Denied credit over a Pinwheel income report?

Who Pinwheel is and who relies on its reports

Pinwheel is a New York financial technology company whose software connects to payroll platforms. It offers tools for direct deposit switching, bill switching, tax form retrieval, and identity and income verification. The CFPB’s list of consumer reporting companies says Pinwheel collects consumer-permissioned income and employment data for banks, lenders and credit unions.

Here is how it usually works. You apply for a loan, credit card or account, and the lender asks you to log into your payroll provider through Pinwheel. Pinwheel pulls your pay and job data and the lender uses it to decide whether to approve you and on what terms. Pinwheel says the information it shares with a lender for a credit decision comes from that payroll login.

Pinwheel’s legal paperwork shows several entities. Its terms name Underdog Technologies Inc., doing business as Pinwheel, and name Pinwheel CRA Co. as a consumer reporting agency that may use linked account information to help third parties evaluate your eligibility for credit, insurance, employment or other purposes. A related entity, Pinwheel Furnisher Co., may report account information to Pinwheel CRA Co. If you bring a claim, a lawyer can sort out which entity to name.

Errors that show up on Pinwheel reports

Pulling data straight from payroll sounds error-proof, but the report still depends on how the data is read, matched and summarized:

• Income too low. Net pay treated as gross pay, or a pay rate read wrong.
• Missing pay periods. Gaps that make your income look smaller or irregular.
• Wrong employer. A past job shown as current, or the wrong employer named.
• Wrong dates or status. A start date or employment status that doesn’t match your records.
• Wrong account. Data from a different payroll account, or another person’s account, tied to you.
• Stale data. Old pay presented as your current income.

How to dispute Pinwheel

1. Find out who checked. If a lender turned you down, its adverse action notice should name the reporting company. If you linked your payroll account through Pinwheel, that is a strong sign Pinwheel supplied the data.
2. Request your report. Complete Pinwheel’s Consumer Report Request Form and submit it through its secure portal. You can ask for the information Pinwheel shared with your lender. You can also email [email protected], the address on the CFPB’s listing.
3. Find your Consumer ID. Pinwheel’s dispute form asks for the consumer ID number printed in the footer of your consumer report.
4. File a written dispute. Use Pinwheel’s dispute form. Pinwheel says a dispute must be in writing and include your full name, SSN, address, email, phone number, the financial institution connected to Pinwheel, your consumer ID, and a description of the specific inaccurate information.
5. Attach proof from your payroll platform. Pinwheel asks for supporting documents downloaded directly from your payroll platform, such as pay stubs. A W-2 or offer letter can help too.
6. Or mail it. Pinwheel’s dispute page lists Pinwheel, 36 E 12th St., Floor 2, New York, NY 10003. Use a method you can track.
7. Tell your lender. Let the lender know you have disputed and ask it to reconsider.
8. Track the 30 days. A consumer reporting agency generally must complete its reinvestigation within 30 days of receiving your dispute (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)).

How to contact Pinwheel

• Report request form: pinwheelapi.com/fcra/consumer-request-form
• Dispute form: pinwheelapi.com/about/fcra/dispute-form
• Email: [email protected] (CFPB listing)
• Mail (Pinwheel’s dispute page): Pinwheel, 36 E 12th St., Floor 2, New York, NY 10003
• Mail (CFPB listing): Pinwheel, 20 W 22nd Street, Suite 1101, New York, NY 10010
• Phone: neither Pinwheel’s consumer pages nor the CFPB listing gives a consumer phone number

Your rights under the FCRA

• Accuracy (15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)). A consumer reporting agency must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the income and employment data it reports.
• Reinvestigation (§ 1681i). After a dispute, it must reasonably reinvestigate free of charge and correct or delete information that is inaccurate, incomplete or cannot be verified. Pinwheel’s terms say that if it disagrees with a dispute, it will explain how to submit a statement of your position for your record.
• File disclosure (§ 1681g). You may see the information in your file and who has received it.
• Free report after a denial (§ 1681j). You are entitled to a free copy within 60 days after an adverse action notice.
• Adverse action notice (§ 1681m). A lender that turns you down or offers worse terms based on a report must name the company and tell you about your right to a free copy and to dispute.

Can you sue Pinwheel?

Yes, when the facts support a claim. The FCRA lets you sue a consumer reporting agency that reports inaccurate information without reasonable procedures to assure accuracy (§ 1681e(b)), or that fails to reasonably reinvestigate after you dispute (§ 1681i). A company that furnishes data to a consumer reporting agency also has duties to investigate disputes it receives from the agency (§ 1681s-2(b)). The strongest cases usually involve a dispute with clear payroll proof that was not fixed, and a real loss tied to the bad data.

For a negligent violation, you may recover your actual damages, such as a denied loan, a higher rate, and emotional distress, plus attorney’s fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1681o). For a willful violation, you may recover actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages, and fees and costs (§ 1681n). A lawsuit generally must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and no later than five years after it occurred (§ 1681p).

Get a free case review

If a Pinwheel report got your income or job wrong and it was not corrected, save the denial, the notice, the report and your dispute, and act before the deadline. FCRA Attorneys takes these cases on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win. FCRA Attorneys has offices in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, and files FCRA cases in federal court nationwide, directly or with local counsel. Contact us for a free case review, or read about our FCRA practice and the other companies we cover.

Questions about suing Pinwheel

Can I sue Pinwheel?

Yes, if the facts support a claim. The CFPB lists Pinwheel as a consumer reporting company, and Pinwheel's terms describe an affiliate, Pinwheel CRA Co., as a consumer reporting agency. If a Pinwheel report contains inaccurate income or employment data that it fails to reasonably reinvestigate after your dispute, or that it reported without reasonable procedures, you may have a claim under the FCRA.

Why does Pinwheel have my data if I never signed up?

Usually because a bank, lender or credit union asked you to log into your payroll account through Pinwheel during an application. Pinwheel says the information it shares with the lender comes from that login.

How do I see what Pinwheel sent my lender?

Pinwheel's consumer request page says you can request the information shared with your lender by completing its Consumer Report Request Form and submitting it through its secure portal. The CFPB adds that you can review and dispute your data in the Pinwheel portal.

What does it cost to bring a case?

There is no fee unless we win. FCRA Attorneys handles these cases on contingency, and the FCRA lets a successful consumer recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the company.

Sources

• CFPB consumer reporting companies list: Pinwheel (consumer-permissioned income and employment data for banks, lenders and credit unions; [email protected]; 20 W 22nd Street, Suite 1101, New York, NY 10010)
• Pinwheel: FCRA consumer report request form (request the information shared with your lender)
• Pinwheel: FCRA dispute form (written dispute requirements; Pinwheel, 36 E 12th St., Floor 2, New York, NY 10003)
• Pinwheel: terms and privacy (Underdog Technologies Inc. d/b/a Pinwheel; Pinwheel Furnisher Co.; Pinwheel CRA Co. as consumer reporting agency; dispute handling)

Updated November 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.