Business credit bureaus are commercial reporting agencies that collect payment, lending, and public-record data on companies and sell that information to lenders, suppliers, and anyone else deciding whether to extend credit. Three dominate the U.S. market: Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, and Equifax Small Business. A handful of niche and international providers fill in gaps for specific industries or cross-border trade. Unlike your personal credit file, your business credit file is not free to access, is not covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and may not exist at all unless you have taken deliberate steps to build one.
The Three Major Bureaus
Dun & Bradstreet
D&B is the oldest and largest of the three, with files on more than 600 million businesses worldwide.1Dun & Bradstreet. What Is a D-U-N-S Number? Every business it tracks gets a D-U-N-S Number, a unique nine-digit identifier assigned to each physical location. Federal agencies and many large corporations require the number before approving a contract or processing an application, and it keeps your company’s commercial credit profile separate from the owners’ personal credit.
Requesting a D-U-N-S Number is free. Standard processing can take up to 30 business days; expedited service for a fee delivers the number in roughly eight business days.2Dun & Bradstreet. Get a D-U-N-S Number Without one, D&B cannot build a file on your business, which can stall loan applications and government contracting opportunities.
Experian Business
Experian runs its commercial division separately from its consumer operation. Its signature product, Intelliscore Plus, predicts how likely a company is to fall seriously delinquent within the next 12 months. The score runs from 0 to 100, with higher numbers indicating lower risk.3Experian. Intelliscore Plus Product Sheet Lenders lean on it for equipment leases, commercial lines of credit, and SBA-backed loans.
Equifax Small Business
Equifax’s commercial arm pulls heavily from the Small Business Financial Exchange, a non-profit trade association where lenders pool their customers’ payment data.4Small Business Financial Exchange. FAQs SBFE data captures commercial credit cards, term loans, and leases that often don’t appear anywhere else. Equifax is one of SBFE’s exclusive bureau partners alongside D&B, Experian, and LexisNexis Risk Solutions.5Small Business Financial Exchange. Become a Member
Niche and International Providers
Creditsafe covers more than 430 million businesses globally and is often the first stop for companies doing cross-border trade.6FinTech Wales. Creditsafe Its standardized rating lets you compare a potential overseas partner against a consistent benchmark rather than piecing together reports from different national bureaus.
Cortera, now owned by Moody’s, holds credit data on more than 36 million North American companies and focuses on accounts receivable and trade payment patterns.7Moody’s Corporation. Moody’s to Acquire Cortera, a Leader in Credit Data and Insights Ansonia plays a similar role in transportation and logistics, where high-volume, short-term transactions require fast credit decisions. These specialty files are worth checking when the big three don’t carry much trade data on a company you’re vetting.
The Scores That Come Out of These Files
D&B PAYDEX
PAYDEX is D&B’s flagship payment-performance score. It runs from 1 to 100, and higher means more reliably on time. The calculation uses only trade experiences reported to D&B by vendors and suppliers.8Dun & Bradstreet. What is a PAYDEX Score? A score of 80 indicates paying on the due date; above 80 means early payment; below 80 means payments arrive late on average. Lenders and larger vendors often treat 80 as the threshold for favorable terms.
Experian Intelliscore Plus
Intelliscore Plus blends business credit data with owner or guarantor risk factors to predict serious delinquency over the next 12 months. On its 0-to-100 scale, higher is better.9Experian. Business Profile with Intelliscore Plus Because the model can incorporate personal credit information, it’s especially common in evaluations of newer businesses that haven’t built up much commercial history.
What’s Inside a Business Credit Report
A standard report opens with identifying details: legal name, physical address, year established, and industry classification codes that let a lender compare the company against peers in the same sector. Those details tie the financial data to the correct legal entity rather than a similarly named company down the road.
Payment performance records make up the core of the file. The most commonly cited metric is Days Beyond Terms, the average number of days a company pays its invoices past the due date. An industry norm sits around 7 days; sustained numbers above that point to cash-flow stress or weak financial discipline.
Reports also carry UCC-1 filings, which show whether a lender has registered a legal claim against the business’s assets as collateral. Secured loans and equipment leases typically generate one. Tax liens and court judgments round out the legal-risk section. Together these entries let a potential lender or partner see how the company handles money and what existing obligations compete for repayment.
Where the Data Comes From
Most of it comes from trade credit references. When your business buys on net-30 or net-60 terms, the supplier can report the payment date and amount owed directly to one or more bureaus. This reporting is voluntary, and it’s the main reason opening accounts with vendors who report is one of the fastest ways to build a credit file.
