What is SYNCB/PPC on My Credit Report?
If you see a SYNCB/PPC line on your credit report, it stands for Synchrony Bank/PayPal Credit. PayPal Credit, formerly Bill Me Later, is a line of credit offered by PayPal.
In 2018, Synchrony Bank bought PayPal Credit. At that point, all PayPal Credit accounts and Bill Me Later accounts, as well as debt owed by PayPal account holders, fell under Synchrony Bank’s reign. In other words, if you currently hold a PayPal Credit account or previously held a Bill Me Later account, any money that you owe is now owed to Synchrony Bank.
Why Is Your PayPal Credit Account on Your Credit Report?
Before Synchrony Bank bought PayPal Credit, PayPal Holdings owned it. Under PayPal Holdings, your credit line was considered a “hidden tradeline.” Simply, this means that the company did not report any account activity to the credit bureaus, which kept the information off of your credit reports.
Synchrony Bank came along and bought PayPal Credit. It was then up to the bank to decide whether it would report your PayPal Credit account activity to the bureaus.
Apparently, it began reporting PayPal account holders, which is why you may just now be seeing that new SYNCB/PPC line on your credit report.
Where Is the Account Found on Your Credit Report?
Your SYNCB/PPC account can appear on your credit report in one of several ways. Depending on how it shows up, there are different ways that you can handle the situation.
Hard inquiry
With any new PayPal Credit account that you apply for, the creditor will do a hard inquiry into your credit report. This is to see whether you are a responsible borrower. If you have a positive credit history, the creditor will most likely approve you for the line of credit. If you have a negative credit history, you may be out of luck for the time being.
When you apply for a PayPal Credit account, Synchrony Bank will do a hard pull of your credit report. This adds a line to the inquiry section of your credit report.
Inquiries temporarily ding your credit reports. When you get approved for a new line of credit, both you and the lender assume some level of risk in the event that you don’t pay back your debt. A temporary ding preemptively reflects that risk.
You can expect a hard inquiry to stay on your credit report for up to two years. However, the inquiry will affect your credit scores less and less as time goes on.
If you have a PayPal Credit hard inquiry listed on your credit report but have not applied for a line of credit, you should contact Synchrony Bank and the credit bureaus immediately. You may be dealing with identity theft. It’s possible that someone attempted to fraudulently open a line of credit using your name. To avoid further damage to your credit score, take action immediately.
Account history
A PayPal Credit account could appear in the account history section of your credit report as either an active account or closed account.
Depending on how you’ve managed the account, it can positively or negatively impact your credit score. If you’ve kept your credit utilization rate low and made on-time payments, the account will likely boost your credit score. If you’ve managed it poorly, you can expect your score to take a hit.
Synchrony Bank, now that it owns PayPal Credit, can also raise or lower your credit lines. Or the bank can involuntarily close accounts if they have been inactive for a certain period of time. Changes in credit limits and closed accounts can both affect your credit score.
If a PayPal Credit account shows up in the account history section and you still don’t think that you opened the account, or if the account is wrongly listed on your credit report, contact Synchrony Bank and the credit bureaus immediately. There could be a mistake with account reporting, or you may be dealing with identity theft.
How to Dispute an Item with the Credit Bureaus
If there is an account that you don’t recognize on your credit report, you should contact the lender and the credit bureaus immediately. Time is of the essence. Credit bureaus may not approve disputes if the initial occurrence happened a long time ago.
That is why it’s important to check your credit reports thoroughly and often. You’re legally entitled to one free credit report from each of the three credit bureaus every year. Request your copies at AnnualCreditReport.com.
What to Do if an Account Is Hurting Your Credit Score
If your PayPal Credit account has shown up on your credit report (and it is in fact your own account), the credit bureaus likely will not remove the account. A credit repair company may feel like the simplest route, but this route can cost you a lot of time and money. And unfortunately, it may not yield the results that you are looking for. Instead, you can find other ways to help your score bounce back.
Make on-time payments
Your payment history is one of the most influential aspects of your credit score. For FICO Scores, bill payments count for 35% of your score. VantageScore calls payment history moderately influential. One of the quickest ways to boost your credit scores is to make on-time payments. It is best if you can pay off your balances in full, but if you can’t, try to make at least the minimum required payment.
Stick to 30% or less credit utilization
After payment history, your credit utilization ratio is the next most influential aspect of your credit scores. You should avoid using more than 30% of your total credit limit at all times — that goes for credit spread across every line of credit in your name. So if the total of all credit limits in your name is $10,000, you should only ever carry a balance of $3,000.
The best ways to keep your credit utilization rate down is to:
- Pay off your balance in full each month
- Make smaller, more frequent payments throughout the month
- Ask for a higher credit limit
Keep credit accounts open and in good health
The length of your credit history is not the most influential aspect of your credit score, but it does count for something. And the age of your credit history is an easy one to use to your advantage. Essentially, if you have a line of credit that’s been open for a while, it’s best to leave it open, so long as you’re using it responsibly.
Limit hard inquiries and new credit requests
Try not to open too many accounts at once. Credit applications lead to hard inquiries by creditors, which knock your credit score down a few points.
Sometimes hard inquiries are inevitable, like when you’ve decided that it’s time to expand your credit mix or take advantage of a good deal on a credit card. Luckily, new credit will only moderately affect your credit score. Nonetheless, it’s best to limit new credit requests when you can.
Make your thin credit file thicker
Around 62 million Americans have thin credit files, according to Experian. This means that you have few (if any) accounts listed on your credit reports. In many cases, you have to have credit in order to get credit. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult for people with little credit to improve their financial situation. There are a few things that you can do to start building up your credit reports.
- Apply for a secured credit card, and manage it properly, with on-time payments and good credit utilization
- Become an authorized user on someone else’s account
- Use essential services, such as utility or cell phone providers, that report your payments to the credit bureaus and get added to your credit reports
Consider debt consolidation
Debt consolidation is the process of taking out one loan to pay off several loans. If you’re able to get a good interest rate on the consolidated loan, you’ll be able to pay down your debt faster. This can improve your credit utilization ratio and boost your credit score.
In a similar vein, if you have multiple credit card balances, you can do a balance transfer to consolidate all of your credit card debt under one card. Many balance transfer credit cards offer an introductory 0% APR, which allows you to pay down your debt faster. Be careful with these cards, though. Many balance transfer credit cards have higher-than-average interest rates after the introductory period, so you should have a plan to pay off your balance quickly.
