Credit Bureaus
Credit bureaus are institutions that provide consumer credit information to banks, lenders, sellers and other entities with an interest in establishing the financial reliability or credit status of an individual or a business.
Credit bureaus do not give a consumer a credit rating, nor are they in a position to accept or deny credit applications. This is not their purpose. Their sole purpose is to collect the information that is relevant to credit worthiness and to provide it to the interested parties.
There are three primary, national credit reporting agencies. These are Trans Union, Equifax and Experian. Experian took over a portion of the services provided by TRW in 1996. These credit reporting agencies do not exchange or share information, so a comprehensive credit report must contain credit information obtained from each of these companies.
Financial experts recommend that consumers maintain ongoing familiarity with the specifics of their credit reports as a protection against consumer fraud and credit reporting errors.