Upgrade Inc is a financial technology company that offers personal loans, credit cards, buy-now-pay-later financing, and banking products. If you see “Upgrade Inc” on your credit report, it means you either applied for one of their products, currently hold an account with them, or someone opened an account using your information. The entry could appear as a hard inquiry, an open tradeline, or a closed account depending on your history with the company.
What Upgrade Inc Offers
Upgrade operates as an online lending platform rather than a traditional bank. Its products are issued through partner banks, primarily Cross River Bank and The Bancorp Bank. You may have encountered Upgrade through any of these products:
- Personal loans with APRs ranging from 7.74% to 35.99% and origination fees between 1.85% and 9.99%, which are deducted from loan proceeds before you receive funds
- Credit cards including the Upgrade Cash Rewards and Upgrade Select cards, which combine credit card features with personal loan repayment structures
- Flex Pay, a buy-now-pay-later product for travel purchases with APRs from 0% to 36%
- Checking and savings accounts and cash advance products through their Boost Money line
Because Upgrade’s bank partners technically issue the loans and cards, you might also see “Cross River Bank” or “The Bancorp Bank” on your credit report alongside or instead of the Upgrade name. These all point back to the same company.
How Upgrade Appears on Your Report
Upgrade can show up in two distinct sections of your credit report, and it matters which one you’re looking at.
As an Inquiry
If you applied for an Upgrade loan or credit card, a hard inquiry will appear in the inquiries section. This means Upgrade pulled your full credit file to evaluate your application. Hard inquiries stay on your report for up to 24 months and typically lower your score by only a few points, with the effect fading over the first several months. If you only checked your rate without submitting a formal application, Upgrade uses a soft inquiry, which is visible only to you and has no impact on your score.
As a Tradeline
If you were approved and opened an account, Upgrade reports it as a tradeline (an active or closed account) in the accounts section of your report. This will show the type of account, your credit limit or original loan amount, your current balance, payment history, and account status. A personal loan typically shows as an installment account, while a credit card or personal credit line shows as revolving credit. Even after you pay off and close the account, the tradeline can remain on your report for up to ten years if the account was in good standing.
If You Don’t Recognize the Entry
Seeing “Upgrade Inc” and not remembering ever using them is more common than you might think. A few explanations worth considering before assuming fraud: you may have applied through a loan comparison site that routed your application to Upgrade, you may have used their Flex Pay product at checkout without registering the company name, or a soft inquiry may have appeared from a pre-approved credit offer you never acted on. Soft inquiries from pre-approval screenings show up only on the version of your report that you pull yourself.
If none of those explanations fit and you believe the entry is genuinely unauthorized, you have two paths to resolve it, and you should pursue both.
Dispute With the Credit Bureaus
Start by filing a dispute with whichever bureau’s report shows the entry. You can dispute online, by phone, or by mail with Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. If you go the mail route, include your full name, address, phone number, the account number in question, a clear explanation of why you’re disputing it, and copies of any supporting documents. Send the letter by certified mail with a return receipt so you have proof it was received.
Dispute With Upgrade Directly
You can also send a written dispute to Upgrade as the “furnisher,” the company that reported the information to the bureau. Use the address listed on your credit report for the account, or look for a dispute-specific address on Upgrade’s website. Send this by certified mail as well. Once Upgrade receives your dispute, they generally have 30 days to investigate and respond.
If the entry turns out to be fraudulent, place a fraud alert or credit freeze with all three bureaus to prevent additional unauthorized accounts. You can also file an identity theft report at IdentityTheft.gov, which creates documentation that strengthens your disputes.
Impact on Your Credit Score
How an Upgrade tradeline affects your score depends entirely on how the account has been managed. An installment loan with consistent on-time payments helps build a positive payment history, which is the single largest factor in your score. A credit card or credit line affects your credit utilization ratio, meaning carrying a high balance relative to your limit can drag your score down even if you’re paying on time.
Late payments reported by Upgrade are more damaging. A single payment reported 30 or more days late can drop your score significantly, and the later it gets (60, 90, 120 days), the worse the impact. If a loan went to collections or was charged off, that negative mark stays on your report for seven years from the date of the first missed payment that led to the delinquency.
If you’re actively paying on an Upgrade loan or card, keeping payments on time and balances low relative to your limit is the simplest way to make sure the account works in your favor rather than against it.