| By :
Marco Carbajo
Is your company listed with the top three major business credit bureaus? Do you know that there are over thirty business credit reporting agencies in the United States? With so many companies in the business of collecting commercial information it can be quite a challenge deciding which ones are most important for your company to get listed with. What's most important is to first determine which bureaus do the majority of suppliers, creditors, and lenders pull their reports from. For starters you should focus on getting listed with the top three business credit reporting agencies which are Dun and Bradstreet, Corporate Experian, and Small Business Equifax. It's important to realize that hundreds of thousands of companies, lenders, suppliers, and creditors rely on these particular agencies to provide them with reports which they use to assess the credit worthiness of a company. If you apply for credit with a lender or supplier and your company is not listed then you'll most likely be denied credit or be required to furnish a personal credit check and personal guarantee. Unfortunately the majority of small business owners do just that which puts their personal credit and personal assets at risk. Getting listed and establishing a credit profile in the name of your company is the first step to truly separating you from your business. The following information will cover the top three major business credit reporting companies in the country and how to get your company listed. Dun and Bradstreet With over 130 million companies listed and over 1.5 million updates per day this is one bureau you should aim to establish a solid profile with. To get listed go to the DNB web site and first check to see if your company is already listed. If it is then you will need to register with iupdate to review your file and make any necessary changes. If your company is not listed you have three options. 1) Purchase D-U-N-S Expedited service and obtain your DUNS Number in 24 hours. 2) Purchase D-U-N-S File Creator and obtain your DUNS Number in 5 business days. 3) Get your DUNS Number in 30 days by selecting the no charge option Keep in mind that having a DUNS number is just the beginning. You will need to start building your company's credit file by doing business with creditors and/or suppliers that report to Dun and Bradstreet. You can also add positive trade references to your file by purchasing one of DNBi's SelfMonitor programs. Corporate Experian Corporate Experian (Business Experian) is another dominant player in the industry with over 22 million companies listed. One major difference is it does not allow you to self-report trade references like DNB. The only way to get listed is by doing business with a creditor or supplier that furnishes to this specific bureau. Small Business Equifax Small Business Equifax is another bureau that plays a significant role in the industry with over 25 million companies listed in its database. This bureau is said to be one of the most difficult to get listed with and the majority of its furnishers are banks and leasing companies. Similar to Experian the only way to get listed is through a lender or company that supplies its payment data to Equifax. Even though there are many other agencies that collect commercial data it would prove to be a smart decision to establish a credit profile with each of these bureaus. This would allow the majority of lenders, creditors, banks, leasing companies, and suppliers to properly assess the creditworthiness of your business instead of having to rely on you and your personal credit.
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