Elan Financial on Your Credit Report: What You Need to Know

Elan Financial Services is a company that works with banks and credit unions to issue credit cards.

You can’t apply for a credit card directly with Elan Financial Services — it works with banks and credit unions so that these financial institutions don’t have to build credit card programs from scratch.

If you’re seeing Elan Financial Services show up on your credit reports, you may have applied for a credit card from one of the financial institutions that partners with it. Read on to learn more.

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• Why is Elan Financial Services on my credit report?
• What credit cards are offered by Elan Financial Services?
• Next steps: What to do if there’s an account you don’t recognize on your credit reports

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Why is Elan Financial Services on my credit report?

There are a few areas of your credit report where you might see Elan Financial Services — here’s why.

Hard or soft inquiries

Hard inquiry: If you applied for a credit card from your bank or credit union and have a hard inquiry on your credit reports from Elan Financial Services, it’s possible the card actually is offered by Elan Financial Services on behalf of the bank or credit union you applied through.

In that case, Elan Financial Services would likely have done a hard pull on your reports to check your credit when evaluating your application to decide whether to lend to you. A hard inquiry can have a small negative impact on your credit scores and can show up on your credit reports for up to two years.

Soft inquiry: If you applied to prequalify for a credit card from one of the banks or credit unions that works with Elan Financial Services, you could also see a soft inquiry from the company on your reports. A soft inquiry doesn’t affect your credit scores.

Unauthorized hard inquiry: If you didn’t apply for a credit card provided by Elan Financial Services and you have a hard inquiry from this company on your reports, it’s possible that you’re facing a case of identity theft. Learn more about what to do if you spot an unauthorized hard inquiry.

Authorized users

Another way Elan Financial Services could end up on your credit reports is if you were added as an authorized user to someone else’s credit card account.

A big potential benefit of being added as an authorized user is that the account might show up on your credit reports and you will get the benefit of that account activity, without being responsible for the credit card bill.

But on the flip side, the primary accountholder’s actions with the account can affect your credit negatively as well. For example, if they were to miss a payment, that could hurt your credit.

If you were mistakenly added as an authorized user, you should be able to call the credit card issuer to ask it to remove you as an authorized user. Once you’re removed and the issuer has reported the change to the credit bureaus, you shouldn’t see the account listed anymore. If it’s still there, you can dispute the inaccuracy with each bureau.

How to read a credit report

Active or closed accounts

Elan Financial Services could also appear on your credit reports in the accounts section. If you’ve been checking your credit reports regularly, don’t have any new credit cards and still don’t recognize an account, there’s a chance that one of your existing accounts was purchased by another bank or company. In that case, the creditor listed for the account would’ve been updated to the new company.

If you’ve done some digging and you still don’t recognize the account, it’s possible that someone fraudulently used your identity to apply. Learn more about steps to take after identity theft.

What credit cards are offered by Elan Financial Services?

Elan Financial Services provides credit card programs for 1,400 banks and other financial institutions, such as …

• Fidelity (Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card)
• Envision Bank
• First Financial Northwest Bank
• Country Club Bank
• Busey Bank
• Highland Bank
• Chevron Federal Credit Union
• Banner Federal Credit Union
• MIT Federal Credit Union
• NRL Federal Credit Union

To figure out if your credit card was issued by Elan Financial Services on behalf of the bank or credit union where you applied for it, check out the card’s terms and conditions. Look for a line that says something like, “The creditor and issuer of these Cards is Elan Financial Services.”

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Next steps: What to do if there’s an account you don’t recognize on your credit reports

If you’ve researched your accounts to make sure they’re not provided by Elan Financial Services in partnership with your credit union or bank and still don’t recognize a hard inquiry or an account on your credit reports, your identity might have been stolen. Learn more about what to do if you suspect that’s the case.

It’s a good idea to regularly check your credit reports — you can access free credit reports on annualcreditreport.com, and you can also check your free credit reports from TransUnion and Equifax on Credit Karma. Learn more about how to protect yourself from identity theft.