Canopy rent tracking - credit rating improvements?

zoetarch1

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone on here has used the Canopy rent payment tracking and noticed improvements to their credit rating as a result, only been using for 5 months but just wondered if anyone has personal experience of it? Thanks 

born_again

Credit score/rating is a made up figure by the CRA. It is never seen by lenders.

CliveOfIndia

I guess if the data they report is visible to lenders then it can't hurt - it's not very clear from their website whether the free option makes data visible to lenders or only to you.  But any benefit would be marginal at best, and it's absolutely not worth paying for any kind of "premium" service.

But then again, is rent actually a credit product?  It's a long time since I rented anywhere, but I always had to pay in advance.  If that's the case then I'd question whether this service has much value anyway - your credit file is only concerned with credit products, by its very nature.  Yes, I guess it allows a lender to see that you pay the rent on time, and gives some evidence as to your monthly outgoings - but how much that would affect any lending decision I'm not sure.

As born_again correctly points out, you can ignore the score generated by the CRA, along with their assessment of your credit-worthiness.  A lender will look purely at the raw data contained in your file and make their own assessment.

Nasqueron

CliveOfIndia said:

I guess if the data they report is visible to lenders then it can't hurt - it's not very clear from their website whether the free option makes data visible to lenders or only to you.  But any benefit would be marginal at best, and it's absolutely not worth paying for any kind of "premium" service.

But then again, is rent actually a credit product?  It's a long time since I rented anywhere, but I always had to pay in advance.  If that's the case then I'd question whether this service has much value anyway - your credit file is only concerned with credit products, by its very nature.  Yes, I guess it allows a lender to see that you pay the rent on time, and gives some evidence as to your monthly outgoings - but how much that would affect any lending decision I'm not sure.

As born_again correctly points out, you can ignore the score generated by the CRA, along with their assessment of your credit-worthiness.  A lender will look purely at the raw data contained in your file and make their own assessment.

I suspect it's one of these sites that basically "lends" you money for the rent which you pay back, appearing to be a loan and building some credit history. I don't see the harm unless it charges you on top in which case there are obviously better (free!) ways to build a credit history.

steven141

You have to connect your bank account via open banking and it tracks your rent payments coming out and reports them for free to Experian but if you want it to report to TransUnion or Equifax you have to pay. 

username

I've never understood the point of these types of services, in my opinion it is not data that is required to be reported since you aren't buying a credit product or service and like the above poster says, a lot of rent is paid in advance.

It's often sold as a "benefit" to supposedly bulk out your credit file, but surely lenders will look to your actual financial products which most people will have (credit cards, bank accounts etc) and their conduct of the repayment data of your file to make a judgement.

My somewhat cynical view is that just maintain your financial product facilities well, ensure a good payment history and you should be fine, there is no need for you to volunteer this additional data to a CRA.

Edit to add, looking at the FAQs on their site, if there's any failure in the technology there is a possibility for it to go awry, if the automatic tracking fails for whatever reason:

"If we are unable to automatically track your rent we will send you a missed rent email and notification so you can identify the transaction yourself. Don’t ignore this email as missed rent will affect your credit score."