Most Americans do not know that many non-traditional payments are not included in their credit history, according to a survey conducted by the Atlanta– based alternative credit bureau, FactorTrust.
Of those surveyed, 71% assumed that all consumer history including short-term loans, online payments, rent-to-own payments were included in their credit history. Lending Club, for example, says it does report to the credit bureaus, but does not specify what exactly it reports, or to which bureaus.
This means that people who successfully repay their non-traditional loans do not receive the credit they deserve, according to FactorTrust’s Monday, July 24 announcement.
Of the 2,279 surveyed, 84% said that their payments for all loans, regardless of size, should be included in their history. And 68% of these participants said they believed their credit score would improve if all these types of non-traditional loans were taken into consideration while generating their credit profiles.
“The true nature of their payment habits is not accurately being reflected,” said Greg Rable, CEO of FactorTrust said in a Monday statement. “It’s no surprise there are so many misperceptions around what constitutes a consumer’s credit profile and why lenders are seeking new and progressive methods to develop better ways to learn about the consumers they serve, or could be serving.”
In the U.S. an individual’s credit history is tallied and stored by three major credit bureaus. They are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion and collectively referred to as the Big 3.
See FactorTrust’s full survey report, conducted by New York-based Radius Global Market Research, here.