As a business owner it’s important for you to understand the integral role that a business credit bureau plays in the world of business finance. The data it collects on your business can impact whether or not your application for credit is approved or declined, the rate of interest your company will pay and even the amount of credit you can obtain.

In simple words, a business credit bureau is a repository of collected trade and credit information on millions of companies.    

All this collected data is compiled into what are known as business credit reports which are furnished to potential creditors so the creditors can make sound credit granting decisions.

The integrity of this information being disseminated is vital to the success of our country’s credit system.

So it’s essential for you to know how a business credit bureau gets its information about your company. The more informed you are the better you can ensure that your company is being portrayed in the right light to potential creditors.

There are some primary and secondary sources, which are:

• Incorporation filings from state and county courts
• Business registrations (state, city, county)
• Corporate financial reports
• Self reported data from company principles
• Payment data from suppliers and creditors
• Banking data from suppliers and creditors
• Companies granting credit (vendors, suppliers, lease companies, etc.)
• Uniform Commercial Codes (UCC Filings)
• Contracts, grants and loans from the Federal government
• Bankruptcy filings from state and county courts
• Public records of suits, liens and judgments
• Internet data mining
• Yellow pages and other print directories
• News and media
• Company press releases

As you can see all these sources contribute to the information that goes into creating your business credit reports. So stay consistent with all the information you provide about your company so there is no discrepancy or mismatched data.

You can always search the database of a business credit bureau to verify if your company is listed and then order a full report to check for accuracy.  Dun and Bradstreet, Corporate Experian and Small Business Equifax all offer database search functions as well as business credit bureaus like Credit.net and Cortera.

Its one thing to get your company listed but what’s even more important is ensuring that your company information is being listed accurately

Ready to start building your business credit reports? Become a member of my Business Credit Insiders Circle and gain access to a proven step-by-step business credit building system. A system that provides you access to vendor lines of credit, fleet cards, business credit cards with and without a PG, funding sources and lenders that report to all the major business credit bureaus. Submit your name and email below for details and receive a free audio seminar ($597 value) =>

About the author

Marco Carbajo is a business credit expert, author, speaker, and founder of the Business Credit Insiders Circle. A business credit building program providing corporate credit with no personal guarantee.  He is a business credit blogger for AllBusiness.com, a subsidiary of Dun and Bradstreet and author of “Eight Steps to Ultimate Business Credit” and “How to Build Business Credit with No Personal Guarantee.” His articles and blogs have also been featured in American Express Small Business, Business Week, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Tribune, Scotsman Guide, Alltop, Entrepreneur Connect, and Active Rain. 

In a recent press release Equifax announced the launch of a small business program that now allows you to order your small business credit report.

This is great news for business owners because up until now the only way you could obtain a copy of your report was if your company was declined credit based on a member pulling your report.

Here is a brief overview of the press release:

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) today announced the launch of its Small Business initiative with services to help businesses understand, monitor and strengthen their own credit performance as well as the credit health of the companies they’re doing business with.

Through Equifax’s new Small Business website (equifaxsmallbusiness.com), customers can purchase the Business Credit Report, to easily and cost-effectively check the credit reports of nearly 25 million firms, supplying smaller companies with the type of information to help reduce losses, establish business credit, and benefit from profitable business relationships.

The reports, available via credit card individually or in discounted multi-packs of five, help customers evaluate a potential partner or supplier as well as gain valuable insight into their own business credit score. Unlike others in the industry, Equifax has an exclusive partnership with the Small Business Financial Exchange (SBFE), an organization made up of more than 400 small business financial institutions with a database on more than 24 million companies. This exclusive relationship allows Equifax to combine this unique information with its own distinctive data to offer the most comprehensive, relevant and predictive industry information in the United States.

“Equifax is dedicated to supporting this important segment of the business population by giving them easy access to the same comprehensive business credit data available to larger corporations,” said Dan Csont, Chief Marketing Officer, Equifax Commercial Information Solutions. “With a minor investment, a small business can prepare itself for large opportunities and mitigate risk.”

Equifax Business Credit Reports which are simple to obtain, easy to use and interpret include:

• A trade and lending summary showing a company’s financial and non-financial obligations.
• A public records summary detailing any judgments, liens, or business registration with secretaries of state.
• Three scores to help evaluate a company’s credit risk, payment history and likelihood of business failure.

To help keep an ongoing, watchful eye on critical partner, supplier and customer relationships, Equifax also offers Business Credit Monitoring and Alert services. This service tracks a company’s credit report and sends a daily email if significant changes occur to it. Businesses also use the service to monitor their own business credit scores to help manage their own commercial credit.

To view the press release in its entirety titled Equifax Launches Small Business Program visit the Equifax web site.

SOURCE Equifax Inc.

With Experian launching its new Triple Score Business Credit Report and Dun and Bradstreet joining forces with Transunion and now Equifax announcing its own small business program it’s clear to me that business credit is finally getting the much needed attention it deserves.

