Looking at applying for a US Bank card, so I'm considering the old advice of freezing my ID Analtyics and ARS reports to maybe make getting the card a little easier.

googling, I found some interesting info about ARS: http://creditboards.com/forums/index...wtopic=499219#

Apparently, ARS just keeps up with what you do with your Visa and MasterCard cards. And not having anything major on my reports like a BK or even any late payments, I don't know how that could hurt me. Allowing US Bank to gather extra information could maybe even help me?

But, I have no idea what IDA gathers up. Does anybody know anything about what this company gathers? All I know about them is they were fairly recently bought by Lifelock

My rudimentary understanding is that they keep track of the number of CC apps per household, which some banks, likeUS BAnk use in determining your credit worthiness. There is some information in the Club Carlson CC thread on this.

IDA is a credit reporting agency just like the big three subject to the dame consumer dispute regulations for instance Many lenders send the same data to Ida as to the big three. IDA has a lot of data. Some lenders send all their application data and approvals and declines as well as transaction data that can be used for fraud scores FICO does not provide a score to IDA for instance as they do to the big three. They started out with telco data and fraud/identity verification, but as their data base grew they were are able to provide other services as well, like how much of a deposit should be charged to a mobile user. . They have fraud and credit scores they have developed both custom and generic. They were a small company out of San Diego and as you mention we're bought a couple of years ago y lifelong when the owner was ready to cash out.

They also provide demographic information. They got some info correct on my demographics.

You can find an article in the NYT or WSJ where the CEO said he was going to make it easier for people to get a copy of the report.

My report showed what computer IP address I used for some credit applications and also the email address which is not in your standard big three credit reports. I could see how this could be used as a fraud prevention tool if a card issuer kept track of IP addresses.

Just FYI, requirements for freezing IDA and ARS vary by state, so give them a call to check the requirements. In my state (HI) IDA can only be frozen by written request sent via certified mail.

These are pretty easy to freeze. They require a copy of your license, etc. Doesn't cost anything.

I was denied based on my IDA / ARS reports. Significant other froze before applying and got instant approval. If you freeze and are still denied you can bet you would have been denied regardless.

US Bank is very sensitive. Make it your first AP, and only if you stand a good chance of approval. Don't make any other APs until it is approved. US Bank frequently defers and downgrades.

When I started this thread, I was thinking about not freezing these reports before doing my US Bank Club Carlson card applications. Because, all the information on my credit reports is good! How could more information about my credit be bad?

But as was explained to me in another thread, this is computers processing our credit reports and not humans. All the available data we have says that all US Bank uses the credit reports for is looking for information that slows down approval. E.g., they are only looking at these reports to see if there's anything negative on there. We don't know that they're looking to see if there's anything to improve your chances of getting the card. But we do have data that says they're looking on those reports to deny you credit. So the people I'm helping with credit cards amongst my family/friends, I'm recommending they freeze them.