When the average person thinks about consumer credit reporting, usually only the “big three” credit bureaus immediately come to mind. Of course, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian certainly gain the most media attention. Most lenders and consumer credit programs, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, only mention these three bureaus. They’re also the oldest credit reporting agencies (CRAs). In fact, Equifax and Experian can each trace their roots back to the 1800s. Although they are the most well-known, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian aren’t the only nationwide CRAs. There are at least four more: Innovis, SageStream, PRBC, and ARS.
Technically, all seven of these agencies serve the same purpose — to gather, maintain, and distribute consumers’ credit information. Each complies with standards established by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which protects the rights of consumers when it comes to credit reporting criteria.
The rise of Innovis
However, one of these four newest players — Innovis — has recently risen to the status of the big three. It’s become so popular, in fact, that many people now routinely refer to it as the fourth major credit bureau. Following Equifax’s 2017 data breach, several experts recommended requesting a credit freeze from Innovis as well as the other three better-known bureaus.
Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Associated Credit Bureaus founded ACB Services in 1970. It became Innovis in 1997. It is owned by CBC Companies, which also owns CBCInnovis — a totally different entity. Although CBCInnovis also deals with credit reporting, it provides credit solutions to lenders rather to consumers.
What Innovis does
According to the Innovis website, the company provides many of the same services as Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, including:
- Credit reports
- Dispute resolution
- Fraud and active duty alerts
- Blocks
- Security freezes
- Opt-outs
One thing the other big three credit reporting agencies offer that is missing from Innovis’ list is a credit score. As of this writing, this agency doesn’t provide any sort of scoring system alongside its consumer credit reports. However, as with the other credit reporting agencies, Innovis will provide a full credit report to a consumer every 12 months at no charge.
Please note that Innovis could contain credit information that consumers won’t find on their other reports. On the flipside, information you’d find on the big three reports might be missing from an Innovis report as well. It’s not unusual for creditors to report to only a select number of credit bureaus.
Should you report to the lesser-known bureaus?
As a credit reporting service company, Datalinx will help you report your tenants’ or customers’ payment histories to Innovis as well as to the other three major credit reporting agencies. However, the decision to become data furnisher for any of the additional agencies is ultimately up to you.
The requirements to become an Innovis data furnisher are similar to those of the other bureaus. For example, all credit data must be submitted to all bureaus in Metro 2 reporting format. Our Datalinx experts will set up your credit bureau reporting software to easily convert your data to Metro2 format. All of the four major credit bureaus require Metro 2 format.
Give us a call today for your personalized consultation, or complete the form to the right and we’ll contact you as soon as possible.
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