The Importance of Major Credit Bureaus

Having no real assets to work with or write about, some of us might think the 3 major credit bureaus would not matter to us, in-as-much-as we don’t matter to them.  The contrary is true, however. These major credit bureaus do factor in our lives - more consequential than ever before...

If we ever purchase a home, a car, or other major item, or if we use credit cards – we need credit scores from these major credit bureaus;

When we shop for automobiles, or houses or even appliances; electrical or computer equipment and we want to finance the items (get them on a loan to own or credit basis), the ones doing the financing will run a credit check with one of the 3 major credit bureaus: they will consult with or contact Equifax, Experian, and/or TransUnion.     

Listed here in alphabetical order are some of the particulars of each of the three major credit unions:

Equifax – www.equifax.com – Equifax offers services and products to protect against identity theft, to manage and check credit, and to prepare for a major purchase. Equifax also provides tools for checking the value of a property, credit ranking, and the latest in business solutions (for B2B, B2C, and direct marketing, for example) and news …featuring such valuable articles as “Small Businesses Beware: ‘Rip Me Off’ is Written all over You;” “You Say You Can Smell Fish in Your In-box?” “Credit Union Thwarts Fishers and Reveals How;” and “Websites Let Users Send Email to Future.”

TO CALL

For general concerns, call 1-800-685-1111

To report or investigate fraud, call 1-800-525-6285

TO WRITE

To send snail mail correspondence, write to

PO Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374

Experian – www.experian.com – Experian also offers products and services to protect against fraud, to check 3-credit bureau reports, to check vehicle history (with a report), and to get further educated—understanding your credit and heeding customer alerts (such as those on Experian’s Katrina victims help pages and how to beware of phishing).

TO CALL

For general concerns, or to report or investigate fraud, call

1-888-397-3742

TO WRITE

To send snail mail correspondence, write to

PO Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion – www.transunion.com – Like the latter two, TransUnion offers products and support services for credit monitoring, provides fraud-prevention education and help, and free credit card report disclosures. As well, you can subscribe to the newsletter, to stay updated and get helpful credit tips; can find much information on preventing fraud or resuscitating your credit if you have been a victim of fraud; and can dispute credit card items you suspect or know to be false.

TO CALL

For general concerns, call 1-800-888-4213

To report or investigate fraud, call 1-800-680-7289

To WRITE

To send snail mail correspondence, write to

PO Box 2000, Chester, PA 19022

If you need to, use all three major credit bureaus,  for help or support…or use one, as each of these three offers a combined, 3-in-1 report.

These three major credit bureaus have definitely become our indispensable partner.  Either as an ally or foe – depends entirely on our choices.