How GECRB Impacts Your Credit Score and What You Can Do About It

Do you know why GECRB is on your credit report? Credit use and payment history are two elements that might affect your credit score.

Obtaining a new credit card is one move that decreases your score.

General Electric Capital Retail Bank, shortened as GECRB, was the previous name for Synchrony Bank, and it’s most likely in your report because you applied for a Synchrony card in the past.

If you did not apply for one of these cards, the advice below should help you have the hard inquiry removed.

What Is GECRB?

General Electric Capital Retail Bank is abbreviated as GECRB/Care Credit.

CareCredit LLC is a financial institution that offers credit cards to purchase medical items and services, veterinary care, personal care, and cosmetics.

The company’s previous card issuer was General Electric Capital Retail Bank.

However, in 2015, GE Capital Retail Bank split from General Electric to become the independent firm Synchrony Financial (commonly abbreviated SYNCB), which now controls CareCredit and provides its cards.

While GECRB/Care Credit may have been on your credit record in the past, existing CareCredit items will display as SYNCB/Care Credit or some similar title.

CareCredit and General Electric Capital Retail Bank are both genuine businesses. If they appear on your credit report, it is likely that you have an account with them or that they examined your credit.

If you believe there is movement on your credit report under GECRB/Care Credit that should not be there, you may be the victim of identity theft.

Why Is There A GECRB Shown On Your Report?

GECRB/Care Credit might show on your credit record for various reasons, some of which are negative and some of which are not. It will likely appear even if you do not have a CareCredit credit account.

Here are some possible explanations for GECRB/Care Credit appearing on your credit report:

1. GECRB Checked Your Credit

If General Electric Capital Retail Bank did a credit check to evaluate whether or not to provide credit to you, you’d find GECRB/Care Credit on your credit report. This sort of credit check might take the form of a hard or soft inquiry.

• Hard Inquiry

Whenever you apply for a new credit line, like credit cards, store cards, or installment loans, they normally appear on your credit report. When assessing your application for a CareCredit credit card, General Electric Capital Retail Bank may have initiated a hard inquiry.

• Soft Inquiry

These appear on your credit record when someone analyses your credit, but you are not looking for new credit. Suppose you got an unsolicited offer letter in the mail for a credit card from General Electric Capital Retail Bank. In that case, they may have prompted a soft inquiry during the preapproval process.

Fortunately, soft queries do not affect your credit score. Hard inquiries often drop your credit score by several points, but the impact remains for just a year, and the query will be removed from your credit report after two years. 

It’s important to note that you can’t normally delete a hard inquiry early unless the bureau accidentally included it in your report.

2. You Have A GECRB Care Credit Account

If you presently or previously had a CareCredit credit account, GECRB/Care Credit will appear on your credit record. Even if you cancel your account, GECRB/Care Credit might remain on your credit record for seven (if the account was late due to missing payments) to ten years (if the account was in good standing).

Your CareCredit credit account may be listed as closed even if you never took any active actions to terminate it. This might happen owing to account inactivity—normal it’s for lenders to shut credit accounts that haven’t been utilized in a while.

3. You Have Been An Authorized User On Someone Else’s GECRB Account

GECRB/Care Credit might appear on your credit record if you were enrolled as an authorized user of someone else’s CareCredit credit account. You may be an authorized user on a family member, a friend, or a business partner’s account. 

If you were identified as an authorized user on someone else’s CareCredit credit account, their activity on the account might impact your credit score.

If the main cardholder is a good borrower, becoming an authorized user on their account can most likely increase your credit score by allowing you to establish a solid payment history. 

However, if the principal cardholder fails to make payments or cancels their account with outstanding debt, your credit score may suffer. Similarly, using someone else’s credit affects their credit score, so use caution while operating as an authorized user.

4. Identity Theft

If you notice a GECRB hard inquiry on the credit report but are certain you did not apply for a CareCredit credit account, this might indicate identity theft.

If you believe GECRB/Care Credit is on your credit record because someone is attempting to create accounts in your name fraudulently, follow these steps:

• You need to contact the GECRB that made the hard inquiry. Ask for the relevant details and tell them that you didn’t authorize this inquiry. 
• Inform the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about identity theft. To produce an identity theft report and recovery plan, go to www.identitytheft.gov and answer the questions.
• Place a fraud warning on your credit record with any of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion). You only need to call one of the bureaus; they’ll work with the others to ensure that your fraud notice is received by all three.

You could also wish to put your credit on hold (or get a credit lock, which is very similar). Over the next few months, keep a close eye on your credit reports for any other fraud symptoms.

Final Words

GECRB/Care Credit can show up on your credit report as a hard inquiry and an active or closed credit account that belongs to you or someone who has permitted you to use it. Your credit history and account status determine the impact of GECRB/Care Credit on your credit score.

By mailing a dispute letter to the credit bureaus and General Electric Capital Retail Bank, you can have GECRB/Care Credit removed from your credit record. You might also engage a credit repair firm.

An application for a credit card should not prevent you from getting fantastic rates on loans, mortgages, or credit cards. While one entry may significantly influence your score, you must not dismiss an unfamiliar question. If SYCNB or GECRB don’t ring any bells, you should dispute the inquiry or hire a credit repair service.