Intelliscore Plus: Experian’s Business Credit Score Scale and Factors

Intelliscore Plus is Experian’s business credit score, a single number designed to predict how likely a company is to fall 90-plus days behind on its payments. The current model, Intelliscore Plus V3, runs from 300 to 850, where higher means lower risk.¹ Experian pulls from more than 800 commercial and owner variables to calculate it, and lenders, suppliers, and trade partners use the result to decide whether to extend credit and on what terms.²

What Goes Into the Score

Experian keeps the exact formula proprietary, but the model draws on a handful of well-known categories. Payment history carries the most weight, which is intuitive: the best predictor of whether a business will pay late is whether it has paid late before.

Payment Performance

The central metric is Days Beyond Terms (DBT), which measures how many days past the due date a business typically pays its bills. A company paying invoices 30 or 45 days late will score much lower than one paying on time or early. The model also picks up on direction. A steady improvement from chronically late to consistently prompt moves the score up; a sudden spike in late payments pushes it down and signals financial stress.

Credit Utilization

The score compares how much a business owes against its total available credit lines. Maxing out every line suggests the company is stretched thin. Experian recommends keeping utilization below 30 percent, and below 10 percent for the strongest impact.³ The model also looks at how much is owed specifically on delinquent accounts relative to total credit limits.

Public Records

Bankruptcies, tax liens, judgments, and collection accounts act as major red flags. A single tax lien filing can severely depress a score because it signals an inability to meet even government obligations.² These records are pulled from court filings and can linger on a business credit report for years.

Credit Inquiries

A jump in credit applications or inquiries against the business or its owner can drag the score down, similar to personal credit. Checking your own report counts as a soft inquiry and does not affect the score.⁴

Company Profile

The algorithm factors in the age of the business, its industry classification (SIC or NAICS code), and its size. A two-year-old restaurant and a 40-year-old manufacturer present different risk profiles, so the model compares each business against its peer group rather than a universal standard.²

What the Numbers Mean

In 2021, Experian rolled out Intelliscore Plus V3, shifting the range from the original 0–100 scale to 300–850. The change was intended to add granularity in the mid-range and let lenders set more precise cutoff thresholds in their credit policies.¹

On either scale, a higher number means lower risk. Experian does not publish a single universal set of risk-category cutoffs for V3, because lenders are expected to set their own thresholds using Experian’s performance tables. A score near the top of the range signals strong creditworthiness; a score near the bottom indicates a high probability of serious delinquency.

The Legacy 0–100 Scale

You may still encounter the older scale on some reports or with vendors that have not migrated. Under the legacy system, Experian grouped scores into five risk tiers:

76–100, low risk: strong payment history and minimal negative records, typically qualifying for the best rates and highest limits.
51–75, low-to-medium risk: generally solid, with some areas for improvement; lenders may request additional documentation.
26–50, medium risk: noticeable payment issues or limited history; expect higher rates or tighter terms.
11–25, medium-to-high risk: significant delinquency indicators; many lenders will require collateral or personal guarantees.
1–10, high risk: frequent or severe delinquencies, public record filings, or very thin files; traditional financing is often unavailable.

Business-Only vs. Blended

Experian offers two versions of Intelliscore Plus, and the difference is not just about what data goes in.

The Business-Only model evaluates the company in isolation, relying entirely on trade payment data, public records, and company demographics tied to the business’s Experian file. Each company location gets a unique nine-character Business Identification Number (BIN) that anchors the file. This version is common for established companies with deep commercial credit histories.

The Blended model folds in the owner’s personal credit alongside commercial information. Lenders use this version for small businesses, startups, and sole proprietorships, where the owner’s financial behavior is the best available predictor of how the business will perform. Because the blended model pulls in personal consumer data, it falls under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.⁵

The FCRA defines a “consumer report” as information bearing on a consumer’s creditworthiness that is used or collected to help determine eligibility for credit, employment, or insurance.⁶ A lender pulling the blended report must have a permissible purpose to do so.⁷ The business-only model is not covered by the FCRA. Anyone can pull a business credit report without your permission and without a stated reason, which surprises many owners but has always been how commercial credit reporting works.

How to Check Your Score

You can pull your own Intelliscore Plus score through Experian’s small business portal. Start on the “Find a Business” search page, where you enter the company name and location to locate the correct profile.⁸ Use the exact legal business name as it appears on your state registration filings, and have your EIN ready in case you need to narrow results.

