Does a Post Office Box Show Up on a Credit Report?

While a post office box, or P.O. box, might seem like a fairly insignificant thing in the world of lending, it can have a significant impact on your ability to gain credit and your credit score. However, just owning a P.O. box does not immediately affect your credit rating. Instead, it may show up as a delinquent account or part of your demographic information.

Identification

The major credit reporting bureaus -- TransUnion, Equifax and Experian -- do not report P.O. boxes as an account on consumer credit reports. P.O. boxes do not involve a creditable account, even if you pay for space with an installment agreement. The only way it can show up on your credit report is if you do not pay your bill and the U.S. Postal Service sends the account to a collection agency.

Demographic Information

The credit bureaus list your address based on whatever you claim to creditors. Thus, your credit report might show your current address as your PO box number. A PO box number might cost you a loan. Creditors look at your address history to make an informal judgment about your stability as a person. Using a P.O. box instead of a street address might seem suspicious or insinuate that you tend to move around a lot unless the P.O. box appears as an address on a business credit report.

Self-Reporting Payments

Alternative credit bureaus report any account with a verified payment history, even a P.O. box. You have to sign up for an alternative bureau's subscription service, which costs about $30 in at the time of publication, because the USPS does not report accounts to any bureau. Creditors do not have to consider an alternative credit history, but some, such as the Federal Housing Administration, look at alternative histories.

Tip

You can report a P.O. box by proxy when you put the account on your credit card. While the bureaus do not list individual purchases, you can, for instance, use a credit card account just to pay your P.O. box bill. The bureaus then report positive history on the card -- assuming you pay on time and the creditor reports to the bureaus.