Sterling State Bank on Your Credit Report
In short: Sterling State Bank is a state-chartered bank that is not a member of the Federal Reserve System, supervised by the FDIC and its state regulator headquartered in Austin, Minnesota. The charter behind FDIC certificate 17863 dates to May 1, 1958 — a twentieth-century charter, old enough that legacy account data has been migrated at least once. As of the 06/30/2026 call report, Sterling State Bank held $462 million in assets and operated 6 FDIC-reported offices. As the originating lender, Sterling State Bank furnishes the tradeline itself — meaning a §623 dispute reaches the party holding the underlying paperwork, and a §611 dispute runs in parallel through the bureaus. Information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable can be disputed under the FCRA. Outcomes depend on what the furnisher can verify, and results vary.
Who Sterling State Bank actually is
Charter details above are from the FDIC BankFind public database.
What makes this creditor different
Sterling State Bank carries FDIC certificate 17863, operates 6 FDIC-reported offices and reported $462 million in assets on its most recent call report in Austin, Minnesota.
How Sterling State Bank appears on your credit report
Sterling State Bank furnishes this tradeline directly rather than acquiring it, so the underlying documentation sits with the bank itself. Chartered in Minnesota and operating 6 FDIC-reported offices, Sterling State Bank handles disputes against its own records. Put the dispute in writing, identify the exact field you say is wrong, and open the §611 bureau route at the same time. No outcome is promised — what happens depends on the underlying documentation.
Names it may report under
Products that commonly show up
- ◆Personal and installment credit booked through its 6 Minnesota locations
- ◆Real-estate secured credit written in its Minnesota footprint
- ◆Charged-off deposit-account balances passed to a third-party collector
Grounds to dispute a Sterling State Bank entry
Each of these is a reason a Sterling State Bank tradeline may be inaccurate or unverifiable. None of them assures removal — they are the angles worth checking on your own report.
- ◆In-branch payment in Austin posted to the wrong account and reported as missed
- ◆Paid-in-full account still reporting an outstanding balance from Sterling State Bank
- ◆Two tradelines for one Sterling State Bank account after a core-system change
- ◆Account balance or credit limit reported incorrectly
- ◆Payment reported late when it was made inside the grace period
- ◆Date of first delinquency re-aged to extend how long it can report
- ◆Account still reporting as open after it was closed, or vice versa
- ◆Duplicate tradeline for the same account after an internal transfer
- ◆Account belongs to someone else with a similar name, or is the result of identity theft
Disputing an original creditor is not the same as disputing a collector
Sterling State Bank is an original creditor — the institution whose name was on the account when it was opened. That matters for two reasons. First, the FDCPA, which governs debt collectors, generally does not apply to a creditor collecting its own debt in its own name, so the “debt validation” request that works against a collection agency is not the right tool here. Second, as the furnisher of the tradeline, Sterling State Bank has direct obligations under FCRA §623 to investigate a dispute you send it and to correct or delete information it cannot verify as accurate.
Dispute with the bureaus — FCRA §611
File with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. They must generally investigate within 30 days and tell the furnisher. Free, and you can do it yourself.
Dispute with the furnisher — FCRA §623
Send Sterling State Bank a direct written dispute. It must investigate and must not continue reporting information it knows is inaccurate. Keep copies and proof of delivery.
Sterling State Bank questions, answered
Is Sterling State Bank FDIC-insured, and what is its certificate number?
Yes — deposits are FDIC-insured under certificate 17863. That record lists Sterling State Bank as a state-chartered bank that is not a member of the Federal Reserve System, supervised by the FDIC and its state regulator headquartered in Austin, MN, chartered May 1, 1958, with $462 million in assets across 6 FDIC-reported offices on the 06/30/2026 call report.
Who regulates Sterling State Bank, and where do I escalate if a dispute fails?
As a state-chartered bank that is not a member of the Federal Reserve System, supervised by the FDIC and its state regulator, Sterling State Bank answers primarily to that regulator. Where a §611 and a §623 dispute both come back "verified" against documentation you hold, escalate to the CFPB, and note that FCRA §§616–617 create a private right of action. You do not need to hire anyone to take either step.
How many credit-card complaints does the CFPB show against Sterling State Bank?
No number is published here. When we queried the CFPB credit-card complaint data, no company key matched Sterling State Bank exactly, and we will not approximate one by partial-name matching — that routinely pulls in unrelated companies with similar names. Rather than imply a count we cannot source, we leave it out. The database is public and searchable at consumerfinance.gov.
How long can a Sterling State Bank charge-off stay on my credit report?
The FCRA ceiling is roughly seven years measured from the date of first delinquency on the Sterling State Bank account. Charging the balance off, selling it, or transferring it to a servicer does not restart that clock. If the date of first delinquency moves forward, that is re-aging, and it is itself an FCRA violation worth disputing.
What is the difference between disputing with Sterling State Bank and disputing with a collector?
Sterling State Bank is the original creditor and holds the underlying file — application, statements, posting history. A collector typically receives a data file, not the original paperwork. Disputing directly with Sterling State Bank under §623 puts the question to the party that can actually check it against source documents.
Does Sterling State Bank report to all three credit bureaus?
There is no legal requirement to furnish to every bureau, and a bank operating 6 offices often does not. Pull all three files and compare them. With Sterling State Bank, a balance that differs between bureaus usually reflects different refresh dates; an account status or date of first delinquency that differs is the real signal worth disputing.
Sterling State Bank changed names or was acquired — why does my report show two accounts?
One account showing twice is a classic conversion artifact. Sterling State Bank has operated since 1958, and a charter of that age has usually been through at least one core-system migration. An account may legitimately appear under a predecessor name, but the same debt must not report twice with two balances. Dispute the duplicate and name both tradelines explicitly.
Can I dispute a Sterling State Bank account myself without paying anyone?
Yes. Both the §611 bureau dispute and the §623 direct dispute to Sterling State Bank are free and available to you directly. No company can do anything for you that you cannot do yourself, and nobody can lawfully promise you a specific result. Anything accurate and timely stays on the report.
Where is Sterling State Bank headquartered, and does that affect my dispute?
Sterling State Bank is headquartered in Austin, Minnesota, with 6 FDIC-reported offices. Headquarters does not change your federal rights — the FCRA applies identically everywhere — but it does tell you which state banking regulator shares oversight, which matters if you escalate past the CFPB.
Other creditors on credit reports
This page is general information about consumer rights, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Crowned Credit is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Sterling State Bank; company names are used only to identify the institution a consumer may see on a credit report. Crowned Credit does not promise any particular outcome; results vary by individual circumstances and by what a furnisher is able to verify. Accurate, verifiable information generally cannot be removed from a credit report. You have the right to dispute inaccurate information yourself, for free, directly with the credit bureaus and with the furnisher.
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