Anyone who grants an extension of credit to a consumer is eligible to report to the credit bureaus. That said, there are a few industries who more commonly report than others(listed below). A few of them (indicated by an asterik) even have special reporting requirements defined in the Metro 2 Format. As a credit reporting software service, Datalinx can help you interpret those guidelines and make sure your data is reported accurately and timely to each of the four major bureaus.
Banking / Savings & Loan / Credit Union / Loan Finance - Installment Loan & Line of Credit
Child Support Agencies*
Collection Agencies / Debt Purchasers*
Credit Cards ? Banks, Credit Unions, Travel & Entertainment (non-Retail Cards)
Mortgage Loans
Retail Accounts (store exclusive)
Sales Finance
Student Loan Reporters*
Utility Companies*
Property Management Companies / Residential Rental Agreements
Yes you can but you will need to convert that to the Metro 2 format. Lucky for you, credit reporting software companies like Datalinx have a process already setup to assist.
We have several customers who have decided not to upgrade their current system and instead use a service to convert the data for them. We accept most kinds of fixed and delimited flat files for importing into our conversion software. While your accounts may require some additional editing to bring them into compliance, our software system will guide you through the process with ease.
Simply put, the credit bureaus are your best resource for rewarding consumers who consistently pay you on time, and collecting from those who fall delinquent. In fact, by just reporting to the credit bureaus you will likely see a drop in the amount of delinquent payments because consumers do not want a negative mark on their credit report.
The four credit bureaus have exposure on a national, and sometimes international level. When a consumer moves from one state to the next their credit report will follow. If they are delinquent with you, and you report, their data will show up the next time they apply for any sort of credit (i.e. Credit Card, Car Loan, Rental Application, Etc.). And your data stays on the consumer credit file for 7 years from the date they first fell delinquent. You simply cannot get that kind of exposure on your own.
At DatalinxLLC.com, we’re committed to helping small business owners with their credit reporting needs - so visit our site today:
and let us help you report your consumer credit data to the credit bureaus.
The short answer is no. Each credit bureau maintains their own seperate database of consumer credit information which they use to populate their own consumer credit report. The strength of their database directly impacts the sales of their credit reports and scoring models so it is not always in their best intersts to share the information. In fact, often times the bureaus will compare their credit report with a competitors in order to win over more business.
That said, they do work together in some aspects in order to bring more standards and accountability to their industry. One example of this cooperation is the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA). Representatives from all four major credit bureaus attend regular meetings of the association to help being more standards and accountability to their industry. The Metro 2 Format was a cooperative effort between all four bureaus as was the creation of the E-OSCAR system for automated corrections to consumer credit files.
While the bureaus remain competitive with eachother, they also recognize their impact on individual consumers and strive to encourage high standards for maintaining data integrity as an industry.
This is an interactive site to help answer your questions regarding credit reporting and conversion to the Metro 2 format.
We’re here to help you learn how to report credit - how to decide if you should use a credit reporting service or if you should invest in credit reporting software.
Feel free to post your comments or questions and we’ll do our best to get back to you with answers or other helpful advice. You can also email us directly at support@datalinxllc.com.
One of the most common questions we receive is how do we report to the credit bureaus.
Whether you’re using your own software or a service like Datalinx, you will need to go through the membership process with each bureau you plan on sending your data. This process usually takes between 2 and 4 weeks and may include a small fee depending on the bureau and size of your business. You also may be asked to allow for an on-site inspection of your business to help ensure the integrity of the data once accessed from their system.
Once all the paperwork has been signed and the inspection is approved, the bureaus will issue you two codes, one for pulling credit (commonly called your subscriber code) and another for reporting (also called your reporting code). The latter is what will be used to identify your information in the Metro 2 file.
Keep in mind, not everyone reports to all 4 bureaus, in fact most report to just 1 or 2. We recommend picking one initially to get started with and then add more bureaus as you get more comfortable with the process. They all use the same format (Metro 2) so once your data has been converted it’s just a matter of sending the same file to another location.
Below are the contact numbers for each of the bureaus.
