What is a national credit bureau?
There are three national credit bureaus (repositories of credit information) that collect and maintain credit information on millions of consumers. These bureaus are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The national credit bureaus collect the information from both national and local banks, credit card companies and collection agencies. The bureaus also gather public record information concerning unpaid taxes, liens, judgments and bankruptcies on a national basis. The companies that provide their account information to the national credit bureaus must become a member of the credit bureau and provide their information to the bureau in accordance with the bureaus’ requirements. Most of these companies will submit their information every 30 to 60 days; however, there are no laws that govern how often or who should report their account information to the national credit bureaus. The national credit bureaus are always soliciting information from companies in order to enhance the quality of thei
