The Most Common Credit Reporting Agencies

Three of the most common credit reporting agencies are required, under the U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act, to provide consumers with one free credit report annually. Those agencies are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Yet they also can make use of a credit-scoring model provided by the Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO), which affects credit and loan decisions at thousands of banks and other businesses.

FICO

Some credit scoring models are produced with software developed by FICO. Banks, credit card issuers, insurers and others rely on FICO scoring to determine consumers' creditworthiness when making decisions about extending credit and issuing loans and insurance policies. According to the FICO website, the company delivers the most used credit agency scores worldwide, with more than 100 billion scores currently sold. FICO scores range from 300 to 850, and people with higher scores are believed to present less credit risk to creditors and lenders.

Equifax

Equifax headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia, but the company employs about 7,000 people in 15 countries. On its website, Equifax differentiates its credit score from the FICO score, although both scoring models are used to predict credit risk. Equifax scores range from 280 to 850, and higher scores suggest less credit risk is involved. Equifax also notes that its scoring model can be used to calculate scores for people's Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit files, which allows consumers to compare their scores at all three credit reporting agencies.

Experian

The Experian website indicates the company employs 15,000 people through offices in 40 countries. Its headquarters is in Dublin, Ireland. The site also touts several uses for Experian's software tools, which include helping businesses determine credit limits for new customers and helping consumers protect themselves from identity theft.

TransUnion

According to the TransUnion website, the company handles the credit histories of about 500 million consumers. Its headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois. The company promotes a product called the TransUnion Credit Profile Plus FICO Score. It contains a person's FICO score calculated from a TransUnion credit report along with an analysis of the FICO score. TransUnion notes on its site that scoring models are affected by several factors, including the number of delinquent payments a consumer has. TransUnion stores several scoring models in its system to score reports for creditors who request them.