Why don’t cell phone companies report to credit bureaus?

[Anonymous]

When you actually pay, Anybody know?

[Anonymous]

Utility companies in general don't report unless you're late.

Remember that a company needs a contract with all 3 bureaus to submit payment history.  So there's little incentive for them to report, and it costs them money, and nobody in that industry reports.

In addition, utility bills on your FICO score don't really increase or lower it as long as they're paid on time.  There's no purpose to having them report, in terms of FICO score.

[Anonymous]

Utilities and cell phone bills aren't credit.  If it isn't credit, there's no reason for it to be on your credit report.

They send you a bill, you pay it.  That would be no different suggesting a garbage company, oil company, landscaping service, etc. should land on your credit report.

Now, if these services were being provided on credit, that would be a different story... like if you could choose to not pay for 3-4 months for example and pay interest on your balance and then pay when you felt you could, we'd have a different discussion on hand.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Utilities and cell phone bills aren't credit.  If it isn't credit, there's no reason for it to be on your credit report.

They send you a bill, you pay it.  That would be no different suggesting a garbage company, oil company, landscaping service, etc. should land on your credit report.

Now, if these services were being provided on credit, that would be a different story... like if you could choose to not pay for 3-4 months for example and pay interest on your balance and then pay when you felt you could, we'd have a different discussion on hand.

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This is sort of happening with equipment financing through phone companies. I'm personally a fan of it not reporting for utilzation reasons, because I had a $2800 balance or so when I first opened the account. I suppose it could perhaps help some folks with little credit, though.

[HeavenOhio]

It can be considered credit if you're post-paying for a service on a regular basis.

My gas and electric bill appears on two of the three bureaus. I don't know that it affects my score other than to lower my AAoA. But it's the only thing I can think of to explain the fact that I get the "too many accounts with balances" reason code scattered among my scores on those two bureaus. I have no other accounts besides credit cards, and only one of them is currently reporting a non-zero balance.

[Anonymous]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

It can be considered credit if you're post-paying for a service on a regular basis.

My gas and electric bill appears on two of the three bureaus. I don't know that it affects my score other than to lower my AAoA. But it's the only thing I can think of to explain the fact that I get the "too many accounts with balances" reason code scattered among my scores on those two bureaus. I have no other accounts besides credit cards, and only one of them is currently reporting a non-zero balance.

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Hi Heaven.  Could you tell us the account type for the gas and electric bill accounts, as it reads on your reports?  (Revolving, Installment, etc.)  Really interested in hearing more about this.  Also curious if there is any variation between how that account type reads on TU vs. EQ vs. EX (again, just for these utilities).

Also curious to hear how many open cards you have and how many open loans (not counting these utilities).

[HeavenOhio]

These are the accounts on my reports…

• EQ: 6 open cards, 2 closed cards
• EX: 6 open cards, 2 closed cards, 1 open gas/electric
• TU: 6 open cards, 2 closed cards, 1 open gas/electric, 1 closed gas/electric

I have no loans, either open or closed.

Here's how these accounts read on the reports obtained directly through annualcreditreport.com…

TU credit report:

• account type: open account, loan type: utility company
• account type: open account (although it reports the date that it was closed), loan type: utility company

EX credit report:

• type: utility

[Anonymous]

Thanks!  Are the negative reason statements indicating that you have too many accounts with balances associated with FICO 8 or an earlier model?

[HeavenOhio]

None of them are FICO8. Upon further review, the reason shows up on all three bureaus, including Equifax, where the utility isn't reported and only one of six accounts has a positive balance.

• EQ FICO Auto Score 5 [831]
• EQ FICO Bankcard Score 5 [822]
• TU FICO Bankcard Score 8 [805]
• EX FICO Score 2 (mortgage) [788]
• EX FICO Bankcard Score 8 [793]

[Anonymous]

Curious.  And it looks like they do appear on some FICO 8 flavors (e.g. FICO 8 Bankcard) just not Classic.

If I am getting this right, you get those reason statements even on Equifax, where the utilities do not appear, where you have only credit cards (no other accounts), and where exactly 1 out of 6 open cards are showing a balance.  Yes?