Wondering why DFS/Webbank showed up on your Credit report?
Short for Dell Financial Services/Webbank, the entry is probably on your report because you applied for a Dell Preferred Account.
Most of the time, a hard Inquiry from a lender or service provider is nothing to panic over.
However, if you didn’t apply for a card, it could be due to a reporting error or signal a more serious issue like identity theft.
DFS/Webbank On My Credit Report
DFS represents one of the most popular tech companies on the market, Dell, and more specifically, its financing center.
WebBank partners with Dell Financial Services, backing their financing plans.
It also has strategic partnerships with companies like:
- Avant
- Fingerhut
- LendingClub
- PayPal
- Prosper
- Yamaha
The financial product offered by Dell and WebBank is the Dell Preferred Account., a revolving line of credit for financing Dell products.
The account offers rewards when you purchase products from Dell using the credit, along with interest-free financing on several products.
When DFS/Webbank shows up on consumer credit reports, it’s most likely because an application was submitted, leading to a hard inquiry.
If you are overwhelmed by dealing with negative entries on your credit report,
we suggest you ask a professional credit repair company for help.
Ask Lex Law for Help
How Does a DFS/Webbank Hard Inquiry Impact Your Credit Report?
When you get pre-qualified for financing from Dell or any other lender or creditor, all that’s involved is a soft inquiry.
This type of inquiry also happens when you check your score using a credit monitoring app.
It doesn’t lower your score and might not even make it onto your report.
Hard inquiries are a bit more impactful than a soft inquiry. They take place when you go beyond rate shopping and pre-approval and actually apply for a loan or card.
When you turn in an application for a card, loan, or line of credit, the lender will access one or more of your credit reports, using the information to assess whether or not you’re a dependable borrower.
The process results in an inquiry being placed on your report, which will most likely lower your score by a couple of points.
By comparison to other entries, hard inquiries have very little impact on your score, only dropping it slightly and falling off your report in two years.
While no one wants to see their score drop, hard inquiries are essential to getting loans and credit cards.
As long as your report doesn’t have tons of inquiries (which could suggest you’re financially unstable and desperate for funding), you don’t need to worry about having a few inquiries on your report.
A slew of hard inquiries can add up, so here are a couple of tips for keeping their effects at bay:
- Don’t waste your time applying for offers you aren’t likely to get. Take a look at a card or loan’s credit requirements and weigh your approval odds before applying.
- Shop for mortgages and other individual types of loans/credit within a 14-day period to avoid repeated inquiries.
How to Remove DFS/Webbank from Your Credit Report
Whether you prefer using a Mac or you’ve financed all of your Dell products on your own, if you’ve never applied for a Dell Preferred Account, it shouldn’t be on your credit report.
A hard inquiry with unknown origins could be a sign of identity theft. Or it could simply be due to a reporting mistake.
Regardless, you should get the inquiry taken off your report. Here’s how.
Go to the Source
The first place you should turn for answers is the source of the inquiry.
Try contacting Dell Financial Services or WebBank to inquire about the inquiry, letting them know about the situation.
They should provide you with details regarding the application that prompted the hard inquiry.
If there’s been a mistake, contacting Dell could help you get to the bottom of the issue.
File a Dispute with the Bureaus
Whether you suspect identity fraud or a reporting error, your next step should be to file a dispute with the bureaus.
Since lenders can obtain any one of your credit reports, make sure to check all three (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion), to see which ones have been hit with an inquiry from DFS.
From there, you need to file a dispute with each bureau displaying the hard inquiry on their report.
You can write a letter of dispute to the bureaus or submit one online. Once you submit your dispute, the bureau should open an investigation.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives bureaus 30 days to investigate. If fraud or erroneous reporting are detected, the entry will be deleted from your report.
If you fear that someone is using your identity to obtain credit, you can place a security freeze on your credit reports, along with a fraud alert, which gives a heads up to to the bureaus.
Stay Up to Date on Your Credit
You should never miss a beat when it comes to changes to your credit.
You are entitled to one free copy of your report each year at annualcreditreport.com, but you can monitor your credit daily.
Credit monitoring apps make tracking your score and new entries easy, notifying you if something gets added to your report.
They’ll regularly update your scores, too, so you never have to wonder where your credit stands.
These apps can play a critical role in stopping identity thieves from wreaking havoc on your score, as well as detecting reporting errors quickly.
If you’re looking for a more robust platform that features all three of your credit scores, there are several paid apps, but the free versions are:
- Experian Boost
- Credit Karma
- Credit Sesame
Get Help from a Credit Repair Company
Do you dread the task of filing disputes and contacting lenders about hard inquiries?
If so, you may be interested in working with a credit repair company.
These companies can take the hassle out of dealing with inaccurate inquiries, getting them removed from your reports promptly.
If you’re facing severe credit issues, a credit repair company can be a lifesaver.
They’re adept at confronting challenging credit problems like:
- Charge-offs
- Liens
- Judgments
- Repossessions
- Late payments
- Collections
- Foreclosure
- Bankruptcy
Take a look at our list of the top credit repair companies to see what each company has to offer.