Ready to get your business listed with the major business credit bureaus? Become a member of my Business Credit Insiders Circle and gain access to a proven step-by-step business credit building system. A system that provides you access to premium vendors, business credit cards, funding sources and lenders that report to all the major business credit bureaus. Submit your name and email below for details and receive a free audio seminar ($597 value) =>

About the author

Marco Carbajo is a business credit expert, author, speaker, and founder of the Business Credit Insiders Circle. A business credit solutions membership helping business owners obtain business credit. He is a business credit blogger for AllBusiness.com, a subsidiary of Dun and Bradstreet and author of “Eight Steps to Ultimate Business Credit” and “How to Build Business Credit with No Personal Guarantee.” His articles and blogs have also been featured in American Express Small Business, Business Week, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Tribune, Scotsman Guide, Alltop, Entrepreneur Connect, and Active Rain. 

The majority of us can easily identify with the three major consumer credit reporting agencies known as Equifax, Transunion, and Experian. These are privately held companies that specialize in collecting data on consumers and then compiling the data in a format known as a credit report.

Did you know that there are companies that collect data specifically on businesses? These privately held companies are known as business credit reporting agencies and they compile their data into formats called business credit reports. They collect data from banks, suppliers, finance companies, business owners, and look at public records such as tax liens, bankruptcies, and judgments.

It’s important for you to get your company listed because it can make the process of establishing business credit and financing much easier but keep in mind that there is over 25 other business credit bureaus not listed here and some are even industry specific such as trucking or construction. You may want to look into some of these particular bureaus to get listed with in addition to the top 10 depending on the type of industry your business is in.

Here are my Top 10 Business Credit Bureaus you should know.

1. Dun and Bradstreet (D&B)
D&B is the primary business credit reporting agency with over 70 million businesses registered in their database. A business credit file with D&B contains information provided by the business owner and vendors of the business. D&B issues a paydex score based on payment experiences and a DUNS rating based on financials. Its business credit builder program is a great way for business owners to add trade references to their file in a short period of time.

2. Equifax Small Business Enterprise
Small Business Equifax, one of the three primary consumer credit reporting agencies, also provides business credit evaluations for over 22,000,000 small businesses and corporations.

3. Experian SmartBusinessReportsTM
Experian business is another one of the three primary consumer credit reporting agencies who provides business credit evaluations as well. SmartBusinessReports assigns a business credit score called the Intelliscore.

4. FDInsight™
This is a company that is relatively new to the business credit market. It was originally the second largest credit reporting company in the mortgage broker field. The information on their business files is provided by the business owner or a third party and then every piece of information is verified by the staff of FDInsight™. They are known to provide the most accurate business credit report in the industry.

5. Credit.net
Credit.net is a division of InfoUSA® that generates credit reports on approximately 15,000,000 businesses. The credit analysis provided by Credit.net relies on four criteria: years in business, number of employees, public records, and stability within the industry. Its business credit score is a grading system from A through C (70-100) and is awarded as an evaluation of the company’s credit history.

6. AccurintTMBusiness
This is a new business that is a combination of forces between The Better Business Bureau (BBB) and LexisNexis. Accurint Business is like Business Experian in that they provide public and business profile information, including credit history based on payment patterns of small, medium, and large companies.

7. ClientChecker
This is a business credit bureau that started in 2003 and specifically targets small businesses, freelance professionals, and contractors searching for information to help them determine which other businesses they should do business with. Rather than providing a fixed business credit score, ClientChecker compiles information based on feedback from its members.

8. Paynet
Paynet collects real-time loan information from more than 200 leading U.S. lenders. The company’s database has a collection of commercial loans and leases. It’s the largest proprietary database of long-term debt over a period of ten years.

9. Cortera
Cortera provides credit information on businesses large and small but then combines it with ratings from a community of small business owners, who provide feedback both good and bad on these businesses.

10. ChexSystems
The tenth reporting agency is extremely important as it has to do with your ability to open up a business checking account with a financial institution. Banks use a reporting agency known as ChexSystems which is a network comprised of member Financial Institutions that regularly contribute information on mishandled checking and savings accounts to a central location.

These business credit bureaus allow your business to establish its own credit profile, scores, and payment history. As a business owner you should know who the major business credit reporting agencies are and what type of data they collect on your business. Knowing this will give you greater insight into getting listed and established in the business credit industry.

To Your Business Credit Success!

Read to get listed with the three major business credit bureaus? Become a member of my Business Credit Insiders Circle and gain access to a proven step-by-step business credit building system. A system that provides you access to vendor lines of credit, fleet cards, business credit cards with and without a PG, funding sources and lenders that report to all the major business credit bureaus. Submit your name and email below for details and receive a free audio seminar ($597 value) =>

About the Author

Marco Carbajo is a corporate credit specialist, author, speaker, and founder of the Business Credit Insiders Circle. A business credit building system that helps business owners build small business credit. He is a weekly columnist for Dun & Bradstreet Small Business Solutions, a business credit blogger for All Business & American Express Small Business and author of “Eight Steps to Ultimate Business Credit” and “How to Build Business Credit with No Personal Guarantee.” His articles and blogs have also been featured in Business Week, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Tribune, Scotsman Guide, Alltop, Entrepreneur Connect, and Active Rain.