Metro 2 Payment History Profile Code G: Collection

Specification

Code	G
Meaning	Collection
Field	Payment History Profile (Field 18)
Record	Base Segment
Length / position	24 chars · 112–135
Category	Terminal Outcomes
CRRG reference	CRRG Base Segment field definition, Payment History Profile

Marks the month the account entered or remained in a collection status. It is a statement about how the debt is being handled, not just about days past due.
G and L describe different events. An account can be charged off and then placed for collection, charged off and collected internally, or placed for collection without ever being charged off. Report the character that matches what you actually did.
A collection agency or debt buyer furnishing a purchased account in its own name reports its own tradeline. The original creditor's tradeline continues to describe the original creditor's account.
Does NOT mean the debt was paid, settled, or resolved. Those outcomes are reported through Account Status and balance fields.
Does NOT mean legal action was taken. Collection is a servicing posture, not a judgment.

1A card issuer places a delinquent account with an internal recovery unit and reports G for the month of placement and the months it stays there.
2A credit union reports a deficiency balance transferred to its collections department after the collateral was liquidated.
3A debt buyer furnishes a purchased consumer account in its own name and reports G while it works the balance.
4A medical or utility furnisher reports an account referred to a third-party agency after internal attempts failed.

Report G for the month the account actually entered collection, and continue while the collection posture holds.
Do not use G as a synonym for deeply past due. An account at 180 days that you have not placed for collection is 6, not G.
Keep the Date of First Delinquency anchored to the original delinquency on the underlying account. Placement for collection does not restart the clock, and re-ageing an account by moving that date is the defect this rule exists to prevent.
Populate the K1 segment with the original creditor's name when you are furnishing a collection tradeline on someone else's original account.

A file can be structurally valid and still be wrong. These are the cross-field conditions Payment History Profile Code G has to satisfy.

Position 1 must match the current Payment Rating. G is one of the characters Payment Rating does publish, so a G in position 1 pairs with Payment Rating G (collection).
G in position 1 corresponds to Account Status 93 (account assigned to internal or external collections).
A Date of First Delinquency is required and must reflect the original delinquency on the underlying obligation, not the date of placement or purchase.
A collection tradeline furnished by an agency or debt buyer normally requires a K1 segment naming the original creditor, and a K2 segment where the account was purchased.
The no-improvement-after-charge-off rule interacts with G: if the account was charged off first, a G in a more recent position is a legitimate continuation of the negative state, but a numeric character milder than L is not.