What Is WFDS and Why Is It On My Credit Report? - Self. Credit Builder. (2024)

Spotting an unfamiliar acronym on your credit report may feel disconcerting — especially if you have no idea where it came from. So if you pulled your report to find something called “WFDS” on it, you may be wondering what that is all about and how to get rid of it.

In this guide, we explain what WFDS is, how it ended up on your credit report, how this mark affects you and how to remove a credit inquiry from your report.

What is WFDS on my credit report?

WFDS stands for Wells Fargo Dealer Services, which is the bank’s auto financing division. The financial institution has nearly 11,000 auto dealerships within its network across the nation, which means if you are seeing this on your report, you likely received auto loan financial services from Wells Fargo, cosigned for one or recently applied for one.[1]

What Is WFDS and Why Is It On My Credit Report? - Self. Credit Builder. (1)

How can WFDS affect your credit score?

When you apply for an auto loan through Wells Fargo, they run a credit check to determine your eligibility for the loan. This results in a hard inquiry that will temporarily impact your credit score (unlike soft inquiries, which don’t). If you missed a payment on a WFDS loan or the loan was charged off, this may also affect your credit score. Missed payments and delinquent accounts impact your credit score more than a hard inquiry, as payment history makes up 35% of your FICO® score.[2][3]

What Is WFDS and Why Is It On My Credit Report? - Self. Credit Builder. (2)

Why does WFDS appear on your credit report?

WFDS might appear on your credit report for a few different reasons, including:

1. Your auto loan was issued through Wells Fargo Dealer Services

If you recently applied for an auto loan, the lender may have issued it through Wells Fargo, which is what is causing it to appear on your credit report. Even if you were denied the loan, the hard inquiry from the credit check would still appear on your report.[1]

2. You cosigned with a family member that has an auto loan issued through Wells Fargo

If you agreed to cosign on an auto loan with a family member, that may have been a Wells Fargo Dealer Services loan and would appear on your credit report as such. When you cosign on car loans, even if they’re for someone else, the account appears on both individuals’ credit reports.[4]

3. It’s an error or you’ve been a victim of identity theft

If none of the above three situations apply to you, then you may have been a victim of identity theft. It’s also possible that this is a simple error on your credit report. In any case, you can correct the record to keep it from impacting your credit.

Contact the nationwide credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — and place a fraud alert or security freeze on your credit report. You have the right to request that they block or remove any debts on your report that are fraudulent.[5][6]

How to remove WFDS from my credit report

Although you have a few ways to remove WFDS from your credit report, your options are limited if the information is accurate. According to the Federal Trade Commission, credit agencies can report accurate negative information — bankruptcies can be reported for 10 years and most other negative information for 7 years.[7]

Contact Wells Fargo Dealer Services

If you believe the information is inaccurate, contact Wells Fargo Dealer Services directly. Ask for details to see what information they have that shows you are involved or have been involved with their auto loan services.[8]

Contact information:

If inaccurate, send a dispute letter

If Wells Fargo is unable to verify that the information on your report is accurate, submit a dispute letter to Wells Fargo and the credit bureaus that this information has been reported to. You can send this letter by mail using the form letters that each credit bureau provides for disputes.[9]

Monitor your credit

Surprises can show up on your report, and you don’t want that surprise when you go to apply for a loan, a credit card or other lines of credit. Be proactive with credit monitoring so you can keep errors off your report. Getting a credit report is an important first step. You are entitled to one free credit report from each bureau each year, which you can access at AnnualCreditReport.com; check out a credit report example to see what it should look like.

Disclaimer: FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Issac Corporation in the United States and other countries.

Sources:

  1. Wells Fargo. "Auto Loans," https://www.wellsfargo.com/auto-loans. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
  2. MyFICO. "Credit Checks: What are credit inquiries and how do they affect your FICO® Score?" https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/credit-reports/credit-checks-and-inquiries. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
  3. MyFICO. "What is Payment History?" https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores/payment-history. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
  4. Experian. "How Cosigning an Auto Loan Affects Your Credit," https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/how-cosigning-affects-credit. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
  5. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "What do I do if I’ve been a victim of identity theft?" https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-do-i-do-if-i-think-i-have-been-a-victim-of-identity-theft-en-31. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
  6. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "How do I dispute an error on my credit report?" https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-dispute-an-error-on-my-credit-report-en-314. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
  7. Federal Trade Commission. “Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports,” https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/disputing-errors-your-credit-reports#right. Accessed August 22, 2022.
  8. Experian. "What Should I Do if I Don’t Recognize a Creditor on My Credit Report?" https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/what-should-i-do-if-i-dont-recognize-creditor-credit-report. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
  9. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "Credit report dispute," https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/092016_cfpb__CreditReportingSampleLetter.pdf. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.

About the author

Ana Gonzalez-Ribeiro, MBA, AFC® is an Accredited Financial Counselor® and a Bilingual Personal Finance Writer and Educator dedicated to helping populations that need financial literacy and counseling. Her informative articles have been published in various news outlets and websites including Huffington Post, Fidelity, Fox Business News, MSN and Yahoo Finance. She also founded the personal financial and motivational site www.AcetheJourney.com and translated into Spanish the book, Financial Advice for Blue Collar America by Kathryn B. Hauer, CFP. Ana teaches Spanish or English personal finance courses on behalf of the W!SE (Working In Support of Education) program has taught workshops for nonprofits in NYC.

