Wayfair Alternative Financing (Genesis FS Card Services)

[Anonymous]

Hello All, I'm in the process of building my credit returning to the US after a long time out of the country. I'm Gardening at the moment whilst my score increases, but I'm not entirely satisfied with my overall credit limit across all accounts at it heavy usage hits my utilisation more than I would like, so I'm always keeping my eye out of CLIs with my existing account. I was shopping on Wayfair for a couple of items and was planning on using my Cap1 QS to pay for the purchase. When I went to checkout, I got the pre-approval from comenity yadda yadda yadda, but I did not click on it as I've heard that it sometimes translates to a hard pull.

For giggles, I clicked on the finance option, and two options came up Affirm and Genesis Financial, I was planning on clicking through just to see the terms with no intention of applying. I was asked for the last 4 digits of my SSN, and after clicking on submit, it ran a soft pull.

I was expecting a message saying you've been pre-approved, but instead the message returned was, 'You've been approved for a revolving line of credit of $2500.' Panicked, I thought to myself, 'darn it I hope I didn't waste a hard pull', however after waiting three weeks still no HP on any of my credit reports, but the new line of credit is showing on all three.

I ended my transaction by paying with my Cap 1 as planned.

Key points to bear in mind before deciding to pull the trigger:

1. Genesis FS approves for a line of credit with just a soft pull
2. The APR is 29%
3. They offer a decent starting limit (they do not offer CLI)
4. There is no special financing like the Wayfair card from Comenity
5. No percentage discount or cashback
6. Can be used at Wayfair and any of its affiliates
7. They do not offer you a physical card, they take the account information from you at checkout

I now have another line of credit that I didn't particularly want (I do shop at Wayfair frequently), but it has helped to decrease my utilisation, unfortunately, it has also lowered the average age of my account.  Just wanted to share my story to prevent anyone else from doing the same by accident.

In summary: if you're (re)building your credit and don't want a hard pull but want to increas your overall credit and reduce your utilisation, then this may be an option for you.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello All, I'm in the process of building my credit returning to the US after a long time out of the country. I'm Gardening at the moment whilst my score increases, but I'm not entirely satisfied with my overall credit limit across all accounts at it heavy usage hits my utilisation more than I would like, so I'm always keeping my eye out of CLIs with my existing account. I was shopping on Wayfair for a couple of items and was planning on using my Cap1 QS to pay for the purchase. When I went to checkout, I got the pre-approval from comenity yadda yadda yadda, but I did not click on it as I've heard that it sometimes translates to a hard pull.

For giggles, I clicked on the finance option, and two options came up Affirm and Genesis Financial, I was planning on clicking through just to see the terms with no intention of applying. I was asked for the last 4 digits of my SSN, and after clicking on submit, it ran a soft pull.

I was expecting a message saying you've been pre-approved, but instead the message returned was, 'You've been approved for a revolving line of credit of $2500.' Panicked, I thought to myself, 'darn it I hope I didn't waste a hard pull', however after waiting three weeks still no HP on any of my credit reports, but the new line of credit is showing on all three.

I ended my transaction by paying with my Cap 1 as planned.

Key points to bear in mind before deciding to pull the trigger:

1. Genesis FS approves for a line of credit with just a soft pull
2. The APR is 29%
3. They offer a decent starting limit (they do not offer CLI)
4. There is no special financing like the Wayfair card from Comenity
5. No percentage discount or cashback
6. Can be used at Wayfair and any of its affiliates
7. They do not offer you a physical card, they take the account information from you at checkout

I now have another line of credit that I didn't particularly want (I do shop at Wayfair frequently), but it has helped to decrease my utilisation, unfortunately, it has also lowered the average age of my account.  Just wanted to share my story to prevent anyone else from doing the same by accident.

In summary: if you're (re)building your credit and don't want a hard pull but want to increas your overall credit and reduce your utilisation, then this may be an option for you.

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I know Affirm is considered a CFA (consumer finance account) and I am not sure about Genesis, but likely is one also. I guess that is considered a negative on CRs. I thought I didn't have one, but my CR shows a CFA and is marked as a negative towards my credit score. Just so people also know the full undertaking of this type of financing. There are lots of debates about this on the forum, but my own personal experience dictates CFAs as negative for reporting. Not sure if CC lenders care or any lenders care, but it is there for them to see, and maybe if an app went to an UW they would see it too and hopefully it doesn't have a negative outcome. I am not entirely versed on how CFAs affect obtaining credit.

[Anonymous]

It shows up as 'Credit Card - Revolving Terms' under account type and is listed with my other credit cards. Where would I find the category of CFA?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
It shows up as 'Credit Card - Revolving Terms' under account type and is listed with my other credit cards. Where would I find the category of CFA?

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that sounds like it is all good then since it is revolving!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
It shows up as 'Credit Card - Revolving Terms' under account type and is listed with my other credit cards. Where would I find the category of CFA?

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In MyFICO 3B CR, under scores, factors it shows:

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

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@Anonymous wrote:
It shows up as 'Credit Card - Revolving Terms' under account type and is listed with my other credit cards. Where would I find the category of CFA?

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You wouldn't be able to tell. Also, nobody knows how bad it hurts your score because since most people can't identify it, they can't track it.

[Anonymous]

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@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
It shows up as 'Credit Card - Revolving Terms' under account type and is listed with my other credit cards. Where would I find the category of CFA?

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You wouldn't be able to tell. Also, nobody knows how bad it hurts your score because since most people can't identify it, they can't track it.

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I honestly have zero idea what the culprit is on my CRs. Unless they consider the self lender loan a CFA, I am at a total loss...

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
It shows up as 'Credit Card - Revolving Terms' under account type and is listed with my other credit cards. Where would I find the category of CFA?

---

You wouldn't be able to tell. Also, nobody knows how bad it hurts your score because since most people can't identify it, they can't track it.

---

I honestly have zero idea what the culprit is on my CRs. Unless they consider the self lender loan a CFA, I am at a total loss...

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We've found recently that Ally, Honda, and Toyota financing can be CFAs.

[Anonymous]

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@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
It shows up as 'Credit Card - Revolving Terms' under account type and is listed with my other credit cards. Where would I find the category of CFA?

---

You wouldn't be able to tell. Also, nobody knows how bad it hurts your score because since most people can't identify it, they can't track it.

---

I honestly have zero idea what the culprit is on my CRs. Unless they consider the self lender loan a CFA, I am at a total loss...

---

We've found recently that Ally, Honda, and Toyota financing can be CFAs.

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Thanks for the input, I only have lots of SLs, old and about to fall off Cap 1 auto loan and Fingerhut CC, some CAs, and most recently: Cap1, VS, and WS CCs and a self lender loan. Unless VS or WS is considered to be a CFA, it has to be Self Lender or perhaps it is the Fingerhut account, idk, but I thought Fingerhut would be considered revolving. I will have to see if I have older reports I can look at since WS and VS are brand new and Self Lender is about 8 months old. Fingerhut is only on EQ and EQ is the only CRA with that lists as having a CFA.