Normal wait to report vs when to worry about name discrepancy

[KJinNC]

I am one of the poor benighted fools going through life using a middle name as a first name. My parents thought this was a great idea in 1971 for some reason, so I've spent my entire life either telling people "yes but I go by my middle name" or else just answering to the first name. No big deal, just an ongoing irritation.

So, my Amex cards all have first initial, middle initial, last name printed on them. That is kind of a compromise vs writing out just one or the other. My other cards mostly display first name, middle initial, last name.

I received my first personal Amex card (had a corp card a few months prior) in mid-July. As August ends, none of my three personal Amex cards have appeared on any of my credit reports.

Should I worry that the name is throwing the credit bureaus off? Or, is this a normal delay for Amex? One statement has cut. I've been planning to wait until the second statement before worrying about it, but figured I'd ask. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Amex is just slow in reporting new accounts. It typically takes them 2--3 billing cycles to have the account show in credit report.

[Remedios]

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@KJinNC wrote:

I am one of the poor benighted fools going through life using a middle name as a first name. My parents thought this was a great idea in 1971 for some reason, so I've spent my entire life either telling people "yes but I go by my middle name" or else just answering to the first name. No big deal, just an ongoing irritation.

So, my Amex cards all have first initial, middle initial, last name printed on them. That is kind of a compromise vs writing out just one or the other. My other cards mostly display first name, middle initial, last name.

I received my first personal Amex card (had a corp card a few months prior) in mid-July. As August ends, none of my three personal Amex cards have appeared on any of my credit reports.

Should I worry that the name is throwing the credit bureaus off? Or, is this a normal delay for Amex? One statement has cut. I've been planning to wait until the second statement before worrying about it, but figured I'd ask. Thanks!

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I think you will be fine, as they use other info to match file in addition to the name, but I would suggest you always use the name as it appears on your driver's licence and social security card. It will save you a lot of trouble if you ever need to send anything for verification. 

[KJinNC]

Some allow you to use only a middle initial, not a middle name. And if I did use first name, middle name, last name, that would still result in being referred to by default as my first name. Might be worth it overall, though. There's not really a great solution, except time-traveling to 1971 and telling my parents to call me by my first name.

[GApeachy]

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@KJinNC wrote:

I am one of the poor benighted fools going through life using a middle name as a first name. My parents thought this was a great idea in 1971 for some reason

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Yep, same problem for dh.  But how the SSA got it wrong is crazy.  His middle name and last name is all that's on the card.  He still isn't verified with Comenity.

It's weird but the whole family goes by their middle name. Why?!?

[KJinNC]

I think it is semi-common in the South and in the Midwest. I am in the South, so that part fits. As for the "why" ... my parents gave me a specific reason (my first name is my father's first name, my middle name is different, so I'm not a "Junior" ... they didn't want to give me his first name as my middle name, because they thought it would sound funny as a middle name), but it doesn't really ... I mean, it doesn't exactly make sense. It's not that big a deal, it's just annoying every time I hit an intersection of "official form" and "I care what people actually verbally call me". At the DMV, for example, I don't care what they call me, so it doesn't matter. With credit cards, I kind of do care if customer service consistently calls me by my dad's name, or I pay a check at a restaurant and whoever's with me says "I didn't know that was your real name!"

It's been more annoying this year as I've been in a credit-building mode, which means many applications and many new accounts. Exasperating! Not that big a deal, though.

[GApeachy]

I got you beat, I'm in the South too.  

There is one exception to the family names over here.....Omg, just smdh.  My beloved dh was named after his Grandfather.  The man had two letters for his name, not initials, just two letters.  No middle name.