.

I wouldn't call them if I had a balance on BofA, or large balances on other cards, or even a high CL on BofA and very little usage on the card. They might decide that you don't need all that pesky unused credit after all.

It's just sort of a think twice before poking a stick into an ant hill.

[creditwherecreditisdue]

You are asking them to manually look at your account. BofA has been closing many accounts when the get their eyeballs on them of late. You might not realize it but BofA has a Jeckyl/Hyde personality and you never know which will manifest itself. Be careful!

[ficoChanger]

Thanks for the advice.  Since I'm keeping my credit utilization low (< 10%) on each card I don't think I'll rock the boat unless I have to.

[creditwherecreditisdue]

Tie in your income update with a CLI request when you are in the position to face a total calamity should it occur. I'm not saying it will, just that I can. When I spoke to someone at BofA last July about a CLI I got Jeckyl and increased from $3.5K to $7.5K. At the same time many others were getting their accounts closed. The previous time I called them I got Hyde and was rudely rebuffed like a naughty schoolboy. Time before that they were nice. You just never know what you are going to get. I suspect at this point I will wait for them to come to me. No need to taunt the sleeping tiger.

[MattH]

No credit card company has been told my income in well over a decade.  All they need to know is that my wife and I use under 10 percent of our credit limits, run lots of purchases through them, and pay in full every month.

[demo18c]

If I have one car payment and a CC with a limit of $1000 how are they able to estimate my income? It does not make sense. I also do not like the fact that consumers can not view these esitmates