Choosing CC lenders based on credit reporting for building credit

Chappaz

Hi folks.

One thing I've never seen mentioned much in the whole credit file building malarkey is the factor of which lenders report to which agencies.

The usual idea is that you just get a card, start spending, pay it off in full every month and it will build your history.

However, as we can see from this table, not all lenders report to all agencies. Sometimes not even close:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/credit-reference

I've noticed this for myself today. Last year, I took out Paypal Credit for something I wanted to buy (I actually wanted to spread the cost with an offer and I also figured it would help my credit history somewhat).

In my Clearscore report with Equifax, the green on-time payments for this credit started to appear almost immediately.

However, in my MSE report with Experian, the account is nowhere to be seen. There isn't even a hard search from when I applied.

Now this is problematic when certain lenders, and even mortgage providers, don't check every agency. And even if they do, it's possible that they'll base their decision on the lowest "scored" report.

So if anyone happens to build a good credit history with a credit lender which only reports to one or two agencies, they could eventually find that their history with one agency is much better whilst the others are left looking poor.

And then when it comes time to get a loan or mortgage they need, it would be a spot of bad luck if the lender checked with the one agency which hasn't been notified of all that hard work.

I was just wondering if anyone else had any experience with "lopsided" files like this?

And I think it also goes without saying that if you are using any methods to build a better credit history, make sure they're being reported to all three agencies (I know the Aqua card does this, amongst others). Check Clearscore, MSE Credit Club and Noddle, because there's no guarantee that they are.

ashp_2

This is why I always tell people it's important to check all 3 credit files. It's also possible to increase/decrease your chances of getting accepted when applying for credit using this information.

What is not clear to me on the link provided is if the CRA'S report to the same agencies they initially search.