Experian sells individual reports at two levels. The CreditScore Report is $59.95 and includes the Intelliscore Plus score with key score factors. The ProfilePlus Report is $69.95 and adds detailed trade payment data, public records, and corporate information. After payment, you get immediate digital access with a downloadable PDF, and the cached copy stays available for seven days.⁹

If you want continuous access rather than one-off snapshots, the Business Credit Advantage subscription runs $199 per year. It includes unlimited report refreshes, email alerts when someone inquires on your business credit, three-month trend tracking, and identity monitoring through Experian’s CyberAgent service.¹⁰

Building and Improving Your Score

If your business is new or has a thin credit file, the first challenge is getting data onto your Experian report in the first place. A score cannot improve if there is nothing to score.

Start by making sure the business exists as a formal legal entity. Register as an LLC, corporation, or other structure through your state, and get an EIN from the IRS. Open a dedicated business bank account and list a business phone number in directories. These steps create the identity that credit bureaus need to build a file.³

From there, open trade credit accounts with vendors and suppliers that report payment activity to Experian. Not all do, so ask before signing up. Business credit cards that report to commercial bureaus serve the same purpose. Every on-time payment that gets reported adds positive data to your file.

If you already have a file and want to push the score higher, the most direct lever is payment timing. Paying before the due date is better than paying on it, and paying on it is dramatically better than paying a week late. Small DBT figures add up. Reduce utilization by paying down balances or requesting higher limits from existing lenders; keep it below 30 percent at minimum and below 10 percent for the strongest lift.³ Avoid applying for multiple new credit lines in a short window, since each inquiry can drag on the score.⁴

If your report shows outstanding tax liens, judgments, or collection accounts, resolving them should be a priority. These records carry heavy negative weight, and while they do not disappear immediately upon resolution, a satisfied lien looks meaningfully better to the algorithm than an active one.

Disputing Errors on Your Report

Mistakes on business credit reports happen more often than most owners realize, partly because business data aggregation is messier than consumer data. Misattributed trade lines, incorrect public record filings, or debts belonging to a similarly named company can all land on your report.

Pull the report, identify the specific items you believe are inaccurate, and start a dispute through the “Submit Data Dispute” button at the bottom of the report. You can also email the report along with a written explanation to BusinessDisputes@Experian.com.¹¹ Include copies of supporting documents, such as canceled checks, account statements, or lien release certificates.

Experian generally completes the investigation within 30 days. Complex cases can take longer, and Experian is required to give the data reporter ten business days to respond during the investigation.⁹ Focus on items listed in the “key score factors” section. Corrections there are the most likely to actually move your score.¹¹

One caveat matters here. Because business-only credit reports are not covered by the FCRA, you do not have the same statutory dispute rights you have with your personal credit report. Experian maintains a voluntary dispute process for business reports, but the legal protections, timelines, and enforcement mechanisms that apply to consumer reports under federal law do not extend to purely commercial files.

Your Rights When Credit Is Denied

If a lender denies your business credit application based partly on your Intelliscore Plus score, you have rights under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, whether or not the FCRA applies to the report that was pulled.

For businesses with gross revenues of $1 million or less, the lender must provide an adverse action notice that includes the specific reasons for the denial. The lender cannot simply say you “failed to achieve a qualifying score” or that the decision reflected “internal standards.” The notice must identify the actual factors that drove the decision, such as high outstanding balances, recent delinquencies, or insufficient credit history.¹²

Businesses with revenues above $1 million get a lighter version of this protection. The lender must notify you of the denial within a reasonable time, but only has to provide a written explanation of the reasons if you submit a written request within 60 days of the denial notice.¹² Those specific reasons are worth having even when the decision goes against you, because they tell you exactly which parts of your credit profile to work on before applying again.

1
Experian. Intelliscore Plus V3 Product Sheet
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Experian. Intelliscore Plus Product Sheet
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Experian. How to Build Business Credit
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Experian. Business Credit Score Advice
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Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports for Credit Decisions
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681a
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Consumer Laws and Regulations – Fair Credit Reporting Act
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Experian. Find a Business Credit Report and Score
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Experian. Common Questions – Business Credit Reports and Scores
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Experian. Products and Pricing
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Experian. Business Credit Information – How to Correct or Dispute Business Credit Report Items
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR Part 1002 (Regulation B) – Notifications