Wednesday, November 5, 2003

If You Pay Off a Credit Card, How Long Will it Take to Report to the Credit Bureau?

Credit reports are accessed by lenders to help gather information on potential borrowers when a lending decision needs to be made. The information that lenders can see is updated periodically by the credit bureaus. How quickly the information is updated after you pay off an account can help determine if you qualify for financing.

Credit Reporting System

    Credit bureaus gain information only when creditors provide it to them. This requires a relationship between creditors and the credit bureaus. When you pay off an account or do something else that can affect your credit report, the creditor will contact the credit bureau to supply this information. Then the credit bureau takes that information and uses it to update your report and your credit score.

Time Frame

    After you pay off a credit card, the amount of time that it takes to update your credit report can vary from one case to the next. In some cases, credit card companies report information to the credit bureaus once a month at the beginning of the month. In other cases, the credit bureaus report once every quarter. How quickly your information goes to the credit bureaus will largely depend on the policies of the creditor.

Contacting Credit Bureaus

    In some cases, you may be interested in trying to contact the credit bureaus and get the information updated by yourself. This is common when trying to apply for a loan or get some other type of financing so that you can get approved and get the best rate. Unfortunately, you cannot update your own credit profile with the credit bureaus. This has to be done directly between the creditor and the credit bureau.

Updating Credit Score

    When you pay off a credit card bill, it can significantly help your credit score. The amount of debt you have is one of the most important factors is used when calculating your score. As soon as the information is given to the credit bureau, your credit score should be updated immediately. Credit scores are calculated as soon as information is received by the credit bureau. This means that you will not experience another lag between receipt of the information and the calculation of your credit score.

0 comments:

Post a Comment