How the 3 major business credit bureaus work

The three major credit bureaus—Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), Experian, and Equifax—collect, analyze, and provide credit-related data on individuals and businesses.

If you own a business, you know how important it is to establish and maintain a strong business credit profile. Your business credit scores, generated by the major business credit bureaus, play a critical role in determining your access to financing, trade credit, and even potential partnerships. However, many business owners are unfamiliar with these bureaus and how they operate.

In this article, we take an in-depth look at these business credit reporting agencies, how they collect information, and what you can do to ensure your business credit profile is in top shape.

What credit bureau do most businesses use?

Most businesses primarily use Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) for business credit reporting, as it specializes in business credit scores like the PAYDEX score and assigns businesses a D-U-N-S Number for tracking credit activity.

However, Experian Business and Equifax Business are also widely used, especially by lenders assessing both business and owner credit history. Additionally, some lenders and financial institutions use the FICO Small Business Scoring Service (SBSS), which incorporates data from multiple credit bureaus.

Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Business Credit Scores and Reports

Dun & Bradstreet is the oldest and most well-known business credit bureau. Founded in 1841, D&B maintains credit files on over 500 million business records worldwide.

You can get a free D-U-N-S Number on D&B's website. Once you have a D-U-N-S Number, you should encourage any vendors or suppliers you work with to report your payments to D&B to help establish your credit profile.

PAYDEX Score

The main business credit score generated by D&B is called the PAYDEX score. PAYDEX scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating a better payment history. The PAYDEX mostly takes payment history into account amidst other factors such as number of trade experiences, credit utilization, and length of business credit history.

To have a PAYDEX score, your business must have a D-U-N-S Number and at least two trade references that report payment activity to D&B.

Is a 76 Dun and Bradstreet score good? It’s solidly good. Scores of 80 or above are considered great. 50-79 are considered fair to good while a score under 50 is regarded as subpar and indicates a past record of overdue payments or accounts in default.

Other D&B Credit Scores

In addition to the PAYDEX, D&B generates several other scores and ratings, including the Delinquency Predictor Score, Failure Score, Cyber Risk Rating, ESG Ranking, and D&B Rating. These assess things like the likelihood of late payments or business failure over the next 12 months.

How to get a D&B credit report

To get a Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) credit report, visit the D&B website and request a business credit report by providing your D-U-N-S Number (or applying for one if you don’t have it). You can access a free basic report through its CreditSignal service or purchase a detailed PAYDEX score and financial risk report for deeper insights. Businesses can also request a copy of their report directly from D&B’s customer service.

Equifax Business Credit Scores and Reports

Equifax is one of the major consumer credit bureaus that also offers business credit reporting services. To establish a credit file with Equifax, your business must be incorporated, have a business credit card or trade line that reports to Equifax, or have already applied for business credit in your company's name.

It offers three different scores: the Payment Index, the Credit Risk Score, and the Business Failure Score.

Equifax Payment Index

One of the main Equifax business credit scores is called the Payment Index. Similar to the PAYDEX, it ranges from 1 to 100 with higher scores predicting a lower risk of late payments.

‍Equifax Business Credit Risk Score

Equifax provides both a credit risk score which assesses the likelihood of a company becoming severely delinquent on payments. The credit risk score ranges from 101–992 with lower scores indicating higher risk.

Equifax Business Failure Score

Equifax also provides a business failure score that predicts the chance of a business failing through bankruptcy over the next 12 months. The failure risk score range runs from 1,000–1,610.

Like its Credit Risk score, a higher score indicates higher risk.

‍How to get an Equifax business credit report

Equifax offers business credit reports through its website at a price of $99.95 per report. Alternatively, you can opt for a package of five credit checks for $399.95. Additionally, Equifax provides credit monitoring services at a monthly cost of $16.95.

Experian Business Credit Reports and Scores

Experian is another major consumer credit bureau that maintains business credit information.

Experian Intelliscore Plus

Experian's main business credit score is the Intelliscore Plus which ranges from 1 to 100. Scores of 76 or higher predict a low risk of late payments or default while 1 indicates the highest risk.

Experian Financial Stability Risk Score

Experian also provides various other scores and indicators of credit risk like the financial stability risk score which uses a scale of 1 to 5 to assess a company's creditworthiness. The number captures the company’s risk of failure over the next 12 months, with 1 being the lowest risk and 5 the highest.

How to get an Experian credit report for businesses

Experian provides a business credit score report package with prices starting at $39.95 for each report. In addition to its standard credit score report, Experian also offers a business credit advantage package at an annual cost of $189. This package includes access to Intelliscore Plus, credit summaries, trade payment details, supplementary analysis, and alerts.

