Credit Reporting Agencies
Credit reporting agencies are responsible for the gathering and providing of consumer credit information. This information is requested in the form of credit reports by banks, lenders, credit card companies and other entities that have an interest in determining the financial responsibility and credit worthiness of a particular consumer.
There are many companies that engage in such information gathering, but there are only three major, national credit reporting agencies. These are Equifax, Trans Union and Experian, all of which provide easily accessed services via the Internet. No credit report is complete without the inclusion of data from each of these agencies.
These agencies do not share or exchange information, so consumers must be sure that their credit report includes information from each. This can be obtained in a 3-in-1 report, which is also referred to as a 3-bureau report or a triple merged credit report.