Whats The Mystery Behind Which Bureaus Are Used By Card Issuers
Ulzheimer, the credit-reporting expert, says he understands why some card issuers might balk at divulging which credit bureaus they rely on.
I can see some card issuers being hesitant to disclose which bureau they use for card underwriting because consumers are often coached to apply with a lender that pulls the credit report where their score is the highest. Its a rudimentary way to game the system, to some extent, he says.
This isnt national security. But they are certainly not required to disclose that information to a potential applicant, Ulzheimer adds.
A card issuer typically picks one report from one bureau when deciding on a credit card application, he says. Why? Pulling reports from all three credit bureaus for every application would be too costly.
Ulzheimer says a card issuer chooses a bureau based, in part, on what type of agreement it has with that bureau. These contracts almost always include a commitment to buy a certain number of reports from a bureau, he says.
Weve seen reports of Chase, for example, pulling from each of the three major credit bureaus depending on the borrowers home state, Opperman says.
In some cases, a card issuer might pull a report combining data from more than one bureau, although Opperman says this isnt a common practice among card issuers.
Weve seen reports of Chase, for example, pulling from each of the three major credit bureaus depending on the borrowers home state.
Melinda Opperman, president, Credit.org
About Amazon Secured Card
The Amazon Secured Card and Amazon Prime Secured Card are designed for people who are looking to build or rebuild their credit and requires a security deposit when the account is opened.
The Amazon Secured Card and Amazon Prime Secured Card, issued by Synchrony Bank, are unique credit cards each with two sets of features the Secured Card features and the Store Card features. The two credit features have some different rates, fees and rewards. Upon approval, only the Secured Card features will be available for your use. The Secured Card features require a security deposit, the amount of which will equal the credit limit on your account. After 12 months, Synchrony Bank will determine if you are eligible to opt in to convert to the Store Card features of the account based on eligibility criteria and your credit profile. If you are eligible, you may, but are not required to, choose to convert to the Store Card features, in which case your access to the Secured Card features will be permanently disabled. The choice is always yours and you will be provided with all the important information necessary to make the decision that is right for you. Like the Amazon Store Card and Amazon Prime Store Card, the Amazon Secured Card and Amazon Prime Secured Card can be used on Amazon.com and with select Amazon affiliates.
Dispute A Hard Inquiry With A Validation Letter
If you never applied for a credit card or loan from SYNCB or one of its partners, your first step should be to dispute the claim.
Identity theft is rampant. Especially with so much of our personal information like social security numbers, cell phone numbers, even bank account information readily available.
With a little know-how, thieves can easily use your information to open up accounts in your name.
You can send the issuer, SYNCB, a debt validation letter.
When you take this route, the bank must provide evidence of your credit application or have the hard inquiry removed from your credit report promptly.
You can also submit a letter to the three credit bureaus disputing the hard inquiry.
Whether you applied for a Synchrony card or not, disputing the inquiry could be a quick means to getting it removed from your report.
The key to disputing an entry on your credit report is to act quickly as you have 30 days to seek validation for an entry on your credit report.
The same is true for disputing collections accounts if a debt collector is contacting you.
Thats why its important to monitor your credit score, checking it often to catch any changes.
A free can be a major asset here, alerting you to changes in your score and allowing you to check it regularly.
Don’t Miss: When Do Companies Report To Credit Bureaus
Discount Tire Store Credit Card
The Discount Tire/Americas Tire credit card provides a no-interest promo for your first purchase. The promotional no-interest timeframe can be 6 months, 9 months, or 12 months.
To qualify for 6 months of no interest, your purchase must be between $199 and $999.99. To qualify for 9 months of no interest, your purchase must be between $1,000 and $1,499.99. Finally, purchases of $1,500 or more qualify for a no-interest 12 months.
How Many Credit Cards Is Too Many
In general, if you have one or two credit cards on hand, youre good to go. But if you pay off your bill in full every month, never use more than 30% of the credit you receive, and make informed choices, then its not necessarily bad to have a lot of credit cards, especially if they provide a diverse array of benefits.
Don’t Miss: Annual Credit Report Itin
What Do Credit Card Users Say
Melinda Opperman, president and chief relationship officer at Credit.org, a nonprofit agency that provides credit counseling and related services, says her organizations review of online forums and discussion boards indicates American Express, Discover and U.S. Bank rely mostly or solely on Experian, whereas Barclays and Goldman Sachs depend primarily or only on TransUnion.
Heres how the credit-reporting landscape looks for other card issuers, according to Credit.org:
- Bank of America: Experian or TransUnion
- Capital One: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion
- Chase: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion
- Citi: Equifax and Experian
- Wells Fargo: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion
Opperman warned that this information only represents a quick survey of what users report. So it could differ from what you experience when applying for a credit card.
