The secondary credit bureaus are specialty consumer reporting agencies that track pieces of your financial and personal history the big three bureaus usually miss: checking-account closures, rent payments, insurance claims, payday loans, employment and income, medical-underwriting disclosures, bounced checks, and retail returns. The Fair Credit Reporting Act calls them “nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies” and recognizes five categories — medical records or payments, residential or tenant history, check-writing history, employment history, and insurance claims.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681a – Definitions; Rules of Construction A landlord, insurer, bank, or employer may pull one of these reports even if they never look at your traditional credit file, and you have the same core rights over the specialty file that you have over an Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion report.
Bureaus That Fill Gaps in Traditional Credit Data
Innovis
Innovis, a subsidiary of CBC Companies, maintains a consumer credit database similar to those of the three major bureaus and provides credit and identity-verification data to lenders, largely for marketing and fraud prevention.2Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Innovis You can request one free Innovis report every 12 months and place a security freeze directly through the company.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions and SageStream
LexisNexis Risk Solutions builds consumer profiles from public records — real-estate transactions, liens, bankruptcies, professional licenses, and address history — for insurers, lenders, and employers doing identity verification and risk assessment.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. LexisNexis Risk Solutions SageStream is a closely affiliated agency that shares a consumer portal with LexisNexis. Placing a freeze through the LexisNexis consumer portal applies to both your LexisNexis Consumer Disclosure Report and your SageStream Consumer Report.4LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Security Freeze – LexisNexis Risk Solutions Consumer Disclosure
Bureaus That Screen Bank Accounts
ChexSystems
ChexSystems tracks checking- and savings-account history, focusing on involuntary account closures, unpaid overdraft balances, and suspected fraud.5Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Why Was I Denied a Checking Account? Most banks pull a ChexSystems report before opening a new deposit account. Negative information stays on the report for five years from the date the account was closed.6ChexSystems. ChexSystems Frequently Asked Questions Paying off the outstanding debt and asking the reporting bank to update the record can sometimes lead to earlier removal. Some banks and credit unions also offer second-chance checking accounts for people with negative ChexSystems records.
Early Warning Services
Early Warning Services helps banks, retailers, and payment processors detect fraud tied to bank accounts and payment transactions, and it provides deposit-account data to lenders reviewing consumers with thin credit files.7Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Early Warning Services, LLC Because a bank may report to ChexSystems, to Early Warning Services, or to both, pulling reports from each gives you a fuller picture of your deposit-account history.
Bureaus That Track Payday and Subprime Loans
Payday loans, title loans, rent-to-own contracts, and other short-term, high-interest products rarely appear on a traditional credit report. Three specialty agencies exist specifically to track this activity, and each of the major bureaus now owns one:
- Teletrack, owned by Equifax and combined with its DataX business, collects data from payday lenders, rent-to-own businesses, subprime auto-finance companies, and high-risk consumer-finance lenders.8Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Teletrack, LLC
- FactorTrust, owned by TransUnion, collects loan-performance data on nonprime consumers and supplies predictive credit scores to short-term lenders, installment lenders, and subprime auto lenders.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. List of Consumer Reporting Companies
- Clarity Services, owned by Experian, tracks payday loans, installment loans, check-cashing services, rent-to-own transactions, and telecommunications account openings, with a focus on lower-income and subprime consumers.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. List of Consumer Reporting Companies
Because non-bank lenders operate outside the reach of the majors’ traditional files, one of these three specialty agencies is often the only source a payday or installment lender checks before approving a loan.
The Bureau That Verifies Employment and Income
The Work Number, operated by Equifax Workforce Solutions, is the dominant employment-verification agency. It gathers employment and income data directly from employers and payroll processors, then supplies it to lenders reviewing credit applications, government agencies determining eligibility for public assistance, and other employers running background checks.10Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Work Number Your file may include current and past employers, job titles, dates of employment, and salary information. Reviewing it before applying for a mortgage or auto loan can catch outdated job records or wrong salary figures before they slow down approval.
Bureaus That Track Insurance Claims and Medical Underwriting
CLUE
The Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, operated by LexisNexis, stores up to seven years of personal auto and homeowners insurance claims. Each entry typically shows the date of loss, the type of loss, the amount the insurer paid, and the vehicle or property involved. Home and auto insurers pull CLUE reports when you apply for or renew a policy, and a history of frequent claims can lead to higher premiums or denial of coverage.
