Credit Reporting Agencies

Who are credit reporting agencies? What do credit reporting agencies do?

Credit reporting agencies are large corporations that make money by compiling financial information about consumers and selling it to potential lenders and employers. Anyone who has ever applied for a loan or credit of any kind will have a credit file with each of the major credit reporting agencies. People who pay cash for everything may not have anything in their credit report. A credit report lists personal data, employment, credit cards, and debts in a person’s name.

How did credit reporting agencies get all of this information about me?

The information is taken from credit applications you have completed as well as from reports your creditors make about how well you meet your obligations to them. There are many small credit reporting agencies who are often hired to examine and investigate credit histories by banks or loan agencies. However they all obtain their information from the same sources. These sources are the big three credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

What are other services offered by credit reporting agencies?

Credit reporting companies are in the business of making money. In recent years, they have realized that consumers are a big market for them. Thus, you will see that on their websites, they offer a variety of products.

Some credit reporting agencies offer you special services, such as alerting you to changes to your report or credit score. These services are useful for some people, but do not automatically assume you need them.

You should consider these services if:

• you have recently been a victim of identity theft;

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• you need to improve your report or score very quickly and need to know when changes happen, or

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• you are in a situation where it is worth the expense in order to get frequent updates.