Credit bureaus
Quick insights
- Credit bureaus collect and maintain your borrowing and repayment history for credit reports and scores.
- There are three major national credit bureaus: Experian™, Equifax® and TransUnion®.
- Each bureau may have different information, which may make it challenging to manage credit and correct errors.
Where the information on your credit report comes from and how it’s maintained
Credit bureaus are the companies that house your credit records. While you may have heard of them before, do you really know what they do or how they report your information to lenders? Learn more about the role that credit bureaus play in keeping track of your credit history.
What credit bureaus do
A credit bureau gathers information about your accounts with creditors. It also keeps a record of whether you have made payments on time. This information goes into creating both your credit report and your credit score.
While your credit report is a detailed record of your borrowing and payment history, your score is a three-digit number that a lender uses to help determine how likely you are to fulfill financial obligations. Lenders and creditors may review your credit score when you apply for a home loan, credit card, apartment or job.
Each credit bureau maintains its own independent record and regularly updates your files with any new information it receives.
Who the credit bureaus are
Credit bureaus were once primarily local, serving banks and other lenders in individual communities. As credit reporting and record keeping became more digital, these small credit bureaus consolidated into regional and then national companies.
Today, there are three national credit bureaus that collect your financial information: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. However, some smaller credit bureaus remain, covering certain parts of the country or offering supplementary reports.
You are legally entitled to get a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the three major credit bureaus. You can request these official reports online through Annual Credit Report.
Having three national credit bureaus means that no single company records your credit history. However, this can make managing your credit history more complicated. A credit report issued from one bureau may look slightly different from a report compiled by another bureau. If you ever need to correct information on your report or follow up on suspected identity theft, you may need to work with each of the three bureaus separately.
How the bureaus report their information
Each credit bureau may report slightly different information about your credit history. That’s because:
- Lenders and creditors don’t always report information to each credit bureau.
- Lenders and creditors report information at different times, so one bureau might have more up-to-date information.
- One bureau’s report could include an error like a missing account.
Your potential lender, employer, landlord or other creditor may decide which credit report they’d like to review. The level of financial responsibility your report depicts may be different depending on the bureau.
In summary
Credit bureaus are the companies that produce your credit reports. These companies collect information about your borrowing and repayment history from creditors and public records. The information creates your credit report and is used to help calculate a credit score. Lenders use both to determine how likely you are to fulfill financial obligations.
Having three credit bureaus means that no single company is in control of your credit history. However, it can also make managing your credit more complicated if you ever need to correct errors on your credit report or follow up on suspected fraud.
