What Is WFDS and Why Is It On My Credit Report?

Spotting an unfamiliar acronym on your credit report may feel disconcerting — especially if you have no idea where it came from. So if you pulled your report to find something called “WFDS” on it, you may be wondering what that is all about and how to get rid of it.

In this guide, we explain what WFDS is, how it ended up on your credit report, how this mark affects you and how to remove a credit inquiry from your report.

What is WFDS on my credit report?

WFDS stands for Wells Fargo Dealer Services, which is the bank’s auto financing division. The financial institution has nearly 11,000 auto dealerships within its network across the nation, which means if you are seeing this on your report, you likely received auto loan financial services from Wells Fargo, cosigned for one or recently applied for one.^[1]

How can WFDS affect your credit score?

When you apply for an auto loan through Wells Fargo, they run a credit check to determine your eligibility for the loan. This results in a hard inquiry that will temporarily impact your credit score (unlike soft inquiries, which don’t). If you missed a payment on a WFDS loan or the loan was charged off, this may also affect your credit score. Missed payments and delinquent accounts impact your credit score more than a hard inquiry, as payment history makes up 35% of your FICO® score.^[2][3]

Why does WFDS appear on your credit report?

WFDS might appear on your credit report for a few different reasons, including:

1. Your auto loan was issued through Wells Fargo Dealer Services

If you recently applied for an auto loan, the lender may have issued it through Wells Fargo, which is what is causing it to appear on your credit report. Even if you were denied the loan, the hard inquiry from the credit check would still appear on your report.^[1]

2. You cosigned with a family member that has an auto loan issued through Wells Fargo

If you agreed to cosign on an auto loan with a family member, that may have been a Wells Fargo Dealer Services loan and would appear on your credit report as such. When you cosign on car loans, even if they’re for someone else, the account appears on both individuals’ credit reports.^[4]

3. It’s an error or you’ve been a victim of identity theft

If none of the above three situations apply to you, then you may have been a victim of identity theft. It’s also possible that this is a simple error on your credit report. In any case, you can correct the record to keep it from impacting your credit.

Contact the nationwide credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — and place a fraud alert or security freeze on your credit report. You have the right to request that they block or remove any debts on your report that are fraudulent.^[5][6]

How to remove WFDS from my credit report

Although you have a few ways to remove WFDS from your credit report, your options are limited if the information is accurate. According to the Federal Trade Commission, credit agencies can report accurate negative information — bankruptcies can be reported for 10 years and most other negative information for 7 years.^[7]

Contact Wells Fargo Dealer Services

If you believe the information is inaccurate, contact Wells Fargo Dealer Services directly. Ask for details to see what information they have that shows you are involved or have been involved with their auto loan services.^[8]

Contact information:

• Website: https://www.wellsfargo.com/auto-loans/
• Phone number: 1-800-289-8004
• Mailing address: PO Box 71092, Charlotte, NC 28272

If inaccurate, send a dispute letter

If Wells Fargo is unable to verify that the information on your report is accurate, submit a dispute letter to Wells Fargo and the credit bureaus that this information has been reported to. You can send this letter by mail using the form letters that each credit bureau provides for disputes.^[9]

Monitor your credit

Surprises can show up on your report, and you don’t want that surprise when you go to apply for a loan, a credit card or other lines of credit. Be proactive with credit monitoring so you can keep errors off your report. Getting a credit report is an important first step. You are entitled to one free credit report from each bureau each year, which you can access at AnnualCreditReport.com; check out a credit report example to see what it should look like.

Disclaimer: FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Issac Corporation in the United States and other countries.

Sources:

1. Wells Fargo. "Auto Loans," https://www.wellsfargo.com/auto-loans. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
2. MyFICO. "Credit Checks: What are credit inquiries and how do they affect your FICO® Score?" https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/credit-reports/credit-checks-and-inquiries. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
3. MyFICO. "What is Payment History?" https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores/payment-history. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
4. Experian. "How Cosigning an Auto Loan Affects Your Credit," https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/how-cosigning-affects-credit. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
5. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "What do I do if I’ve been a victim of identity theft?" https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-do-i-do-if-i-think-i-have-been-a-victim-of-identity-theft-en-31. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
6. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "How do I dispute an error on my credit report?" https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-dispute-an-error-on-my-credit-report-en-314. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
7. Federal Trade Commission. “Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports,” https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/disputing-errors-your-credit-reports#right. Accessed August 22, 2022.
8. Experian. "What Should I Do if I Don’t Recognize a Creditor on My Credit Report?" https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/what-should-i-do-if-i-dont-recognize-creditor-credit-report. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.
9. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "Credit report dispute," https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/092016_cfpb__CreditReportingSampleLetter.pdf. Accessed Aug. 19, 2022.

About the author

Ana Gonzalez-Ribeiro, MBA, AFC® is an Accredited Financial Counselor® and a Bilingual Personal Finance Writer and Educator dedicated to helping populations that need financial literacy and counseling. Her informative articles have been published in various news outlets and websites including Huffington Post, Fidelity, Fox Business News, MSN and Yahoo Finance. She also founded the personal financial and motivational site www.AcetheJourney.com and translated into Spanish the book, Financial Advice for Blue Collar America by Kathryn B. Hauer, CFP. Ana teaches Spanish or English personal finance courses on behalf of the W!SE (Working In Support of Education) program has taught workshops for nonprofits in NYC.

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