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.
1. What Are Tradelines on Your Credit Report?
There is a tradeline on your credit report for each credit account you have, including revolving and installment. Credit cards and lines of credit are examples of revolving tradelines, whereas loans including mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and personal loans are examples of installment tradelines.
A tradeline contains details about the account in addition to identifying the debt. Typically, this data includes:
- Lender’s name and address
- Type of account
- Account number
- Current status
- Date the account was opened
- Date the account was closed, if applicable
- Date of last activity
- Current balance
- Original loan amount or credit limit
- Monthly payment
- Recent balance (for credit cards only)
- Payment history
2. What Are Tradelines Used For?
Your credit scores 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 merely a snapshot of your creditworthiness.
Lenders may examine your tradeline if, for example, you are behind 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 utilization rate, a creditor can assess your riskiness by comparing your debt to your credit limit.
3. What Happens When You Are Removed From a Tradeline?
If you have a credit card and are an authorized user, you or the principal cardholder can decide to have your account closed. This will result in the tradeline disappearing off your credit report.
If the tradeline contained favorable data that was raising your credit ratings, its removal can have a negative effect on those scores. On the other hand, if the credit card account has problems with payment history or a high rate of account utilization, it might be beneficial to your credit ratings.