Editorial policy

Our goal at Self is to provide readers with current and unbiased information on credit, financial health, and related topics. This content is based on research and other related articles from trusted sources. All content at Self is written by experienced contributors in the finance industry and reviewed by an accredited person(s).

What Is WFDS and Why Is It On My Credit Report? - Self. Credit Builder. (2024)

FAQs

What Is WFDS and Why Is It On My Credit Report? - Self. Credit Builder.? ›

What is WFDS on my credit report? WFDS stands for Wells Fargo Dealer Services, which is the bank's auto financing division.

Who is WFDs on my credit report? ›

WFDS: Wells Fargo Dealer Service

Wells Fargo Dealer Service was an auto-lending arm of Wells Fargo. This code may appear on your credit report if you had an auto loan through Wells Fargo.

What does RPTD mean on a credit report? ›

RPTD – The last time the tradeline was reported. ECOA – Code that indicates ownership of tradeline.

What does D mean on a credit report? ›

D represents 'Default', which is recorded once the lender believes that the credit agreement has broken down, usually due to a sustained period of arrears. A default is also a form of account closure, meaning that defaulted accounts will be removed from your Credit Report once six years pass from date of default.

How does self credit builder show up on credit report? ›

Self credit builder works by issuing a loan to be paid off over 24 months. As you make payments on time and in full, you will qualify for the Self Visa® Credit Card, and Self will report your payment activity to the credit bureaus as an installment loan.

What is a WFDs account? ›

What is WFDS on my credit report? WFDS stands for Wells Fargo Dealer Services, which is the bank's auto financing division.

How do I find out who has accessed my credit report? ›

When you request a copy of your credit report, you will see a list of anyone who has requested your credit report within the past year, including any employers or prospective employers who have requested your report within the past two years for employment purposes.

What is the red flag on my credit report? ›

What's a red flag? The FTC defines a red flag as a pattern, practice or specific activity that indicates the possible existence of identity theft. FTC guidelines include 26 examples of patterns that should be considered in an identity theft prevention program.

What are credit report codes? ›

Lenders may use codes when they send information to the credit reporting agencies about how and when you make your payments. These codes can have two parts: a letter and a number. For example, an account may be coded as R2. The letter stands for the type of the credit you are using.

What does Z mean on a credit report? ›

Z. = Creditor reports as included in a bankruptcy. TYPE OF ACCOUNT. C = Check credit (line of credit)

What does RT mean on a credit report? ›

TR: Number of times the credit grantor has reported an account update. RT: Type of account and manner of repayment: (See Trade Information Descriptions and Manner of Payment for detailed rating descriptions).

What does AF mean on a credit search? ›

A financial association is someone you're linked to through joint finances or a joint credit account. There are some common misconceptions about financial associations – just sharing an address with someone or even being married to them (but not having any joint credit) doesn't make them a financial associate.

What does DP mean on a letter of credit? ›

D/P – Documents Against Payment

The D/P transaction utilizes a sight draft, where payment is on demand. After the goods are shipped, the exporter sends the sight draft to the clearing bank, along with documents necessary for the importer/buyer to obtain the goods from customs.

What are the downsides of self credit builder? ›

Make sure you choose a monthly payment amount that makes sense for you financially. Self lets you choose between monthly payments of $25, $35, $48 and $150. Second, if you're just looking to save money, a credit-builder loan won't make sense for you because you'll pay interest on your loan amount.

How do I increase my self credit builder limit? ›

You can increase your Self Visa® Credit Card's credit limit by adding money to your Credit Builder Account. More specifically, once you've made enough savings progress in your Credit Builder Account you will see an alert in your account dashboard that you are eligible to increase your credit limit.

How accurate is a self-lender credit score? ›

The free score from Self is not calculated by FICO, so while it's not a false score, it's not the score that most lenders will use to judge whether or not you're credit worthy. The credit score that Self uses is VantageScore 3.0 credit score from Experian/CSID.

Which credit agency does Wells Fargo use? ›

Wells Fargo sends personal account information to the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. This includes data such as payment history, credit limits, and account status.

What credit reporting agency does bank of America use? ›

Which Credit Bureau Does Bank of America Use? While Bank of America may pull credit reports from any of the major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, consumer-reported data suggests the bank relies heavily on Experian to source many credit reports, followed by Equifax and TransUnion.

Which credit agency is FICO? ›

FICO is the independent standard in credit scoring, trusted by lenders and securitization investors for decades. FICO is an independent data analytics company. We are not a credit bureau, and we are not owned by the three major credit bureaus -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Is AnnualCreditReport.com a legitimate site? ›

AnnualCreditReport.com is the official site to get your free annual credit reports. This right is guaranteed by Federal law. You can verify this is the official site by visiting the CFPB's website. Don't be fooled by look-alike sites.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Francesca Jacobs Ret

Last Updated:

Views: 6161

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (68 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Francesca Jacobs Ret

Birthday: 1996-12-09

Address: Apt. 141 1406 Mitch Summit, New Teganshire, UT 82655-0699

Phone: +2296092334654

Job: Technology Architect

Hobby: Snowboarding, Scouting, Foreign language learning, Dowsing, Baton twirling, Sculpting, Cabaret

Introduction: My name is Francesca Jacobs Ret, I am a innocent, super, beautiful, charming, lucky, gentle, clever person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.