What do you mean by tradelines? How do they affect your credit profile number?

shapemy score
4 min readNov 10, 2022

--

Credit reporting companies refer to the credit accounts displayed on your credit report as “tradelines.” There is a unique tradeline with details on the creditor and the debt for each account you have. You may better understand how to read your credit report and what lenders notice when they examine your credit profile number by being aware of how tradelines operate.

What Purposes Do Tradelines Serve?

Your credit ratings are mostly determined using the data from your tradelines. Lenders may however additionally review the tradelines on your credit report to gather additional information because a credit score is only a snapshot of your creditworthiness.

Lenders may examine your tradeline if, for example, you are late on payments on a certain account to see how long the account has been past due. Or, if your credit scores have dropped as a result of a high credit card use rate, a creditor might assess your riskiness by comparing your debt to your credit limit. For instance, maxing out the card might not be as costly if your limit is $300.

What Takes Place When You Are Taken Off a Tradeline?

You or the principal cardholder may decide to delete you from the account if you are an authorized user of a credit card. The tradeline will no longer show up on your credit record if this occurs. The removal might have a detrimental effect on your credit ratings if the tradeline had favorable information that was raising them. On the other hand, if the credit card account has a high use rate or problems with payment history, it may enhance your credit ratings.

How did Trade Lines operate?

A trade line is a crucial method of keeping track of what happens with borrowers’ credit reports. There is a trading line for each credit account. On their credit report, borrowers will have a number of trade lines, each of which represents a different approved borrowing account.

Fixed-payment accounts are the most common forms of accounts with a trading line, and these accounts are frequently divided into groups. First, credit cards or other lines of credit report revolving trade lines. Second, installment tradelines document the past of personal, student, mortgage, and auto loans.

Particular Considerations

Depending on how far behind they are, late payments are often categorized into a range of days. Delinquencies, for instance, can be recorded as being 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days late. If the creditor believes it is unlikely that the debt will be returned, the payment status may be set to “charge off,” and the status may also reflect that the credit recipient has filed for bankruptcy.

Credit scores differ because trade lines are one factor that credit reporting agencies consider when determining an individual’s credit score; higher scores are often awarded to those who have more favorable trade line reporting. The quantity, kind, and length of open accounts, as well as the payment history, are factors taken into account when determining credit scores.

Credit Score FICO

Your lender will frequently ask for your credit score as part of the approval process when you apply for credit. Directly derived from the data on each trade line is your FICO score. The formula used to get your FICO score and how each element pertains to trade lines are shown below.

  • Payment History (35%): Trade lines are debt or credit lines that have been inactive for a maximum of ten years.
  • For each line of credit, trade lines are established. Amounts Owed (30%). There is a separate trade line for each line of credit, revolving line, or installment contract.
  • Length of Credit History (15%): Trade lines consist of all payments made by you ever against all accounts or lines. This also covers any missed installment payments.

Conclusion

Within 15 days of the purchase date, trade lines may appear on your credit report. Alternatively, depending on when the transaction was made, a trade line may not appear on your report for up to 45 days.

The conditions for how long a trade line is maintained may vary depending on the credit reporting agency. A trading line is typically kept open on your account for 10 years after it has been closed. Negatively impacted trade routes are typically closed after seven to ten years.

Trade lines for false or inaccurate news may be contested. After credit bureau agencies receive valid proof, these trade lines are often removed within 30 days of review.

--

--