As a utility company, do you expect all of your customers to regularly pay on time? Are you tired of consistently overdue payments and collections? Why not set up a seamless process to report your customers’ utility payments to all four credit bureaus?
Datalinx helps public and private utilities like yours report customer payments on a monthly basis. As a credit reporting software service, Datalinx can help you navigate this process and ensure your data is reported accurately and timely with each of the four credit bureaus.
Step 1: Sign Data Furnisher Agreement
Each credit bureau must approve your utility data before it can be loaded in their database, and part of that approval requires signing a data furnisher’s agreement. Keep in mind, this process can take a few weeks. However, you only need to sign an agreement with the bureaus you want to report too.
At Datalinx, we have nearly 20 years of experience helping customers with this process and can assist you with obtaining all the necessary information to get started right away.
During this process they may ask you questions about the type of data you will be reporting and how you manage that data internally. They may also ask you to allow for an on-site inspection of your place of business.
Again, Datalinx can help you with these conversations. We’ll help you work with the bureaus to make sure they have everything they need to proceed.
Step 2: Convert To Metro 2 Format
All four credit bureaus use the Metro 2 format when accepting utility reporting data into their consumer credit database. In order to report to them directly you must have your data in the Metro 2 format.
Our credit reporting software system allows you to use your existing accounting system to generate the core information required to report utilities (usually in Excel or Text format). We then take that information and convert it into the Metro 2 format for monthly reporting to the credit bureaus.
There’s no need for a separate software package with our service. You have a simple, easy-to-use template with the required fields for reporting. Please contact us for more information.
Step 3: Test Your Metro 2 File
The last step is to test your newly created file with the credit bureaus. Their testing process usually takes two to four weeks. It covers covers the integrity of the file, or how well you followed Metro 2 guidelines. Also, it covers the integrity of the utility data. This ensures you follow federal laws including the FCRA and FCBA.
When you use our credit reporting software service, we will validate your file for testing purposes. We’ll also continue to ensure you are reporting accurate and timely information every month after your file has been approved.
How to Report Utilities to Credit Bureaus
And in a nutshell, these are the steps to take if you want to report your in-house credit data to the credit bureaus.
Please contact us if you have any questions on how to report utilities to the credit bureaus.