What Appears on Your Credit Report – and What Doesn’t

Creditors use your report to determine how risky it would be to lend you money, and having money is no guarantee you’ll use it to pay your bills on time. Therefore, your credit report does not include these items as they don’t relate to your debt:⁶

• Income.
• Net worth.
• Debt-to-income (DTI) ratio.
• Savings, including retirement funds.
• Investments.
• Assets, such as real estate or cars you own outright, jewelry, art, and so on.

While we’re talking about assets, we shouldn’t ignore cash – even though credit reports typically do. The logic is that credit reports are focused on money that you borrow and repay, not money that you already have. Therefore, your credit report does not include:

• Bank account numbers or balances.
• Checking account activity.
• Prepaid card transactions.
• Debit card transactions – even when you use your debit card as you might use a credit card, because you’re still not borrowing money when you do so.

There are a couple of exceptions to note. First, some banks that offer overdraft protection for checking accounts consider the protection a line of credit.⁵ If you have overdraft protection, you may want to check with your bank to find out whether they report it to the credit bureaus. Second, FICO has dipped its toe in the water to begin tracking cash flow. UltraFICO^®, is an optional program that allows consumers with marginal credit scores or minimal credit history to use a pattern of responsible cash flow management to boost their scores.⁷ Cash-related activity will continue to be invisible to those who do not opt in.

If you pay your rent and utilities on time every month, that can show you’re responsible with your money. So you ought to see the benefits on your credit report, right? Unfortunately, you typically won’t. That’s because landlords aren't legally required to report your rent to credit bureaus.⁸ Generally, your credit report will not show payments toward your:⁹

• Rent.
• Utility bills.
• Cell phone bill.
• Cable or streaming service bills.
• Insurance premiums.

Unfortunately, if you fall behind on payments for any of the above, that bad news might show up on your credit report. That’s because collection agencies are members of the credit reporting bureaus and report to the bureaus on the accounts they handle.¹⁰

There are some ways, though, to get your responsible payment history on these items reported for your benefit. Assuming that your landlord cooperates by verifying your rent, rent-reporting services can arrange to have your rent payments reported to the credit agencies. Some such services are free, while others charge, so it’s a good idea to do a bit of research before choosing one.⁸

A final point on the tradelines: Because the report is intended to guide lenders, it focuses on money you owe lenders. Other money that you owe typically does not get reported. For example, a loan from your 401(k) – money that, in effect, you borrow from yourself – will not show up.¹¹ And medical debt will not be reported either, unless it is assigned to a collection agency.¹²

Credit reports include enough identifying information to ensure there’s no mistake about whose report it is.² Beyond that, most personal information stays personal. For example, your marital status is not on your credit report.¹³ If you and your spouse have several joint accounts, lenders will see the names of both account holders. Even then, they won’t see any information on accounts belonging only to your spouse. If you don’t have any joint accounts, it’s unlikely a lender can tell from your credit report whether you’re married.¹³ Other personal information lenders won’t find on your report include your:¹⁴

• Race or ethnicity.
• Education.
• Profession.
• Medical conditions.
• Criminal record.