How and Why a Credit Bureau Collects Information

Based in Valencia, California, Think Credit Reports provides customers with data from all three major credit bureaus. Think Credit Reports has interacted with these credit bureaus for more than five years.

As independent organizations, credit bureaus work to collect and dispense information that supports responsible lending. The credit bureaus obtain purchase, borrowing, and repayment information about consumers from data reports that subscribers submit on client accounts. This information tells the credit bureaus about any defaulted or late payments, accounts in arrears, and accounts in good standing.

Credit bureaus offer their services to a broad range of financing entities, including credit card companies and mortgage lenders. When a lender wishes to know about a particular individual’s credit history, one or more credit bureaus collect this data and offer it in the form of a credit report. The lender can then make more informed decisions about whether a borrower is likely to make on-time payments based on their past behavior. If the lender approves the borrower’s application for credit, information about the account then becomes part of the individual’s future reports.