Why my bank account isn't in my credit report?

[ErminioAZ]

Good day - bear with me for the likely dumb question, but I went through my latest credit report and I couldn't find my bank (checking) account listed - only credit cards and loans. If my bank account isn't listed, how could I tell via myFICO if anyone opened a new bank account under my name with the goal to abuse it (e.g. with bad checks)? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I believe checking accounts are reported to ChexSystems. You can contact ChexSystems and they will give you one free copy of your ChexSystems report.

I odered mine awhile ago, if I recall correctly, that report listed all my checking accounts, open and closed over the past years 

[ErminioAZ]

Thanks for the quick answer - so that ID theft scenario (someone opening a bank account under my name) would go unnoticed by MyFICO?

[Anonymous]

Correct, because checking accounts aren't lines of credit.  You aren't borrowing money and it isn't debt as it's your money and actually an asset which is why it wouldn't make sense for it to be present on your credit report.

[Anonymous]

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@ErminioAZ wrote:

Thanks for the quick answer - so that ID theft scenario (someone opening a bank account under my name) would go unnoticed by MyFICO?

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Correct - you would only find that by pulling your Chex and/or EWS reports

How to get your Chex Report

How to get your EWS Report

Lexis-Nexis can also harbor hard-to-find information regarding potential fraud and other inaccuracies:

How to get your Lexis-Nexis Report

Happy Hunting!

[Anonymous]

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@ErminioAZ wrote:

Thanks for the quick answer - so that ID theft scenario (someone opening a bank account under my name) would go unnoticed by MyFICO?

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Note that our OP is asking about whether myFICO would notice it -- not the FICO 8 algorithm.

Part of the myFICO credit monitoring services is this:

Intelligent identity theft monitoring

Detect threats to your personal information fast and guard against further exposure with our sophisticated monitoring services.

Black market website surveillance: We'll scan thousands of underground networks worldwide looking for the exposure and illegal selling of your personally identifiable information.

SSN alias watch: We'll monitor names and addresses associated with your identity so you can quickly identify threats.

I don't know enough about what this does to know whether it might pick up people opening bank accounts illicitly -- at least in some cases.

Certainly CS and EWS are two of the better sources of info about fraudulent bank account activity.

[RobertEG]

Credit reports are not limited to accounts with only creditors.

Regular businesses can also report to CRAs, but dont usually do so unless you are delinquent under your agreement with them.

Additioanally, some banks will pull a consumer's credit report as part of the account process, as a business transaction initiated by a consumer grants permissible purpose provided that business transaction has an associate legitimate business purpose that has basis of reviewing a consumer's credit.

When a business account could result in a debt by a consumer, that is normally accepted as permissible purpose to pull their credit report.

Bank accounts can become overdrawn.

The consumer would then see the pull, and be made aware of potential identity theft.

[Anonymous]

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@RobertEG wrote:

Credit reports are not limited to accounts with only creditors.

Regular businesses can also report to CRAs, but dont usually do so unless you are delinquent under your agreement with them.

Additioanally, some banks will pull a consumer's credit report as part of the account process, as a business transaction initiated by a consumer grants permissible purpose provided that business transaction has an associate legitimate business purpose that has basis of reviewing a consumer's credit.

When a business account could result in a debt by a consumer, that is normally accepted as permissible purpose to pull their credit report.

Bank accounts can become overdrawn.

The consumer would then see the pull, and be made aware of potential identity theft.

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And this is what allows many credit unions to hard-pull credit to open a savings account, as an example

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@ErminioAZ wrote:

Thanks for the quick answer - so that ID theft scenario (someone opening a bank account under my name) would go unnoticed by MyFICO?

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Correct - you would only find that by pulling your Chex and/or EWS reports

How to get your Chex Report

How to get your EWS Report

Lexis-Nexis can also harbor hard-to-find information regarding potential fraud and other inaccuracies:

How to get your Lexis-Nexis Report

Happy Hunting!

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Thanks for sharing this! I didn't even know EWS even existed. Looking at EWS webiste, it says they are a consumer reporting agency, but I'm not clear, who do they report that information to? what financial transaction would require my EWS report to be pulled?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@ErminioAZ wrote:

Thanks for the quick answer - so that ID theft scenario (someone opening a bank account under my name) would go unnoticed by MyFICO?

---

Correct - you would only find that by pulling your Chex and/or EWS reports

How to get your Chex Report

How to get your EWS Report

Lexis-Nexis can also harbor hard-to-find information regarding potential fraud and other inaccuracies:

How to get your Lexis-Nexis Report

Happy Hunting!

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Thanks for sharing this! I didn't even know EWS even existed. Looking at EWS webiste, it says they are a consumer reporting agency, but I'm not clear, who do they report that information to? what financial transaction would require my EWS report to be pulled?

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EWS is an alternative to ChexSystems developed by several major banks.   It fills exactly the same niche, which is a database for checking account shenanigans.