Experian, a major credit reporting agency experienced a small, but substantial glitch in its reporting system recently, reported MSNBC.com. When reporting the credit history of HSBC credit card holders, Experian apparently reported just the first 2 digits of the credit limit. Hence, if an HSBC card holder had a $2,000 credit limit, Experian reported that this person only had a $20 limit. Hence, people who had any balances on their HSBC credit cards were substantially over their limits.
One factor that is weighed when creating a credit score for someone is their credit limit. Another factor is the percentage of utilization of that credit limit used by the consumer. This factor has been felt by many HSBC credit cardholders. Indeed, one HSBC credit cardholder reported a 60 point drop in his FICO score due to this Experian error.
Experian has acknowledged the problem and is working on it.
Interestingly, this error was first discovered by consumers who are members of credit monitoring services. Personally, I have never been a fan of these. However, this situation certainly gives me pause to re-examine my skepticism for these services.
Moral of the Story Consumers – Check your credit report at least one a year. Yeah…ok..may be there is something good to these credit monitoring system. I just hate when they give you a free 30 days and then automatically charge your credit card if you do not cancel in time. Still, I have to give credit where credit is due ..get it? ;)
If your credit report has been damaged due to items that do not belong on it or if you have been the victim of identity theft, call or email Attorney Gary Nitzkin for a free consultation at [email protected] Call toll free (888) 293-2882. For more information about our law firm, Michigan Consumer Credit Lawyers, visit our website at www.micreditlawyer.com
