Asda JaJa credit card reports different balance to statement

whyso

I got my new Asda JaJa card around the start of March. The first statement was generated on the 25th March and had a statement balance of around £60. I have just checked my credit files, and the reported balance for March is £382. This is the current balance of the card, not the March statement balance. 

My Aqua card always reports the statement balance to the reference agencies, not the actual balance on the day they choose to report. All my wife's cards and my mother's cards report the statement balance to the agencies, not the actual balance.

If I pay the card off in full each month, will it get accurately recorded as being paid of in full?

Statement balance £60, reported balance £382, amount recorded as being paid next month £60.

Will this be mistakenly reported as me not paying in full and instead reflect that I carried a balance?

Is it worth me contacting JaJa and asking that they change the recorded balance to show the correct statement balance?

Thanks.

Nebulous2

I've never been aware of credit cards matching the statement balance on the CRAs, I've always seen them as reporting the balance when they report. 

I've 4 different credit cards and find it difficult to work out what they are reporting. Barclaycard in particular is often a long way behind. It's currently showing around £380 which doesn't match any statement recently and the balance is now over £2000. 

I don't think you need worry about this - unless you are planning a big credit application, and are a marginal case for acceptance. 

emperormessia

It vary by lender some lender report the statement balance some have a specific reporting cut off date It appears that Asda reports at the end of the month like you I applied for the card at the end of February your post made me take a look at my credit report that I found out it appeared today 

whyso

Ok, so they are not obliged to report the statement balance.

All the background data they report that we don't get to see but lenders do, should show statement balance and amount paid each month.

MattMattMattUK

whyso said:

Ok, so they are not obliged to report the statement balance.

They are required to report accurate data at the point they report it, that would be the correct balance at the point that they report the balance.

whyso said:

All the background data they report that we don't get to see but lenders do, should show statement balance and amount paid each month.

You can see all the data they report. Requiring them to also report statement balances and payments would hugely increase the amount of data that they are required to report and that the CRAs are required to hold and would offer no benefit to the financial industry so it would be a pointless exercise. 

whyso

I've read and heard from people in that industry in the UK talk about how they report much more than what we see. There's a lot of background data on spending and payments within the month that lenders get to see when they run hard searches. 

What we only see is the reported balance for that month and whether a payment was made. Until now I though they reported statement balances. 

Nebulous2

whyso said:

I've read and heard from people in that industry in the UK talk about how they report much more than what we see. There's a lot of background data on spending and payments within the month that lenders get to see when they run hard searches. 

What we only see is the reported balance for that month and whether a payment was made. Until now I though they reported statement balances. 

My understanding is that lenders see less than we do. They don't get told who you have a credit card with for instance, simply that it is a credit card, whereas you can see that on your own report. 

MattMattMattUK

whyso said:

I've read and heard from people in that industry in the UK talk about how they report much more than what we see. There's a lot of background data on spending and payments within the month that lenders get to see when they run hard searches. 

Who are these "people" that you heard from, people down the pub, people on Faceache? They do not get to see spending and/or payment data, they do not get a break down of where you shop, they do not get a breakdown of the payments you make to keep an account up to date etc.

whyso said:

What we only see is the reported balance for that month and whether a payment was made. Until now I though they reported statement balances. 

Technically you do not get to see if a payment is made, you get to see the status of the account by which it can be inferred a repayment is made or not. As Nebulous says you get to see more about your accounts than companies running a credit check against you get to see.

WillPS

whyso said:

I've read and heard from people in that industry in the UK talk about how they report much more than what we see. There's a lot of background data on spending and payments within the month that lenders get to see when they run hard searches. 

What we only see is the reported balance for that month and whether a payment was made. Until now I though they reported statement balances. 

What you're suggesting happens would be against the principles set out in the GDPR regulations. Same for the DPA principles they superseded.

whyso

Amount spent and payments made is what people in that industry have said they report.  Not what the money was spent on or where it was spent. 

Simply money in and money out, how frequently you buy, any big spends at specific times of month is reported in the background data. Not where it was spent. It allows the tracking of normal spending habits and whether or not there's emergent financial difficulty. 

Plus with Open Banking, they already know what you spend your money on. They know whether you're a gambler or a potential diabetic/heart disease take-away fiend, and can make decisions based on that. 

emperormessia

Plus with Open Banking, they already know what you spend your money on. They know whether you're a gambler or a potential diabetic/heart disease take-away fiend, and can make decisions based on that. 

Lmao I do not agree with this