Metro 2 Payment History Profile Codes (Field 18)
The fifteen single characters that make up the 24-month payment grid, one character per month, most recent first.
15 codes documented · Base Segment · 24 characters at position 112–135 · CRRG Base Segment field definition, Payment History Profile
All payment history profile codes at a glance
How payment history profile codes work
The Payment History Profile is not a single code. It is a 24-character string, one character per month, and each of those characters is drawn from the fifteen values below. Position 1 is the most recent completed reporting month and position 24 is 24 months before it, so the whole field is a rolling window that shifts one place to the right every cycle. Understanding the field means understanding the string, not just the alphabet: the same character means something different at position 1 (where it must agree with the current Payment Rating) than it does at position 19 (where it is settled history that should not change from cycle to cycle).
Three structural rules govern the string, and all three are enforced as validation edits. First, position 1 must match the current Payment Rating. The profile's leading character and the Payment Rating field are two statements about the same month, so a record where they differ is self-contradicting and will be questioned. Second, the string must fill from position 1 without gaps. You start at position 1 and write leftward-to-rightward into consecutive positions; a populated character with an unpopulated one in front of it means a month vanished. For an account that has not existed for 24 months, pad the trailing positions (the months before the account was opened) with B and leave no hole in the middle. Third, the history cannot show improvement after a charge-off. Once L appears, positions further back in time may be worse or equal, but a later cycle cannot rewrite the account into a healthier state behind the charge-off.
The characters split into five families. 0 is the only healthy value. 1 through 6 are the delinquency ladder in 30-day steps, and they line up one for one with the delinquency Account Status codes: 1 with status 71, 2 with 78, 3 with 80, 4 with 82, 5 with 83, and 6 with 84. G, H, J, K and L are the terminal outcomes -- collection, completed foreclosure, voluntary surrender, repossession and charge-off -- and they line up with Account Status 93, 94, 95, 96 and 97 respectively. B and D both say there is no history for that month, but for opposite reasons, and confusing the two is one of the most common defects in this field. E says the month sat inside a dispute. Any delinquency character anywhere in the string carries a further obligation: if the account has ever gone delinquent and not cured, a Date of First Delinquency must be present on the record. A profile full of 1s, 2s and 3s with an empty Date of First Delinquency is an incomplete record, and it is the specific combination that most often turns into a downstream accuracy problem.
Two smaller points are worth stating plainly. Payment Rating publishes a shorter alphabet than the profile does: 0 through 6 plus G and L. B, D, E, H, J and K have no Payment Rating counterpart, so when position 1 carries one of those characters the position-1 rule has to be read against Account Status rather than mechanically against Payment Rating. And these fifteen characters are what a consumer eventually sees rendered as a grid of coloured boxes on a credit report, one box per month. That is a good reason to get the string right at the source: fewer disputes start when the data is right.
Current
The month was paid as agreed with no delinquency.
Early Delinquency
One or two missed cycles. Serious, but still curable without a terminal outcome.
30 Days Past Due
The account was one full billing cycle behind at the close of that month, roughly 30 to 59 days past due. It is the first rung of the delinquency ladder and the first character that triggers a Date of First Delinquency obligation.
60 Days Past Due
The account was two full billing cycles behind at the close of that month, roughly 60 to 89 days past due. It is the second rung of the ladder and normally follows a 1 in the adjacent position.
Serious Delinquency
Ninety days or more past due, the range where charge-off and collection decisions are usually made.
90 Days Past Due
The account was three full billing cycles behind at the close of that month, roughly 90 to 119 days past due. Ninety days is the threshold at which most portfolios begin making charge-off, collection, or recovery decisions.
120 Days Past Due
The account was four full billing cycles behind at the close of that month, roughly 120 to 149 days past due. Many portfolios have already made a charge-off or recovery decision by this point.
150 Days Past Due
The account was five full billing cycles behind at the close of that month, roughly 150 to 179 days past due. It is the last rung before the 180-plus catch-all.
180 Or More Days Past Due
The account was six or more full billing cycles behind at the close of that month. Unlike 1 through 5, this character is a catch-all: it covers 180 days and everything beyond.
Terminal Outcomes
The account reached collection, foreclosure, surrender, repossession, or charge-off in that month.
Collection
The account was in collection during that month. G is a terminal outcome character: it records that the debt moved into a collection posture, not simply that it was late.
Foreclosure Completed
The foreclosure process on the secured property completed in that month. H records a finished foreclosure, not a foreclosure that is under way.
Voluntary Surrender
The consumer voluntarily gave the collateral back in that month rather than having it taken. J records cooperation, but it is still a terminal negative outcome.
Repossession
The collateral securing the account was repossessed in that month. K records an involuntary recovery, as opposed to the consumer handing it back.
Charge-Off
You charged the account off in that month, writing the balance off as a loss on your own books. L is the most severe character in the set and the one the no-improvement rule is built around.
No History
No payment activity is being reported for that month, either because none exists or because the account was already paid or closed.
No Payment History Available This Month
You have no payment information to report for that month. B is a statement about your records, not about the account: the month is unknown, not clean and not late.
No Payment History: Account Paid Or Closed
There is no payment history for that month because the account was already paid off or closed. Unlike B, D explains why the month is empty.
Dispute
The month sat inside a dispute. Informational, neither better nor worse than its neighbours.
Related reading
Other Metro 2 code sets
Every CRRG code set has its own reference. The Metro 2 codes cheat sheet puts all of them on one page.
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