Metro 2 ECOA code W: business or commercial
The account is business or commercial credit rather than consumer credit. The code marks the whole record as business lending, which helps explain why a business loan or card might appear on a personal report. Whether a business account reports to your personal file at all depends on the lender and on what you signed.
How it shows on your report
Varies. Many business accounts never appear on a personal report at all.
How it affects your score
Depends on whether the account reports to your personal file and how the scoring model treats it.
What to check
If a business account appears on your personal report, check whether you signed a personal guarantee. If you didn't, ask the lender why it reports to your personal file. If you did, its lates can affect you like any other account.
If this code is wrong on your report
- Metro 2 explained: the data format behind your credit reportHow lenders send coded data to the bureaus, and how disputes travel back to them.
- How to dispute a credit report error, step by stepA step-by-step guide to disputing credit report errors with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion: online vs. mail, what to include, and how to keep proof.
- Letter builderWrite dispute, goodwill, validation and identity theft letters. Free, printed by you, sent by you.
Sources
- ECOA codes (Genesys Latitude documentation)
- What is an ECOA code on a credit report? (Chase)
- Metro 2 ECOA Codes (Bureau Relay reference)
- Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) codes (Finvi documentation)
These explanations are ScoreTuner's plain-English summaries. The official specification is the CDIA Credit Reporting Resource Guide, which is copyrighted and not reproduced here. This is education, not legal advice.