TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: 'Frontline' Files an Eye-Opening Credit Report

Re: 'Frontline' Files an Eye-Opening Credit Report

Andrew (andrew@nats.edu)
Fri, 26 Nov 2004 13:54:32 UTC

Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> wrote:

> Secret History of the Credit Card
> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/

Very interesting. Both Discover and Citbank seem to be using two
different techniques desribed in the article to try to screw me. One
way the issuers screw cardholders is by not reporting the cardholders'
credit limit to the reporting agencies. This is an intentional attempt
to keep your FICO score low to prevent other card issuers from
poaching you. A big part of your fico score is your debt to credit
limit ratio. Equifax/Experian/Transunion substitute your historical
higest balance for purposes of calculating your debt/credit limit
ratio when the card issuers withhold your credit limit. Discover does
not report my $11k credit limit --my credit report just shows my high
balance of $2400 instead.

A review of my credit report also show that Citibank is pulling my
credit report each and every month. This is no doubt an attempt to
take advantage of 'universal fault', i.e. use a late car payment or
utility payment as an excuse to raise your credit card rate even if
your credit card payment history is spotless. I have never ever
carried a balance on any of my credit cards, so in my case, it's
rather pointless of them to try to dig up a late payment to one of my
other creditors. A punitive credit card rate would not affect me.

I'm going to have to try to catch a rerun of the NYT/Frontline
documentary.

Andrew Olechny | s/nats/gatech/g | Atlanta, Ga USA

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