When Do Credit Cards Update Information on Your Credit Report?

Your credit report contains information your creditors pass along to the credit bureaus that manage your credit report files. Your credit score can change whenever your creditor sends a new piece of information, such as a payment received or a change in your account balance. These changes occur at different times for different accounts.

Time Frame

In most cases, each credit card company updates information on your credit report monthly. Companies do not all report on the same day of the month, so you need to call your credit card company to find out exactly when it updates the credit bureaus. If you have multiple credit cards, they will likely update at different times during the month, so your credit report will get updated information frequently.

Significance

Your credit report does not immediately reflect information on your credit card accounts that could change your score. Changes you make on your credit card accounts could take up to one month to appear on your credit report. Therefore, if you are trying to boost your score by paying down your credit card balance, the new low balance might not appear right away. Make the payment at least one month before you need the credit score increase, so the payment has time to get reported.

Rapid Rescoring

If you are applying for a mortgage and need a creditor to update your credit report sooner than it would ordinarily, one option is to pay for a rapid rescore. Only lenders can order rapid rescoring services, so you need to ask the lender you are working with whether you are a good candidate for rapid rescoring. In rapid rescoring, you pay to have a third-party company manually get the updated information from your creditor to the credit bureaus, which updates your report and score within days. In some cases, this update can make the difference in qualifying for a lower interest rate on a mortgage.

No Updates

Information only appears on your credit report if your credit card company sends it, and not all types of credit cards report to the bureaus. For example, some secured credit cards, which are designed for people with bad credit, do not report to the credit bureaus or may only report to one of the three bureaus. In addition, only a few prepaid credit card companies report to credit bureaus. If you want to obtain a credit card to boost your credit score through responsible credit use, first ask the company whether it reports to credit bureaus.