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Credit Advice
Topics addressed on April 13, 2011:
“Overdraft/reserved checking account” is a collection account
Dear Experian,
I work in my company’s Human Resources department, and our consumer reporting agency uses Experian to obtain credit reports. We have recently seen the term "Overdraft/Reserve Checking Account" on credit reports and are not familiar with what that means. Our consumer reporting agency told us to contact you. We only see it when the account is not in good standing.
- EGR
Dear EGR,
The term “Overdraft/Reserve Checking Account” applies to a collection account resulting from an overdrawn checking account.
When a person overdraws their checking account — bounces a check — the person must repay the overdrawn amount and any fees the bank may assess for passing an insufficient funds check.
If unpaid, the amount becomes a debt owed to the bank, and the bank my turn it over to a collection agency to recover the amount owed. At that point, the collection account may be reported to a credit reporting company and may have the statement “Overdraft/Reserve Checking Account” associated with it, describing the origin of the collection account.
Thanks for asking.
- The "Ask Experian" team