General Mercantile Agency an agency that collects credit information about businesses and businessmen and furnishes it to subscribers

called also commercial agency Specialized organization that supplies information on the creditworthiness and financial strength of business firms. The first such agency, the Mercantile Agency, was founded in New York City in 1841. It provided information to businesses that were expanding nationally and were unable to assess the credit history of prospective customers in distant locations. It changed its name to R. G. Dun & Co. after 1859 and merged with the Bradstreet Co. in 1933 to form Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., the best-known mercantile agency. Mercantile agencies may provide information on all types of business firms or may limit their investigations to firms in a particular line of trade or a particular region. Most agencies provide both general and special reports. General reports, issued periodically on all firms investigated by the agency, assign a rating to the firm's financial statement and creditworthiness. Special reports containing more detailed information are issued to clients of the agency on request. See also credit bureau. Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. is a public company headquartered in Short Hills, a community in Millburn, New Jersey, USA[2] that licenses information on businesses and corporations for use in credit decisions, business-to-business marketing and supply chain management. Often referred to as D&B, the company maintains information on more than 220 million companies worldwide. Dun & Bradstreet traces its history back to July 20, 1841, with the formation of The Mercantile Agency in New York City by Lewis Tappan, later called R.G. Dun & Company. The company was formed to create a network of correspondents who would provide reliable, objective credit information. In 1933, Dun merged with competitor John M. Bradstreet to form today's Dun & Bradstreet. The Data Universal Numbering System(DUNS) was invented in 1962. credit bureau or consumer reporting agency (United States), or credit reference agency (United Kingdom) is a company that collects information from various sources and provides consumer credit information on individual consumers for a variety of uses. It is an organization providing information on individuals' borrowing and bill-paying habits.[1] Credit information such as a persons previous loan performance is a powerful tool to predict his future behavior. Such credit information institutions reduce the effect of asymmetric information between borrowers and lenders, and alleviate problems of adverse selection and moral hazard. For example, adequate credit information could facilitate lenders in screening and monitoring borrowers as well as avoid giving loans to high risk individuals.[2] This helps lenders assess credit worthiness, the ability to pay back a loan, and can affect the interest rate and other terms of a loan. Interest rates are not the same for everyone, but instead can be based on risk-based pricing, a form of price discrimination based on the different expected risks of different borrowers, as set out in their credit rating. Consumers with poor credit repayment histories or court adjudicated debt obligations like tax liens or bankruptcies will pay a higher annual interest rate than consumers who don't have these factors. Additionally, decision-makers in areas unrelated to consumer credit, including employment screening and underwriting of property and casualty insurance, increasingly depend on credit records, as studies have shown that such records have predictive value.[3] At the same time, consumers also benefit from a good credit information system because it

reduces the effect of credit monopoly from banks,[4] and it provides incentives for borrowers to repay their loans on time. TransUnion TransUnion has offices across the country that deal with different aspects of credit: credit management, identity theft, and other credit problems; and types of credit clients, such as personal, business, and press inquiries. If you find errors on your TransUnion credit report, you can call them at 800.916.8800 or visit their website to dispute them. If you think that you're a victim of identity theft, call them at 800.680.7289 as soon as possible.

Experian Like other credit bureaus, Experian offers a wide range of different services for people, businesses, and the media. Experian is based in Costa Mesa, CA, and has a website, but if you find errors on your report or need to report a possible identity theft, this credit bureau makes it hard to find phone numbers on the site. Instead, they encourage visitors to use online forms for disputes, identity theft reports, and other issues.

Equifax Based in Atlanta, GA, Equifax also has different departments to assist people with different types of questions and concerns. Their website is also set up to have people use online forms to address errors, report identity theft, and handle other concerns. However, if someone thinks that his or her identity has been stolen, he or she can call 888.397.3742 to report it to Equifax. If someone spots an error on his or her Equifax credit report, that person must use the contact number on the report to dispute it. There is no number on the site to report errors. These are the three credit bureaus in the country, and they each take a different approach to allowing people to contact them to ask questions or address any issues they may be experiencing. Instead of contacting the credit bureaus directly, many people prefer to use a credit monitoring service to help them manage their credit and stay on top of their finances. The credit bureaus all have similar programs, but most folks prefer to use an independent company to help them with these matters. That way, they get an impartial view of their credit and many more tools to proactively manage their credit ratings!