Generally bank cards were Visa MC Discover Amex Diner’s etc.
My assumption is all credit cards and maybe store installment loans would be counted in your reference.
Maybe even HELOC.
@Anonymous wrote:Apologies if this is a dumb question or if I've posted this question in the wrong forum. I'm new here.
Myfico keeps sending me alerts that the total balance on my bankcards has decreased. Prior to this I had the vague idea that a bankcard was any Visa, MC, Amex, or Discover. However, the numbers included in the alerts don't correspond to my Visa, MC, Amex, and Discover totals (it's higher). The numbers in the alerts also don't correspond to my total CC balances (it's lower).
I'm working on my utilization so I'm probably too keyed into these alerts (e.g. obsessed) and I'm hoping one of you smart people can clear up my confusion.
Thank you in advance!
MyFICO TU alert references Bankcards which includes credit cards, charge cards (store cards) and PLOC. The other bureau's just state "the balance on your account(s)."
Updated: But you can't count on MyFICO alerts. They are not timely and sometimes you won't get alerted. TU seems to be the main culprit. They are definitely the latest to report and occasionally skips a month. The best way to monitor your accounts and UTL is by reviewing them on the lender/CC site. Credit Karma and Wallet Hub are also good sites to monitor activity (not scores).
@Trudy wrote:
MyFICO TU alert references Bankcards which includes credit cards, charge cards (store cards) and PLOC. The other bureau's just state "the balance on your account(s)."
This is a much better explanation than mine. 
Thanks for bailing me out, Trudy.
@Anonymous wrote:Thank you! This is very helpful. I'm off to sign up for Credit Karma. New data to obsess over makes me happy!
You are very welcome. Been obsessed, now a little less but still monitor everything daily. Just part of my credit health process now. It satisfies my "fix" plus makes me feel a bit more secure at knowing exactly when something changes should there ever be fraud, Lord forbid.
Credit Karma updates once a week. It provides EQ and TU data. Again forget the scores because they are not FICO scores. Credit.com is another free site that gives you EX updates every 14 days but not a FICO score and not very detailed. WalletHub gives you free daily TU updates but not a FICO score. Creditscorecard.com is free and gives you a FICO 8 score once a month. I also have an EX subscription that updates daily and it provides your FICO 8, MTG, Auto 8, Auto 2, Bankcard 8, Bankcard 3 and Bankcard 2 scores. Once a month you get all 3 bureau's FICO 8 scores. There's also a trick that many here use periodically to get all 3 FICO 8 scores for a $1 through EX. Someone will likely come along to explain that process.
Now that should satisfy your obsession
@Anonymous wrote:
Welcome
So what does it mean when I get a TU alert that references the balance of my retail cards are going up?
The only alert I have with the word retail in is is below. And the above pic of alerts is from my retail card balance change.
A bankcard does not include a retail card. It would be my guess that some of your accounts are coded wrongly at TU and as stated above MF alerts are not timely. (Edited). I guess that's possible. It is listed as a charge card on my reports from here. I do understand it is not a bankcard but that's the alert I receive. It seems to lump all revolvers (including my PLOC) in this alert.
In my experience, I get separate alerts for retail cards and bank cards, At least from TU. My advice would be to check your 3B.
