How To Report Credit And Become A Data Furnisher
Establish Reporting Agreements
Companies reporting good credit (positive tradelines) or bad debt (negative tradelines) to the credit bureaus, must first establish a Data Furnishers or Service Agreement with each credit bureau (Equifax, Experian, Innovis, TransUnion, Dun & Bradstreet) to which you will be reporting. The Data Furnishers agreement is required whether you are reporting directly (in-house) to the credit bureaus or through a processor/stacking service such as The Service Bureau. This is a separate agreement from pulling credit reports.
The credit bureau repositories (Equifax, Experian, Innovis, TransUnion, Dun & Bradstreet) also require a minimum number of active accounts (trade lines/customers/debtors) and monthly reporting, even if you are reporting through The Service Bureau or another processor/stacking service - see example.
Companies reporting trade lines must use an application which is up-to-date with the Credit Reporting Resource Guide®, meets all credit reporting laws and regulations and is capable of accurately producing the Metro 2®* format layout such as Credit Manager.
Our software will upload to all bureaus that accept the Metro 2 format and support SFTP or HTTPS.
Credit Bureau Contacts
Contact Equifax for reporting requirements and account minimums.
Each request is reviewed individually and Experian determines eligibility based on their independent merit.
Contact TransUnion for reporting requirements and account minimums.
Contact Innovis for reporting requirements and account minimums.
Dun & Bradstreet reviews each request individually and determines eligibility base on proprietary requirements. Participants have access to several incentives for contributing their data.
Notice: Please contact each repository you wish to report with and verify how many accounts they will accept for direct (in-house) reporting or reporting through The Service Bureau's processing service. Each credit repository has their own policies for the minimum number of accounts to report.
Procedures for reporting your accounts to the Credit Bureaus
Step 1 - Establish a Data Furnishers or Service Agreement with each Credit Bureau Repository (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, Innovis) to which you will be reporting.
Step 2 - Once you have established an agreement with the bureau(s) and meet their account minimums, then you are ready to order Credit Manager software to accurately report your customers or debtors accounts using the Metro 2® format layout.
Step 3 - Install Credit Manager software on your computer.
Step 4 - Enter or update your accounts using the user friendly edit screen or import your accounts electronically using the Import function.
Step 5 - The intuitive Compliance Manager and built in help functions, ensure your accounts are compliant with the latest FCRA/ECOA/FCBA/FDCPA regulations and the Metro 2® format standards.
Step 6 - With the built in "Send" interface, export your accounts to the bureau(s) using SFTP (secure FTP), HTTPS (secure web browser) or removable media. Repeat steps 4-5 for monthly bureau updates. It's that easy!
Download PDF
