@Anonymous wrote:
I'd like to apply at a local store for a cc. They said that they finance through Wells Fargo Financial National Bank. Does anyone know which cra they will be use? It is for a furntiture store called Slumberland if that makes a difference.
Thanks in advance!
Be warned that this type of financing is known as a Consumer Finance Account, or CFA and these types of accounts adversely impact your credit report for as long as the account is present. This means that if you close it 3 years from now, it will still be on your report hurting your scores for another 10 years. IMO, CFAs should be avoided. There's really no upside to them. Just apply for another 0% card and use that card to make the furniture purchase.
I speak from personal experience here. I purchased furniture back in 2013 and they used WFFNB. I had the cash to buy the furniture right then and there, but the sales rep twisted my arm into using their financing. He said it would actually "help" my credit when in actuality it hurt it (and still continues to hurt it to this day). At that time, I knew absolutely nothing about credit and didn't realize I was making a bad decision.
Another thing, I ended up paying off the account 6 or 7 months early, or at least I thought I did. I think it was 18 months of 0% and I attempted to make my final payoff in Month 11 or 12. Something happened though with my payment, which in retrospect WAS my fault, but there was $2.93 outstanding on the account that I was unaware of until many months later when I received something in the mail saying the account was still open and in serious delinquency. I ended up with a 90 day late payment on the account for $2.93. This dropped my credit scores by about 100 points. It took me OVER A YEAR of sending snail mail letters, phone calls, emails, etc. to get WFFNB to extend me GW and remove that late payment. For $2.93! Any human upon a MR could see that it was my intention to pay off the account in full and many months ahead of schedule. Anyway, between the CFA on my credit report and the unwillingness of WF to work with me on a very obvious hiccup I was quite rubbed the wrong way from the entire experience.