Banks and other financial institutions contribute a second layer by sharing information on business loans, credit lines, balances, and missed payments. SBFE pools this lending data from its members and distributes it to its bureau partners, giving a more complete view than any single lender could produce.5Small Business Financial Exchange. Become a Member
Public records fill in the rest. Bureaus pull data from Secretary of State offices to verify legal status, formation date, and registered agent, and they monitor court filings for lawsuits, judgments, and bankruptcies.
How to Pull Your Own Reports
Business credit reports are not free, and prices vary by depth.
Experian’s CreditScore Report runs $59.95, and the more detailed ProfilePlus Report costs $69.95. An annual subscription with alerts and ongoing monitoring is $199.10Experian. Business Credit Report Product Comparison
D&B takes a different approach. Its D&B Credit Insights product has a free tier showing risk-range indicators for four scores (PAYDEX, Delinquency Score, Failure Score, and Supplier Evaluation Risk), a payment history summary, recent inquiries, and basic company information.11Dun & Bradstreet. Grow with D&B Credit Insights The free tier won’t show exact score values or detailed trade-line history, but it’s enough to spot red flags. Paid tiers unlock full scores and detailed payment experience data.
Equifax business reports are generally available through third-party resellers rather than a direct consumer-facing portal, with single reports typically running $25 to $45 depending on the level of detail.
To pull a report, you visit the bureau’s portal, enter the legal business name and state of formation, and complete an identity check. Reports arrive as a PDF within minutes of payment. One thing worth knowing: third parties such as potential lenders and trade partners can purchase your business credit report without your permission.
Business Credit Reports and the Law
This is where owners often get tripped up. The Fair Credit Reporting Act applies to “consumer reports” used to evaluate eligibility for credit “to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.”12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681a – Definitions; Rules of Construction A report pulled solely for a business-to-business credit decision generally falls outside that definition.
In practice, you have no federal right to a free annual business credit report, no statutory dispute timeline, and no requirement that bureaus tell you when someone pulls your file. The protections that do exist come from each bureau’s voluntary policies and, in D&B’s case, from an FTC enforcement order imposing specific obligations.
Disputing Errors
Each bureau runs its own dispute process, and accuracy matters more than many owners expect. A single misattributed judgment or a payment history mixed up with another company’s file can sink a lease approval or kill a contract.
D&B accepts disputes online at no charge. Under a modified FTC order, the company must either delete the disputed information or conduct a reasonable investigation. Disputes about basic identifying information must be resolved within 7 business days, with a possible 7-day extension; disputes about payment experience or public records like liens get 14 business days, extendable by another 14. D&B must notify you of the results within 5 business days and provide free access to the corrected report.13Federal Trade Commission. Dun & Bradstreet: Modified Decision and Order
Experian takes commercial disputes through its online portal or by email to its Commercial Relations group. Cases are typically assigned to an agent within 5 to 7 business days, data reporters get 10 business days to respond when verification is needed, and most cases close within 30 days.14Experian. Frequently Asked Questions – General FAQs Provide every past and current business name and address when you file so identity matching doesn’t slow things down.
Equifax handles commercial disputes through its Commercial Disclosure team, reachable by phone or mail.4Small Business Financial Exchange. FAQs Because much of its small-business data flows through SBFE, some disputes may need to be traced back to the original lender that reported the entry.
Building a File in the First Place
A business credit profile doesn’t build itself. If you’ve never taken deliberate steps, the bureaus may have nothing on you even after years of operation. The SBA recommends registering for a D-U-N-S Number as one of the first steps toward establishing business credit.15U.S. Small Business Administration. Establish Business Credit
From there, the fastest way to generate a file is to open trade accounts with vendors who report. Office supply companies, industrial distributors, and shipping suppliers commonly offer net-30 terms and report to at least one major bureau. Several active trade lines paid on time or early will drive your PAYDEX up and populate your Experian and Equifax files at the same time.
A secured business credit card is a practical starting point for brand-new businesses. You put down a deposit that becomes your credit limit, use the card for routine expenses, and pay in full each month. Some issuers eventually convert the account to an unsecured card, and the payment history feeds into your commercial profile.16U.S. Small Business Administration. Is a Secured Business Credit Card Right for You
Keep business finances completely separate from personal accounts. Use a dedicated business bank account, get an EIN, and make sure every vendor and lender has your legal business name and D-U-N-S Number on file. Mixing personal and business transactions is the most common reason new companies end up with thin or empty commercial files despite years of reliable payments.