A credit bureau is a centralized source of credit information for consumers and businesses. To make it simple, it is a clearinghouse that buys and sells information.

There are three major credit agencies: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax, which we will discuss later. There is a fourth secret bureau, Innovis Data Solutions, that you should not ignore because lenders use this company when pre-screening consumer credit to offer pre-approved credit cards and loans. So if you have negative information about Innovis, you will not get offers. Information can be disputed, just like at other credit bureaus. Please note that these credit bureaus do share or contain the same information on a consumer's credit history simply because they are competitors and traditionally cover different geographical areas. In addition to Innovis, there is another credit reporting agency that is considered the 4th largest and is also a secret: NCTUE, which stands for National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange.

The NCTUE data report is a record of all telecommunications services, such as pay TV services and utility accounts. You have the right and should challenge incorrect data within this report too. Lenders become paying members of the credit bureau in order to obtain information on the way a potential applicant paid their past creditors or is paying their present credit obligations. In return for receiving information from the credit bureau, these lenders will report their occurrences back to the bureau, where they are processed and added to consumers’ credit reports.

There are myths concerning credit bureaus, mostly that they are the ones who turn you down for credit. This is far from the truth. Credit bureaus only report what is given to them by their members (lenders). They do have a universal system whereby each member can report their information in a uniform way, so everyone can interpret the contents the same way. However, they do not. The lender you are applying to for credit will or may turn you down due to incorrect information that is reported to the bureau and used in calculating credit scores. This is why it is possible for credit bureaus to report the wrong information.

Another myth is that credit bureaus can remove marks reported by lenders from your client’s credit report. This is false. They can't remove information from your client’s credit report without the lender’s consent or for reasons pertaining to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which we will discuss later in this section.

All consumers should periodically (once a year) have their credit report updated, changed, and corrected, even if they do not plan to apply for credit.