RRevolving Credit

    Portfolio Type R: Revolving

    Portfolio Type R means "Revolving". Credit cards and similar accounts that let the consumer carry a balance from cycle to cycle against a stated limit, paying at least a calculated minimum each month. It is reported in Portfolio Type (Field 14) of the Base Segment, 1 character at position 83.

    Specification

    CodeR
    MeaningRevolving
    FieldPortfolio Type (Field 14)
    RecordBase Segment
    Length / position1 char · 8383
    CategoryRevolving Credit
    CRRG referenceCRRG Base Segment field definition, Portfolio Type

    What Portfolio Type R means

    • The defining features are a stated Credit Limit, a carried balance, and a minimum-due calculation. Repaid principal restores available credit.
    • R is where general-purpose bankcards, private-label store cards, and secured cards live. It is the portfolio type most directly consumed by scoring models, because revolving utilization is one of the heaviest-weighted inputs.
    • The line between R and C is product shape, not mechanics: R is statement-and-minimum card behaviour, C is drawn-line behaviour. Both revolve, and both compute utilization the same way.
    • R does NOT mean the consumer carries a balance. A transactor who pays in full every month is still Portfolio Type R as long as the agreement permits carrying, because it is the privilege that decides the field, not the behaviour.
    • R does NOT survive as an accurate description once an account is converted to a fixed repayment plan and the revolving privilege is permanently revoked. Follow the special-comment guidance for the plan rather than silently re-typing the tradeline.
    • R does NOT change on charge-off. A charged-off card stays R and expresses the charge-off through Account Status and Original Charge-off Amount.

    When to report R

    • 1A bankcard issuer reports a general-purpose credit card (Account Type 18) with a $12,000 limit, a carried balance, and a calculated minimum payment.
    • 2A retailer furnishes a private-label store card used for promotional financing on a revolving basis.
    • 3An issuer reports a secured card where the Credit Limit equals the consumer's deposit.
    • 4A fintech issuer furnishes a charge-free revolving card whose limit is periodically re-evaluated, and reports the current contractual limit each cycle.
    • 5A cardholder pays the statement in full every month and the account continues reporting as R with a low or zero balance and a full limit.

    Reporting rules

    • Always populate Credit Limit, every cycle. An unreported limit on a revolving card is the most consequential single omission in consumer credit reporting, because scoring models cannot compute utilization without it.
    • Report the current contractual limit, including after an increase or decrease, rather than the limit at origination.
    • Do not report available credit in the Credit Limit field. The bureau derives available credit from limit minus balance.
    • Populate Highest Credit with the highest balance the account has carried, so the tradeline still conveys scale if the limit is ever unavailable.
    • Do not populate Terms Duration with an amortization count. A revolving account has no fixed number of payments.

    Codes and fields that must agree

    A file can be structurally valid and still be wrong. These are the cross-field conditions Portfolio Type R has to satisfy.

    • Valid Account Types include 18 (credit card, bankcard) and the retail-card family. Pairing R with 00 (auto loan) or 26 (conventional real-estate mortgage) is a portfolio-type-mismatch.
    • Credit Limit is expected and non-zero. This is the field that makes R the highest-stakes portfolio type in the format.
    • Utilization is Current Balance divided by Credit Limit. Current Balance above Credit Limit is legitimate after an over-limit transaction or fee posting, but it trips balance-exceeds-limit and should be verified rather than shipped blindly.
    • Terms Frequency is M. Terms Duration is open-ended rather than a payment count; reporting 060 on a card is a terms-frequency and terms-duration contradiction.
    • Scheduled Monthly Payment is the calculated minimum and varies with the balance. It is not subject to scheduled-payment-missing-installment, which targets Portfolio Type I.
    • Highest Credit reported as zero on a card that has carried a balance trips highest-credit-zero.
    • A Fair Credit Billing Act billing-error dispute condition belongs on R and C accounts, because the FCBA governs open-end credit. The same condition on Portfolio Type I is a contradiction.
    • Date of First Delinquency must reflect the first missed minimum payment in the delinquency chain that led to charge-off, and must not be reset by a later partial payment.

    Common errors involving R

    Vocabulary

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    Source: CRRG Base Segment field definition, Portfolio Type. Last reviewed 2026-08-25.

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    Metro 2 Portfolio Type R: Revolving