Synchrony asking me to send them my FICO reports

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

So I only have 1 account with Synchrony (PayPal Credit). I got approved for it back in June when I had high utilization that was lowering my scores. I have since increased my scores by over 100 points and now have scores in the high 700s across the board.

I keep trying to get a CLI so that the PPC limit (currently $1500) is closer to my other limits. I kept getting denied and the letter was always showing a score from June but it wasn’t my higher FICO score. It is some random FAKO score that is really low (650). I called them last mth and asked if they could investigate why they keep showing such a low score for me.

I got a letter from Synchrony saying how they stand by the accuracy of their reporting and asking me to pull my actual credit report (not credit karma) and send it to them so they can reevaluate? Why would a bank ask me to send them my personal credit report? Don’t they have access to it? It makes no sense to me.

Around the same time I received this weird letter, I also applied again for a CLI and got it! Finally! A 2X CLI...but then randomly I got a denial letter saying the same reasons as before...and showing the incorrect June score. When I check my PayPal Credit account, the new CL is showing up. So I have no idea what is going on.

At this point, I’m fine with leaving it alone since I got my CLI. But was wondering if this happened to anyone else and if I should consider calling them again to update my report. I think it’s really weird they asked me to go pull my reports and send it to them when I know for a fact what my FICO scores are and I don’t feel the need to “prove it” to a bank. That’s their job!

[Anonymous]

It's probably not "a random FAKO", a score is only FAKO if it's not one the institution actually uses, and it seems Sync IS now basing a number of decisions on its own scores (which may be Vantage 4 in some cases)

My guess is some communication misunderstanding, Sync thought that you were saying the score is wrong (based on their model) and were asking for your version of the report to see if there was a problem.

But now you have a CLI, probably worth leaving alone!

[gdale6]

Synchrony is known to use their own internal modeling as well as watching your basic Fico 8 score, or I should say they were, who knows now that they give us Vantage 4

I would not send them your reports, they have them already, besides you have gotten the CLI.

[Medic981]

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@Anonymous wrote:
 I don’t feel the need to “prove it” to a bank. That’s their job!

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Actually, it is their money, their rules, and you do need to prove your creditworthiness to borrow their money.

With that said, I do find it unusual that a creditor asks that you send them your credit report. My first thought is that they might believe your credit file is mixed with someone else. I have never had an issue with Synchrony and I to am surprised that they keep using a July CR to base their credit decision. 

Perhaps you should contact Synchrony's executive office to see if you can resolve your dilemma. 

[M_Smart007]

I would agree, If you got your CLI, I would not send in any reports!

[FinStar]

OP, as already mentioned upthread, no need to send copies of your own CRA scores as they're likely basing the information on either Vantage or their own internal score.

Out of curiosity, when was the last time you used the account? How much usage have you put through it?

[Anonymous]

I used it a bit during the holidays but PIF. I let $100 report sometimes then I PIF. Since it’s PayPal Credit, it’s only useful if I am buying something on EBay or online shopping. It used to be my payment default with PayPal purchases but I have the Chase Freedom card so last quarter I was putting my PayPal spend thru Chase for the 5% CB.

It’s not a major priority credit line for me at this time as I have other cards I use but I just thought it was very strange they refuse to update my scores from June. It’s been 7 mths. Is it an annual update at this rate? And the language of the letter says something to the effect of we don’t find it necessary to update your scores since chances are they haven’t changed. That’s very strange. What credit granting institution wouldn’t want to pull current credit reports? And they approved me for PayPal credit in the first place and they reported to all 3 credit bureaus right away. Also, when I go online to view my account and select their credit reporting service, I get an error message. The CSRs all say it’s Transunions fault? And that I should contact transunion to get my score. So what is the point of them offering customers a credit reporting benefit that still requires the customer to go directly to the credit bureau to get their score but it’s still not the same score that synchrony has.

I am just going to leave it alone for now. It’s too much trouble for what it’s worth. Thank you everyone for the advice. Maybe on my 1 yr anniversary with them in June I will ask again for them to update my score and see what they say then.