Credit Bureaus

Credit Bureaus are responsible for collecting data from a variety of sources (called data furnishers) about an individual’s credit history, this data is then used to calculate credit scores and collate credit reports, in the UK credit bureau’s are referred to as credit reference agencies. All corporation credit data is handled by credit rating agencies, although there is some overlap between the two with Dun & Bradstreet working as both a credit rating agency and a credit bureau.

The information that is collected by credit bureau’s is used by lenders to assess the credit worthiness of individuals and can also affect the interest rate that a debtor is offered. This discrimination is called risk based pricing and is based upon the expected risks of different borrowers. For example a consumer with a poor history of credit repayments or somebody who has defaulted on a loan would pay a much higher interest rate than somebody who has a good credit history.

Due to the large amount of data contained in these credit reports, most credit bureaus will apply a mathematical/statistical algorithm to this data which will produce a credit score making it easier to quickly process credit applications while keeping default rates low. . These scores aim to assess the likelihood that a borrower will repay a loan based on data of other individuals that were in similar situations and their default rates.

United States Credit Bureaus:

Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) credit bureau’s are legally known in the United States as consumer reporting agencies (CRA). There are a number of key consumer protections which are protected by the following acts or regulations, they are as follows; federal fair credit reporting act (FCRA), Fair & Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA), Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) and Regulation B. There are also two government bodies which are responsible for overseeing credit bureau’s and the data furnishers which supply them with their data. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for overseeing all consumer credit bureaus. Data furnishers are regulated by the Office Of The Comptroller Of The Currency (OCC).

Most of the U.S consumer credit information is collected and collated by the three major credit bureau’s; Experian, Equifax and Transunion. Innovis which purchased it’s data the First Data Corporation in 1999 also competes in this market but has a much smaller market share and less data furnishers report data to them. All four of these credit bureau’s use the same reporting standards, these standards are called Metro & Metro2, they also formed the CDIA (consumer data industry association) which lobbies the government on behalf of the credit bureau’s.

Despite these companies being for profit businesses the three major credit bureau’s (Equifax, Experian & TransUnion) developed http://www.annualcreditreport.com which provides one free credit report to every individual every twelve months (Our guide to getting your free report). We suggest that you check your credit report yearly as this way you’ll be able spot any discrepancies and also ensure that you’ve not been a victim of credit fraud.

The three big bureau’s also launched Vantage Score in early 2006 to attempt to compete with the most widely used credit score, FICO. Both of these scores are calculated by using the data which is collected by these credit bureau’s.

United Kingdom Credit Bureaus

In the UK credit bureau’s are known as credit reference agencies. In the UK there are three major credit reference agencies, they are; Experian, Equifax & Callcredit which has close ties with Transunion. These agencies are governed by the Consumer Credit Act 1974, they are also bound by the Data Protection Act 1998. This data protection act requires that all data relating to indentifiable individuals be accurate relevant and held for the proper purpose. It also must not be out of date, individuals also have the legal right to access any data which is held on them.

Rather than using credit scores, the UK instead use credit scorecards, the most common being binary scorecards which have two outcomes (1,0) the simplest being one that predicts if a credit consumer will become bad debt or no bad debt.

India Credit Bureaus

In 2000 CIBIL (Credit Information Bureau India Limited) was created due to an increasing need for accurate credit information for consumers. It has a base of 175 members which rely on a reciprocal agreement (you must share information to become a member and have access to the central database of information). The data that is collected is turned into CIR (consumer information reports) which includes information such as; past payment history, amount overdue, suit filled status, Number of inquiries made on that borrower – by different Members and records of all the credit facilities availed by the borrower.

Pakistan Credit Bureaus

Pakistan uses a software solution for collecting credit data, called eCIB (electronic credit information bureau) which was set up in 1992 by the State Bank Of Pakistan. All financial institutions (Banks, developmental financial institutions (DFIs) & micro finance banks (MFBS)) in pakistan are required to have this software installed and at the end of every month the software processes all of this information and updates the credit reports which are held by The State Bank Of Pakistan who are also responsible for monitoring the software and making sure it’s properly maintained and used.

Like India you cannot access information stored by the State Bank unless you are also registered as sharing information with the state bank. The credit information bureau is governed by the Banking Companies Ordinance (BCO) 1962. Section 25(A) vests the State Bank Of Pakistan to call for credit information in a manner it may deem necessary, it also allows them to make this information available to any banking company.

Credit Bureau Phone Numbers

Below is a list of the credit bureau phone numbers for the three major american bureaus.

Transunion Phone Number

1 800 493 2392 for Credit Monitoring
1 800 888 4213 for Free and Purchase Credit Report
1 800 916 8800 for Dispute item
1 888 909 8872 or 1 800 680 7289 Fraud and Identity Theft

Address:
Credit Report – TransUnion 2 Baldwin Place P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19022
Fraud and Identity Theft – TransUnion Fraud Victim Assistance Department P.O. Box 6790 Fullerton, CA 92834

Equifax Phone Number

Phone number: 800-685-1111

Address: P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

Experian

Phone number: 1 888 397 3742

Address: P.O. Box 9595, Allen, TX 75013-9595

List Of Credit Bureaus By Country:

Country	Major bureaus	Other bureaus
Armenia	Armenian Credit Reporting Agency
Australia	Veda Advantage
Austria	KSV, Deltavista
Bangladesh	Rose Leemon Credit Reports & Collections Limited
Belgium	UPC-BVK
Botswana	Compuscan
Bulgaria	Experian	Creditreturn Ltd
Canada	Equifax, TransUnion
Denmark	RKI Kredit Information A/S
Dominican Republic	Data Credito, TransUnion
Egypt	i-score
Finland	Finska
Germany	Schufa, Creditreform, Deltavista
Greece	Tiresias
Cyprus	First Cyprus Credit Bureau
India	High Mark Credit Information Services, CIBIL, CRISIL, Experian & Equifax
Ireland	Irish Credit Bureau
Italy	Experian, CRIF, CTC
Kenya	Kutz Univar, Hornbill Credit link Ltd.
Mexico	Equifax, TransUnion, Buró de Crédito
Namibia	Compuscan
Netherlands	Equifax
New Zealand	Veda Advantage
Nigeria	XDS Credit Bureau, CreditRegistry, CRC Credit Bureau
Mauritius	Kutz Univar
Pakistan	CIB (State Bank of Pakistan), Credit Chex (Powered by Experian UK), International Credit Information Ltd.
Peru	Equifax
Poland	BIK SA
Portugal	Credinformações
Romania	Biroul de Credit
Rwanda	Compuscan
Kuwait	Kuwait Credit Bureau (Ci-Net first credit bureau agency in the middle east)
Saudi Arabia	Saudi Credit Bureau (SIMAH)
South Africa	Compuscan, Experian, Kutz Univar, TransUnion,
South Korea	KCB (Korea Credit Bureau), KIS, NICE (National Information & Credit Evaluation)
Spain	Credinformações
Sweden	Soliditet AB, UC
Switzerland	Deltavista, Creditreform
Tanzania	Kutz Univar
Turkey	KKB
Uganda	Compuscan, Kutz Univar
Ukraine	UBKI
United Kingdom	Experian, Equifax, Callcredit
United States	FICO, Experian, Equifax, TransUnion	Innovis, PRBC,TeleCheck
Zambia	Kutz Univar