Nonetheless, visiting online credit card forums and discussion boards can give you a sense of which credit bureau will help decide the fate of your application.
Get Your Inquiries Removed Professionally
In some cases, we recommend speaking with a Credit Repair professional to analyze your credit report. It’s so much less stress, hassle, and time to let professionals identify the reasons for your score drop.If you’re looking for a reputable company to increase your credit score, we recommend Credit Glory. Call them on or setup a consultation with them. They also happen to have incredible customer service.Credit Glory is a credit repair company that helps everyday Americans remove inaccurate, incomplete, unverifiable, unauthorized, or fraudulent negative items from their credit report. Their primary goal is empowering consumers with the opportunity and knowledge to reach their financial dreams in 2020 and beyond.
Recommended Reading: Paypal Working Capital Forum
There Were Some Hard Inquiries
Typically, when you apply for a credit line with most companies, they perform a hard inquiry on your credit. Suppose you’ve applied for a PayPal Credit account or any other credit account associated with SYNCB. In that case, they always go the hard inquiry route to check your credit for its application evaluation.
Hard inquiries always show up on your credit report because they negatively impact your credit scores. They’ll also remain on your credit report for up to two years. Note that inquiries only apply to credit-related products so you will not see them for opening up a checking or savings bank account.
Where We Got The Data
The credit card application process isnt particularly transparent.
Generally, you fill out an application form online or in person, and wait for a response to pop out. It often seems like you dont have much control over the result.
Given how unclear the process is, its probably not a surprise that lenders dont tell us which credit bureaus they work with.
What that means is that we gathered this information from people who applied for cards from Synchrony.
Whenever you apply for a loan of any kind, the lender is likely to check your credit report. When a credit bureau receives a request for a copy of your report from a lender, the bureau takes note of that request.
These hard pulls on your credit report will stay on record for two years after the date of the inquiry. Each hard pull will also reduce your credit score by a little bit.
We used CreditBoards.com to collect the majority of the data about Synchronys use of TransUnion report.
People use the website to gauge their chances of qualifying for certain cards. After they apply for a card, users report information like their income, credit score, the bureau that the hard pull appeared on, and whether they were approved or not.
Other borrowers can compare themselves to others on the board to see if they have a good chance of getting a card.
We use just the last three years worth of data to make sure were offering the most up-to-date info we can.
Recommended Reading: Does Klarna Report To Credit
Financial Flexibility And A Potentially Higher Credit Limit: Secured Mastercard From Capital One
Our Thoughts
The Secured Mastercard® from Capital One is another excellent option for rebuilding credit. While most secured cards only extend a credit limit equal to your initial deposit on the card, the Secured Mastercard® from Capital One offers a credit limit up to four times higher than your deposit. The card also comes with a $0 annual fee and a suite of online tools that can help you manage your account.
The one downside to this cardwhen compared to the Discover it® Secured Credit Cardis that it doesn’t earn any rewards points. The trade-off is that you may qualify for a credit limit higher than your security deposit. You’ll be required to make a $49, $99 or $200 refundable minimum security deposit. And youll need access to an authorized bank account to make your deposit.
Length Of Credit History
The average age of your credit accounts is another important factor in determining your credit score. Having many older accounts has a positive impact on your credit score, and having several new accounts is a negative contributing factor. If you pay off debt on an older account and subsequently close it, your credit score may drop.
Also Check: Does Paypal Credit Report To Credit Bureaus
Should I Close My Syncb Account
Once again, closed accounts affect your utilization rate, which impacts your overall credit score. For the most part, if you don’t owe any debt, closing your recent SYNCB account will only negatively affect your credit score temporarily.
If you don’t ever plan to use this credit line and don’t want to have it out there, it’s probably a good idea to go ahead and close it. Of course, keeping it open won’t hurt your credit. However, if you don’t use it, then SYNCB will close the account for inactivity eventually.
Why Would You Want A Store Credit Card
Here’s why a Synchrony Bank store card might be right for you:
- You have low credit or a less-than-stellar score. Store-branded credit cards can be easier to obtain, which is helpful for people just starting out OR looking to rebuild their credit. We’ll show you how to apply below.
What credit score do I need to get a Synchrony credit card?
Don’t Miss: What Credit Report Does Paypal Pull
You’ve Got Some Closed Accounts
Your PayPal Credit or Bill Me Later account will show on your credit report as either active or closed. Regardless of how old the accounts were, if they were closed before Synchrony Bank took over, they were likely being reported for the first time.
