Credit Report Service

The Value Of A Credit Report Service

The value of a credit report service in today s day and age cannot be underscored enough. This is due to the fact that the use of credit by the average individual has increased tremendously. This has come to light because a recent study estimates that the average individual in a household has anywhere up to eight credit cards in their possession and maintains a credit card balance of $8,000.

Therefore the importance of the credit report service not only helps to protect the individual, but protects the lender as well. This is because fraudulent or unauthorized activity can be revealed when an individual asks for their credit report. Also, if any financial institution is considering the lending of money to an individual they can access that individuals credit report and determine their risk if the credit is extended.

Therefore, it is important to understand who the three credit report services available to the consumer are and what services these agencies can provide.

Three Credit Report Services

There are three major credit report services available to both the consumer and the various financial institutions that loan money. Those three credit report services are TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Specifically, they document all credit activity for each individual for whom the lenders report these financial activities.

This data that they incorporate into each credit file of an individual includes the person s name, past and present addresses, date of birth, aliases, any shared account holders, etc. In addition to the personal information is that person s credit information. This credit information includes the names of all closed and open accounts, account numbers, credit limits, payment history, whether the account is in good standing, etc. The accounts reflected on an individual s credit report include credit card accounts, loans, revolving charge cards, etc.

Services Provided

The specific services that are provided by a credit report service are many. Some of these services are geared to the inquiring financial institution as well as the individual whose credit is being reflected.

Specifically, the inquiring financial institution can request the regret report to ascertain whether the customer is credit worthy. This simply means have they honored their obligation to meet the terms of the loan and have they paid in a timely manner. In addition, a credit report service will provide to the requesting financial institution any inquiries have been made on this account. This can be a possible warning sign for the financial institution in that the individual may be looking to increase their indebtedness. This could be a red flag for some lending institutions.

For the individual themselves, a credit report provides a number of benefits. One of those benefits is to make sure that what is being reported is accurate. It has been estimated that one out of every four credit reports contains erroneous information. This false data may prove to be a detriment if an individual is wishing to take out a line of credit or open a new charge card. Therefore it is important that the individual receive their credit report at least once annually.

In addition, for the individual is important to check their credit report for any fraudulent activity. This is due to the increase of identity theft caused by unscrupulous individuals taking over another person's identity and using it for financial gain at that person's expense.