 TITLE: Why a New Credit Card May Not Show on a Credit Report CONTENT: Reasons Why an Account May Not Be Appearing\n-------------------------------------------\nWhile a delay in a new account showing up on a credit report can often be chalked up to a card issuer's timeline in furnishing your account information to the credit bureaus, there are a few other potential explanations. For example:\n*   **Identification mix-up**: It's possible that your name and Social Security number were not entered correctly when you applied for the credit card. In that case, the account is not being associated with your credit file, so it won't be connected to you.\n*   **The company doesn't participate in the credit reporting process**: There is no law that requires a creditor to send information to the credit reporting bureaus. Most credit card companies do, but a few choose to work with only one or two of the bureaus, or even opt out entirely. It's often wise to check with a card issuer to make sure you understand their credit reporting process before you apply for the card.\n*   **Tech glitch**: Although uncommon, a technical issue may prevent an account from being shown on your credit report, even if the lender is providing the information to the bureaus. For example, this could happen because two credit card companies are in the process of merging. In such situations, the account may be absent from your credit report until after the consolidation is complete. The good news: The omission is short and temporary, so there's nothing you have to do except wait.\n*   **It's under a different company name**: It's also possible your new credit card is on your report after all, but isn't appearing as you'd expect so you're overlooking it. Maybe you opened a retail credit card and are looking for it to show up under the department store's name. Instead, look for the date the account was issued and the credit limit. You may see that it's being listed under the name of the bank that manages the store's account. Mystery solved! END