What is a credit bureau?
A credit bureau, or credit repository, is an entity that gathers information about consumers’ credit histories. Your credit history includes information concerning your identity, your payment habits, and your public record. Credit bureaus sell credit reports to credit grantors, such as banks, finance companies, and retailers. Credit grantors use credit reports to determine whether or not a potential borrower is creditworthy. There are three major credit bureaus in the United States: Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. These three bureaus provide nationwide coverage of consumer credit information.
Credit bureaus are independent companies whose business is keeping up-to-date records on the way every individual and business in Canada manages credit. They operate under both Federal and Provincial laws that regulate how they may store and update this information. Their customers are the financial institutions and other companies that extend credit to you. Before approving you for credit, most financial institutions will want to know how well you manage credit. Rather than check with each company that has ever lent you money, they will ask one or both of Canada’s credit bureaus for a credit report.
A credit bureau is an organization that tracks the credit histories and related information of individuals. Whenever a person applies for credit, housing, employment, or anything else that their credit history could have an impact on, their potential creditor, landlord, or employer can check the information on file with the credit bureau. If the credit bureau shows less-than-satisfactory information in its report on the person, it may affect the person’s chances of receiving the credit, lease, or job. A poor credit report can also result in higher interest rates on a loan or credit card. There are three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Although the three companies share information, each credit bureau maintains its own report and credit score on each individual. When someone applies for a line of credit, housing, or employment, the creditor or employer typically looks at the report and score from each credit bureau. For this reason, if an individual i
Credit bureaus, or credit reporting agencies, are basically clearinghouses for information about consumers’ credit. When you apply for credit, they provide this information to qualified requestors. There are three main credit bureaus: Equifax®, based in Atlanta, Georgia; Experian®, based in Allen, Texas; and TransUnion®, based in Springfield, Pennsylvania.