If your PayPal Credit was active and in good standingâas in, you didn’t owe any moneyâand now it’s suddenly closed, this could be the work of Synchrony Bank. Now that SYNCB owns the accounts, they can not only raise and lower your credit lines, but they can also close your account for inactivity.
If you haven’t used your account for a year or more, the creditors won’t make any money off your transaction fees. That’s why they’ll close your account due to inactivity. It’s also the most common reason for closed accounts. Either way, it’ll affect your credit score, and if you want your account reopened, you’ll need to contact them right away.
Once again, if you see an account that you don’t recognize, whether it’s active or closed, you’ll want to contact SYNCB and follow the steps above for reporting fraudulent activity.
How We Make Money
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you.
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to stricteditorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Heres an explanation forhow we make money.
Also Check: How To Get Credit Report Without Social Security Number
You Might Be An Authorized User
You may not have a Synchrony Bank credit card account, but you may have a parent, spouse, child, or business partner who applied for a new account with Synchrony. If so, they may have added you to their list of authorized users for that card.
If you are an authorized user, your credit report will also include an account of the use of that card. Being an authorized user has its advtantages. If the cardholder is a financially responsible person, their strong payment history of their credit card bill will also help improve your credit score.
Synchrony Bank Doesnt Have The Name Recognition Of Some Other Banks But It Issues The Store Credit Cards For Many Popular Retailers
And while these cards are often known for their discounts and rewards programs, as retail cards they can also be some of the easiest cards to be approved for on the market.
This list shows our top picks of the best Synchrony Bank credit cards. They may be worth a look, based on your shopping habits and needs.
| Card |
|---|
| Verizon customers |
You May Like: Can You Remove Hard Inquiries Off Your Credit Report
Belk Store Credit Cards
Belk offers 3 versions of their store card, but you have to reach spending thresholds to be upgraded from the basic Belk Rewards card.
The Belk Rewards card earns 1 point per dollar at Belk and allows returns without a receipt. If you spend $600 in a calendar year, you get these benefits plus special savings offers. With $1,500 in spending in a calendar year, more benefits are added including free shipping, quarterly Pick Your Own Sales Days that provide 20% off, and a 20% off coupon for your birthday.
Tjx Rewards Credit Card
The TJX Rewards card is part of the Mastercard network, so it can be used at other merchants as well. There is also a store card version that can only be used at stores that are part of TJX Companies.
Both cards earn 5X points per dollar at T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and Sierra Trading Post stores, while the Mastercard also earns 1X points per dollar on purchases at other merchants.
For every 1,000 points you earn, you will receive a $10 certificate that can be redeemed at any of the stores in the TJX family.
Recommended Reading: Paypal Credit Soft Pull
Why Is Syncb/ppc On My Credit Report
Before Synchrony Bank took over, PayPal Credit and Bill Me Later weren’t something that showed up on everyone’s credit reports. This is because PayPal Holdings didn’t really report to any credit reporting agencies. Now that Synchrony Bank is steering the ship, they’ve taken on the responsibility of reporting to the credit bureaus monthly.
If you’re now seeing SYNCB/PPC crop up on your credit report, here’s why:
Secured Credit Cards For Rebuilding Credit
Secured credit cards are your best option if you have damaged credit that you’re looking to repair. These cards work differently from traditional, or unsecured, credit cards. With a secured card, you’ll put down a security deposit upfront once you’re approved for a card, and that deposit will be your credit limit. This deposit acts as an insurance policy for the bank in case you can’t pay your credit card bill. We selected two of the best secured cards below.
Don’t Miss: Remove Repossession From Credit Report
What Happens If A Synchrony Bank Credit Card Store Closes
With online shopping changing the retail market completely, its no surprise that many brick-and-mortar stores are facing major challenges. So what happens if you have a store card from Synchrony and the store closes?
Dont worry the credit card account will convert to another type of card in most cases. Synchrony will contact you if this happens to give you specific details on what to expect.
When Toys R Us went out of business, for example, cardholders were given a Synchrony MasterCard. The program came with a 2% cash back rewards program and no annual fee. So even if a store hits financial trouble, your credit card account will only be mildly impacted.
Removing Syncb From Your Credit Report
Theres no reason an application for a credit card should hold you back from getting approved for a competitive mortgage, student loan, or any other line of credit.
Though one credit card application wont likely destroy your credit, it can have an effect on your score for up to two years.
If SYNCB, Paypal, or one of its other partners has popped up on your report and lowered your score, consider disputing your debt or hiring a credit repair company to improve your score.
If youre looking for a place to start, the credit repair companies below provide excellent services.
They have a proven track record of success, with countless reviews from satisfied customers with soaring credit scores:
Recommended Reading: Credit Score 672