What is a credit reporting agency?
A company that gathers and sells financial history information information on where you work and live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy is called a credit reporting agency (consumer reporting agency, or CRA). The most common type of CRA is the credit bureau.
A company that gathers and sells financial history information — information on where you work and live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy — is called a credit reporting agency (consumer reporting agency, or CRA). The most common type of CRA is the credit bureau.
A company that gathers and sells financial history information information on where you work and live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy is called a credit reporting agency (consumer reporting agency, or CRA). The most common type of CRA is the credit bureau. The information that a credit reporting agency sells about you to creditors, employers, insurers, and other businesses is called a consumer report (or a credit report).
Credit reporting agencies are clearinghouses for information on individual consumers’ loan repayment histories. The three largest credit reporting agencies in the United States are TransUnion, Equifax and Experian (formerly TRW). Credit reporting agencies also offer credit scoring, a quantitative analysis of a consumer’s creditworthiness. A consumer’s credit score provides an overall snapshot of the consumer’s outstanding debts and repayment history, and it is usually the first thing a potential lender investigates. Credit scores are also used to determine the interest rate a consumer will be charged on a loan. The higher the credit score, the more credit worthy a consumer is considered.
