Credit Reporting at Galileo

A credit report is a statement that provides information about a cardholder's credit activity and current credit situation such as the status of a credit account. Credit reporting is available for secured credit products that operate as a charge card with the full amount due each period, and not other credit products like secured cards with revolving credit. Metro 2 files also include reporting on authorized users.

There is no legal requirement to report credit account activity to the three credit bureaus. Whether you report the charge card activity to the credit bureaus depends on whether you believe your cardholders will benefit from it. Reporting to the bureaus will most likely help your cardholders establish their credit history.

Metro 2 reporting at Galileo

Galileo's Metro 2 reporting system ensures accurate, compliant, and timely reporting of your customers' credit account information to all major credit bureaus.

To generate a cardholder’s credit report, the credit bureaus are provided a Metro 2 file. Metro 2 is a standardized electronic reporting format specification created by Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA). Metro 2 files meet all requirements of the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and all applicable state laws.

Galileo is responsible for generating the monthly Metro 2 file, which we deliver to you via Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). You are responsible for sending the completed file to the credit bureaus directly, also known as acting as the data furnisher. We recommend you consult with your legal counsel about the practice of being a data furnisher if your program is not PCI compliant.

Metro 2 reporting for authorized users

Only reportable authorized users are added to the Metro 2 file. An authorized user is considered "reportable" when the authorized user's PII, specifically, date of birth and Social Security number (SSN), the customer account is created. If either of these two pieces of data are missing, the authorized user data is not added to the Metro 2 file.

Accessing the Metro 2 file

By default, Galileo generates the Metro 2 file on the first of the month. You can change the default to any integer day of the month from 1–28. You can also arrange to retrieve the files from Galileo's SFTP server, or Galileo can push the files to your SFTP server. Galileo delivers the report as a fixed-width text file with the file name of the report is METRO2-[tenant]-[timestamp of creation].txt. See Galileo setup for details on how to receive the Metro 2 file.

File format

Metro 2 files contain standardized segments that capture and organize specific information for credit reporting. Galileo supports these reporting segments:

• Header record — Contains reporter identifier, creation date, and company information (name, address, and contact information).
• Base segment — Contains account details, including the account status, balance, and payment history.
• J1 segment — Contains information about the first authorized user (if applicable).
• J2 segment — Contains information about the second authorized user (if applicable).
• Trailer record — Summarizes the reported information, including the total count of segments in the file.

See Metro 2 Base segment for details on what information is provided and how each value is calculated.

Validating data

Before submitting the file to the credit bureau(s), Galileo strongly recommends that you validate the data against the Metro 2 file to ensure accuracy.

Account closure status and Metro 2 reporting

A cardholder’s secured credit account closes when they cancel their account, pay it off, or when you close it for business reasons. A cardholder’s account status at account closure may affect their credit score. This applies to both the primary cardholder and any authorized users.

Account closure statuses indicate whether the amount owed was paid and who initiated the closure (the customer or the issuer). Account closure statuses are:

• Account is unpaid, closed by the issuer, and charged off
• Account is unpaid, closed by the issuer, and is in internal collections
• Account takeover fraud, account closed by the issuer
• Account is paid and closed by the issuer due to inactivity
• Account is paid and closed at the customer’s request

Galileo will include the status in the Metro 2 file. The closure status follows a two-month reporting process:

• Month 1 — The system marks the account for closure and is reported as active in the Metro 2 file.
• Month 2 — The Metro 2 file reports the account as closed.

For developer instructions to send account closure statuses see Reporting account closure status in Developer Setup for Secured Credit.

Delinquent account closures and reporting

You may set a policy to state that, when an account is delinquent, the account is closed, and the funds from the secured credit account are used to pay the amount owed. Galileo will include the account closure in the Metro 2 file.

If the account is closed after the report is sent, Galileo will not include the account in future reports. If the customer wants to reopen the account, you must create a new account instead and Galileo will report the new account.

Bankruptcy reporting

Galileo offers a feature for bankruptcy reporting to credit bureaus. Clients can request the Bankruptcy Reporting guide for more information.

Galileo setup

• Configure billing cycles.
• Establish relationships with each of the credit bureaus to obtain a subscriber ID
• Determine your process for handling FCRA disputes

You must provide Galileo with the following required information to send the Metro 2 file: