Business Credit Reporting Agencies and Bureaus

There are several business credit reporting agencies in the United States that lenders and financial institutions rely on for information to grant credit. Many businesses can take years before they are listed with the business credit agencies, some may never be listed. One of our clients had been in business 26 years and not one business credit bureau had his company listed. Some of these are FDInsight, D&B, Experian Business, BusinessCreditUSA, Equifax Business, and ClientChecker. The following is a brief explanation of each:

FDInsight™

• They are relatively new to the business credit market.
• Originally made its mark as a personal credit reporting agency for mortgage brokers.
• They are the second largest credit reporting company in the mortgage broker field.
• Information on businesses is provided by the business or a third party and then every piece of information is verified by the staff of FDInsight™.
• They arguably provide the most accurate business credit report in the industry.
• The company is listed on NASDAQ as FDCC.

D&B™

• Over 70 million businesses are registered with D&B™.
• The credit profile created by D&B™ uses information provided by the business owners and vendors of the business .
• Grants a PAYDEX™ score to businesses based on payment experiences of the business.
• Issues a DUNS Rating™ based on the financial statements of the business.
• Has a High Risk status for companies that will destroy their ability to obtain credit if D&B™ finds information on a company they feel to be inconsistent with their model.

Experian Business™

• Over 14 million businesses are registered with Experian™.
• The credit profile created by Experian™ uses information provided by vendors only.
• Grants an Intelliscore™ based on payment experiences.
• They are one of the three largest personal credit bureaus.

BusinessCreditUSA™

• A division of InfoUSA™.
• Provides inexpensive business credit reports.
• Relies on information from the business owner.
• Verifies all information presented to them before placing on the report.

Equifax™ Business

• Scores are developed from:
  • Unique banking and lease payment performance information as provided by the Small Business Financial Exchange, Inc.
  • Trade payment histories
  • Public record data
  • Optional personal credit data on the business principal
• Available scores include:
  • Small Business Financial Account Acquisition Score™
  • Small Business Financial Account Management Score™
  • Small Business/Principal Score™
  • Small Business Non-Financial Generic Risk Score™

ClientChecker™

• The only credit reporting agency dedicated to small businesses.
• The credit profile created by ClientChecker uses information provided by vendors only.
• Grants a PayQuo Score™ based on payment experiences.
• Enables vendors to report on all aspects of working with a business, for a more complete picture