Credit Bureaus to start accepting Cell Phone/Cable bill history?

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

I just finished watching a piece on NBC Nightly News where they talked about the credit bureaus soon accepting payment history from cell phone and cable/internet bills.  It is going to help millions of consumers boost their scores quickly if true!  Does anyone have any insight on this?  Is this really something being considered because online I can find nothing on this.  Thanks.

[Anonymous]

This article is about a 1 1/2 old, but it talks about it some.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/10/your-money/new-credit-score-systems-could-open-lending-to-more-co...

[Anonymous]

This is very interesting, thanks for posting this.

I can see my FICO score benefiting from positive payment history every month that I pay my phone/cable bills on time

At the same time I would be concerned that my AAoA would be negatively afftected if I switch phone/cable carriers.

[Anonymous]

Interesting. This would make sense, and be better for both the Lender and consumer. I know ATT&T pulled my credit to get a cell phone almost 10 years ago, and things have changed a lot with respect to credit, cell phones, etc. More and more people are actually paying for their phones within their monthly bill now. A lot of people are walking away from paying in full. Also, Data plans, charges, overages etc have shocked a lot of customers, and has probably led to missed payments and specifics like this could help each unique industry.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if the accounts will be backdated? I've had AT&T for 20 plus years! and Uverse for 10+ years. 

[Anonymous]

The NCTUE has been collecting data on cable and cell phone accounts (as well as gas, electric, and water utilities) for some years.  I pulled my NCTUE report last year.

National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange Collects information on new  telecom and utility connect requests,  account and payment histories, defaults, and fraudulent accounts associated with telecommunications, pay TV, and utility (electric,  gas, water) services. The NCTUE reports this information to companies in the telecommunications, utilities and pay TV industries to help companies manage the credit risk of their  current and potential new customers.

Free report: The company will provide one free report every 12 months if you request it.

From page 30 of:

http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201604_cfpb_list-of-consumer-reporting-companies.pdf

Just an FYI.

[Anonymous]

As long as the payment history shows consistent on-time payments, that would certainly be helpful. When I was researching upgrading my smartphone this past winter, one reason I decided to stick with my current no-contract provider (Straight Talk), buy the new phone retail and stick a new SIM card into it was that cell phone accounts aren't reported to CRA's unless you get in trouble with late payments.