The Three Credit Reporting Agencies

A credit report is based on the customers past credit history. Credit related information sourced from credit reports is used by lenders, banks and credit card companies for assessing your credit worthiness. A report is formulated which is used in reviewing future applications for loan, insurance or even for renting and recruiting people. The Three Credit Reporting agencies are owned by shareholders and are profit oriented. The government is not related and neither does it fund these agencies.

The three major credit-reporting agencies are

Equifax

Price for an Equifax credit report is approximately $9. Information that can be viewed from credit reports prepared by Equifax includes all kind of accounts like the open, closed installment mortgage and other accounts. In addition, the accounts in good or negative standing plus the negative account history are included. Equifax, a company of the same name carries out ferreting and compilation of these credit reports. Bases in Atlanta, Georgia, information can be sorted online within 30 days, but the report for that time-span is not updated.

Experian or TRW

The Experian credit manager keeps a constant vigil on the account, and gives you prior intimation of any suspected fraud. The new accounts and inquiries made, or late payments done are updated in the report.

TransUnion

Information that can be viewed from credit reports prepared by TransUnion includes

• Personal information – name, current address, social security number, race, origin, gender etc
• Credit History- past ten years history of company loans, mortgages, credit cards, etc is needed for the creditors to have an idea of the customers credit history.
• Public Records- this includes bankruptcies, tax liens and court judgments. A negative marking would question your eligibility for a credit in future.
• Inquiries – names of all the parties who request for a credit report is included and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) protects the same. Done on a periodic basis, the promotional and account management inquiries don not appear on the business version of the credit reports, neither are they counted as official. Vendors querying the data to approach potential customers with credit or insurance offer.

3-in-1 Credit reports

Consists of information from all three-credit reports, with a detailed explanation.

National lending institutions report to all three-report agencies, whereas retail lenders or small banks report to only one. The reports from the agencies may not be the same.

Customers are recommended to check their credit reports at least twice a year. Since, the three credit reports may differ in information, it is suggested to check all three agencies. Rampant security blunders like identity theft can be detected by simply keeping a check on these credit reports.