--------------------------------------------------------------- Summary
Financial institutions (banks, mortgage companies,
finance and credit card companies, credit
unions, etc) do not give loans or lines of
credit to just anyone. These credit companies
cannot know all of their customers and potential
customers by themselves. This is how credit
bureaus came into existence.
Equifax
The company has information on over 400 million
credit holders worldwide. In addition to credit
reports, Equifax provides credit card marketing
and fraud detection services and offers database
marketing, credit risk consulting, and such
products as credit scoring software through
a host of subsidiaries. Equifax does business
in a dozen countries. The company was founded
in 1899 and has been known as Equifax since
1975.
P.O. Box 105873
Atlanta, GA 30384
1-800-685-1111
Experian The company's full
name is Experian Information Solutions (EIS).
EIS serves more than 50,000 clients worldwide.
The company maintains information on about
300 million consumers and 15 million businesses.
You can visit one of the credit bureaus (Experian)
to access your free
credit report.
P.O. Box 8030
Layton, UT 84041-8030
1-800-520-1221
1-800-682-7654
Trans
Union
The company is a member of The Marmon Group
and operates in 32 countries. Trans Union
also provides acquisition and risk management
services, insurance credit information, and
real estate information services. The company
is affiliated with a number of credit information
companies worldwide and is growing through
acquisitions and alliances.
P.O. Box 390
Springfield, PA 19064
1-800-916-8800
1-800-851-2674
In
Brief
Three major credit bureaus
monitor consumers payment and credit histories
There are
hundreds to thousands of smaller credit bureau
companies that work or report into the three major
ones
