The three major credit report bureaus in the United States of America are Experian Credit Report, TransUnion Credit Report and Equifax Credit Report. There is another credit report bureau known as Innovis. However, Innovis is only at a development stage and is not as important as the other three. The major credit report bureaus collect credit information from credit card companies, lenders, and banks. Reciprocally, these organizations can access the credit reports of the credit report bureaus to make their lending decisions.
The credit reports provided by the major credit report bureaus are used by lenders, insurance companies, credit grantors and utility companies. These institutions use the credit reports to take fast and fair credit decisions with minimum risk. On the other hand, customers use these credit reports to properly manage and improve their credit worthiness. The credit reports provided by the three major credit report bureaus are deemed to be reliable and accurate in the market.
After collecting credit information, the major credit report bureaus present the information to lending institutions. When a consumer applies for a loan, the lending institutions check up the credit reports of one or more major credit report bureaus for the credit history of the consumer. The lending decision is based on the credit scores or credit ratings provided by the major credit report bureaus.
The major credit report bureaus are not government bodies or in any way funded by the government. These are profit earning companies owned by shareholders. In addition to the major credit report bureaus, there are certain local bureaus spread across the United States. However, these local bureaus are in most cases, affiliated to the major credit report bureaus. The local bureaus may or may not be profit seeking entities.
The three major credit report bureaus are in competition with each other. However, in certain special cases they do share their credit information with each other. It is important for a consumer to have credit report from all the three major bureaus. The credit scores of a consumer are expected to vary in the three reports. Lenders generally consult all the reports before making a lending decision. A three-in-one credit report enables a consumer to judge his actual creditworthiness in the market.
The major credit report bureaus are governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA is a Federal Law pertaining to credit reporting in the United States of America. Differrent states in the US may however, have their own versions of the credit reporting law.
Experian Credit Report
TransUnion Credit Report
Equifax Credit Report