Credit Report
Credit Bureau
Credit bureau summary:
A credit bureau collects your personal information and credit activity to create a credit report.
Lenders get a copy of your credit report from one or more credit bureaus when they run a credit check on you.
You can request a copy of your credit report from each credit bureau to verify the accuracy of the information.
Credit Bureau Definition and Meaning
Credit bureaus, also known as credit reporting agencies, are companies that receive data from your creditors about your borrowing and repayment activity. Each credit bureau compiles this information in a credit report that is provided when companies check your credit. You can get a copy of your credit report online to review that the information is accurate.
A Comprehensive Breakdown of Credit Bureaus
A credit bureau is a company that keeps a record of your personal information and credit activity. Personal information includes your full name, Social Security number, and any addresses you’ve used. Credit activity includes the following:
Payment history and balances on credit cards and loans
Credit applications
Defaults
Bankruptcy filings
The information gathered by credit bureaus generally comes from your creditors and public records. For example, if you have a credit card, the card issuer most likely reports the balance, credit limit, and payment status to the credit bureaus every month. Creditors don’t have to report your account details, and some don’t.
You have a credit report from each credit bureau. The credit report contains all the information the bureau has on you. Based on that information, the credit bureau can calculate a credit score, which is a rating of the likelihood you’ll pay back money you borrow.
When someone runs a credit check on you, they request your credit report from one or more of the credit bureaus. Lenders, insurance companies, landlords, and others can use your credit report and credit score to determine the level of risk you present. Most of the time, companies that want to access your credit report must get your authorization first.
Real-Life Credit Bureaus
There are three major consumer credit bureaus in the United States:
Equifax
Experian
TransUnion
Each credit bureau keeps its own record on you. While the information is usually very similar, there can be discrepancies. For example, a creditor may report certain activity to only one or two credit bureaus, instead of all three.
Unfortunately, credit bureaus sometimes get inaccurate information that leads to an error in your credit report. A 2024 study by Consumer Reports and WorkMoney reported that 44% of participants who checked their credit reports found at least one error. The only way to catch errors is to review your credit report from each credit bureau. Some errors are inconsequential, but some could be serious enough to affect your credit scores. It’s good practice to request correction of all errors.
How to Pull Your Credit Report From a Credit Bureau
Legally, you’re entitled to one free credit report per year from all three credit bureaus, but you can now get copies even more often. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion started a program for free weekly credit reports during the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually decided to make that program permanent.
You can get your free credit reports online at AnnualCreditReport.com. Once you have your credit reports, review them to check that all the information is accurate. A common recommendation is to go over your credit reports at least once a year to look for errors and possible identity theft.
If you find any mistakes, you can dispute items on your credit report with the credit bureau. The three credit bureaus all let you submit disputes online via their websites.
Credit Bureau FAQs
Do all secured credit cards report to credit bureaus?
Not all secured cards report to the credit bureaus, so be sure to choose one that does. Otherwise, you won’t build credit.
How do I update my credit bureau information?
Credit bureaus update information based on data from creditors, public records, and other sources. You usually can’t update the information yourself. There are two exceptions:
You can dispute inaccurate information any time.
You can ask for a rapid rescore. This is typically done as part of a mortgage application, and it must be done by the lender. It’s a way to show proof of an action that’s expected to boost your credit score, such as paying off a debt to improve your credit utilization.
How do I remove inquiries with a credit bureau?
If there’s a hard credit inquiry you didn’t authorize on your credit report, dispute the inquiry with the credit bureau. Each credit bureau has a dispute page on its website.
Anytime you apply for credit, the lender is likely to ask you to authorize a hard inquiry. In that case, the inquiry is legitimate and you can’t get it removed from your credit report. However, hard credit inquiries fall off your credit history in two years.
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