MIB Group
MIB, Inc. collects information about medical conditions and hazardous activities disclosed during previous insurance applications. Life, health, disability, critical-illness, and long-term-care insurers use MIB data, with your authorization, to assess risk during individual policy underwriting.11Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. MIB, Inc. A condition you disclosed on a life insurance application five years ago may still sit in your MIB file today.
Bureaus That Screen Renters
Experian RentBureau collects rent-payment data from property owners, residential-property managers, electronic rent-payment services, and collection agencies, and shares it with the multifamily-housing industry through tenant-screening companies.12Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Experian RentBureau Other tenant-screening agencies compile eviction records, broken-lease history, and damage claims from landlords. If you are turned down for an apartment, or offered one only with a higher deposit or a co-signer, the landlord must give you an adverse-action notice identifying the screening company that supplied the report.
Bureaus That Handle Checks and Retail Returns
Certegy
Certegy runs a check-authorization platform used by retailers at the point of sale. When you write a check, Certegy scores it against your check-writing history, returned-check records, and account status. If you have a history of bounced checks, Certegy may decline the transaction. You can request a free report to see what it holds on you.
The Retail Equation
The Retail Equation tracks retail-product returns and flags suspected return fraud or abuse. Major retailers use its data to decide whether to approve a return; a declined return slip with a reference number was likely generated by this system.13Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Retail Equation Because it qualifies as a consumer reporting agency, you have the right to request and dispute your return-activity report.
Your Rights Over a Specialty Report
Every agency above is regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, so the protections you have over your traditional credit reports carry over to these narrower files.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681 – Congressional Findings and Statement of Purpose
One Free Report a Year
Each nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency must provide one free copy of your file every 12 months on request.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681j – Charges for Certain Disclosures Most agencies accept requests by phone, mail, or online. Unlike the big three, specialty agencies do not share a single request portal; each has its own process.
Disputing Errors
If a specialty report contains inaccurate information, you can dispute it with the agency. The agency generally has 30 days to investigate by contacting the original data source, or up to 45 days if you submit additional supporting information during the initial window.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy If the source cannot verify the entry, the agency must correct or delete it and send you written notice of the outcome. Keep copies of your dispute letter and any supporting documents, and note the date you sent it, because the clock starts when the agency receives your notice.
Adverse Action Notices
When a company denies you credit, insurance, employment, or a bank account based in whole or in part on a consumer report, it must tell you and identify the agency that supplied the report by name, address, and phone number.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681m – Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports You then have 60 days to request a free copy of that report. This is often how consumers first discover that a specialty bureau has a file on them.
Freezes and Fraud Alerts
Federal law requires the three nationwide credit bureaus to let you place and lift a security freeze for free.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c-1 – Identity Theft Prevention; Fraud Alerts and Active Duty Alerts Several specialty agencies also offer freezes, including LexisNexis and SageStream through a single portal,4LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Security Freeze – LexisNexis Risk Solutions Consumer Disclosure plus Innovis and ChexSystems. Freezing these files can block a fraudulent checking account, payday loan, or insurance policy in your name. Fraud alerts are also available: an initial alert lasts one year, and an extended alert lasts seven years and requires an identity-theft report filed with the FTC or a police report.19FTC: Consumer Advice. Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts Placing an alert with one of the three majors triggers automatic notification to the other two, but specialty agencies generally have to be contacted separately.
Which Reports to Actually Pull
You do not need a file from every specialty agency. Focus on the ones tied to a decision you are worried about:
- Denied a bank account: ChexSystems and Early Warning Services.
- Applying for a mortgage or auto loan: The Work Number, to confirm employment and income data.
- Shopping for home or auto insurance: your CLUE report.
- Applying for life, disability, or long-term-care insurance: MIB.
- Have used payday, installment, or rent-to-own loans: Teletrack, FactorTrust, or Clarity Services, depending on the lender.
- Had a return declined at a major retailer: The Retail Equation.
- Renting an apartment or checking rent-payment history: Experian RentBureau, plus any tenant-screening company named in an adverse-action notice.
The CFPB publishes a list of consumer reporting companies with descriptions of what each agency tracks, whether it offers a free annual report, and how to contact it. That list is the most efficient starting point for identifying which specialty bureau may hold a file on you and how to request it.