Credit Rating - Should I tell them?

Shylock_249

Hi, I have 3 credit cards, two smaller ones (2k each) and a larger one.  I've had the larger one 8k since about 1978 and use it most of the time.  I always clear all cards each month by DD. Experian is only aware of the two smaller ones and continually sends me updates to check my score, almost always within a few points of maxium.

Should I contact Experian to notify them that I have that 3rd card, and would there be any benefit in doing so.  Would them knowing, increase or decrease my score bearing in mind I always  pay the full balance each month?

I'm unlikely to need a loan, unless I buy a new car and they give me 0% interest, all previous cars I bought by cash, etc.

TIA

Will_Riker

You can safely ignore your score as it's seen by no-one except you and the CRA, and has no bearing whatsoever on how a prospective lender will view you.

As to your main question, you can't "tell" Experian about which products you have, as such.  Each lender will send data to the CRAs relating to their customers.  Importantly, not all lenders report to all three CRAs.  Some will report in to all 3, some lenders will only report in to 1 or maybe 2.  Sounds like your "main" card provider just doesn't report in to Experian - it's nothing at all to worry about, and there's nothing you can do to change this anyway.

Hope this helps.

PRAISETHESUN

As above - ignore the score/rating and focus on the data. The main thing to focus on is ensuring your credit history is being reported correctly - no errors in the data such as incorrect missed/late repayment markers, CCJs, etc.

You should be regularly checking your credit files from all 3 CRAs - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. The CRAs only report the data they've been given, and as @Will_Riker says not every lender reports to every CRA. You can't force your bank to report to Experian if they don't want to. As long as all your accounts are being correctly reported somewhere then that's fine at the end of the day.

Shylock_249

Thanks everyone.

I took my main card out in 1978. The same provider introduced a card with better (IMO) facilities for payments abroad and I took out one of those.  The 2nd card is shown on my Credit File with Experian.  It's for consideration that in 1978 card providers didn't have a CRA to report to?

Thanks again.

sourcrates

Shylock_249 said:

Thanks everyone.

I took my main card out in 1978. The same provider introduced a card with better (IMO) facilities for payments abroad and I took out one of those.  The 2nd card is shown on my Credit File with Experian.  It's for consideration that in 1978 card providers didn't have a CRA to report to?

Thanks again.

Credit reporting, as we now know it, started in the late 1980`s in the UK.

Before then, most credit was granted based on the lenders knowledge of the customer, if they had collateral or not, or if you played golf with your local bank manager once a week etc etc.

So it is likely that because your card account was opened before the advent of main stream credit reporting, that is the reason why it doesn't show anywhere on your files, as there is no requirement to show that information because it pre-dates regulation.

A very rare thing these days, as not many customers keep the same credit card account for more than 40 years.