SBSS and other business credit scores

In addition to the scores provided by the three main business credit bureaus (Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax), a small business owner’s company may also be evaluated using other credit scoring models. One of the most widely recognized is the FICO Small Business Scoring Service (SBSS) score, which is commonly used by lenders, including the Small Business Administration (SBA), to assess applications for business loans, other lines of credit, or credit limits.

The FICO SBSS score ranges from 0 to 300, with higher scores indicating lower credit risk. The FICO SBSS score considers data from your business credit reports as well as your personal credit report, so maintaining strong personal credit in addition to responsible business financial management is key to securing favorable financing options.

Other business credit reporting agencies include:

• Creditsafe: A global business credit agency that sells business credit reports
• LexisNexis: A business credit reporting agency that is part of the RELX organization
• CSC Credit Services: A credit reporting agency that is part of Equifax
• Ansonia: A business credit reporting agency specializing in transportation, logistics, and freight industries
• PayNet: Focuses on small business credit lending to help lenders evaluate business loan applicants.

What is an example of business credit?

Here's an example to illustrate how business credit works:

Suppose you own a catering company and regularly purchase supplies from a restaurant supplier on trade credit, allowing you to pay within 30 days. The supplier reports your payment history to Dun & Bradstreet, helping establish a trade credit account on your business credit report. Consistently paying on time improves your PAYDEX score (which primarily reflects payment history).

As you build relationships with multiple suppliers and open a business credit card, your credit profile strengthens. When applying for a loan to expand your business, the lender reviews your business credit report, sees a strong PAYDEX score (80–100) and a history of timely payments, increasing your chances of securing better loan terms. Managing this new loan responsibly further boosts your business credit, opening more financing opportunities in the future.

Where does business credit information come from?

Business credit bureaus gather information from a variety of sources to generate their reports and scores. The main sources include:

• Trade references: Vendors and suppliers your business works with can report your payment activity to the bureaus. This is why it's important to establish trade lines with companies that report to the bureaus.‍
• Business credit cards: If you have any business credit cards, your lender will likely report your activity to one or more business credit bureau.‍
• Public records: The bureaus collect public information like business registrations, licenses, and any legal filings (liens, bankruptcies, judgments) from local, county, and state government databases.
• ‍Company data: Basic facts about your business, like years in operation, SIC or NAICS code, number of employees, and annual sales, can come from information you supply directly to the bureaus or from data aggregators.
• ‍Collection agencies: If any debts are reported to collection agencies, this will likely appear on your business credit reports too.

How long does information stay on your business credit report?

Each bureau has different policies for how long information remains on file. However, Experian clearly displays them online adhering to standard industry and government guidelines. The specific data retention periods are as follows:

• Trade data: 36 months
• Bankruptcies: 9 years and 9 months
• Judgments: 6 years and 9 months
• Tax liens: 6 years and 9 months
• Uniform Commercial Code filings: 5 years
• Collections: 6 years and 9 months
• Bank, government and leasing data: 36 months

How do I check my business credit report?

Here’s a summary of how to get your business credit report by requesting it from the three major business credit bureaus:

• Dun & Bradstreet (D&B): Visit its website to get a free basic CreditSignal report or purchase a detailed PAYDEX score report.
• Experian Business: Use its Business Credit Advantage service to access your full credit profile.
• Equifax Business: Purchase a report through Equifax’s Business Credit Reports & Scores portal.

Each bureau may have different data on your business, so it's best to check all three for a complete picture.

How can I improve my business credit score?

To improve the score on your commercial credit reports, follow these key steps:

• Pay bills on time: Consistently make timely payments to vendors and creditors to build a strong payment history.
• Manage credit utilization: Keep balances low on business credit cards and avoid maxing out credit lines.
• Establish trade lines: Work with suppliers that report to Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, and Equifax Business to strengthen your credit profile.
• Monitor your credit reports: Regularly review your business credit reports for errors and dispute inaccuracies.
• Increase credit limits: Request higher limits to improve your credit utilization ratio.
• Limit hard inquiries: Only apply for new credit when necessary to avoid excessive inquiries.
• Strengthen business credibility: Keep your business registered, maintain positive cash flow, and use a dedicated business bank account.

» Learn more: How to get and build business credit

How Ramp can help you build business credit

One of the smartest ways to establish business credit is with a corporate card that reports to the major bureaus–and that's exactly what Ramp offers. With Ramp, you can:

• Get a corporate card with no personal guarantee or credit check required. We evaluate your business on its own merit.
• Build your business credit. We report your on-time payments to bureaus, such as Experian, Equifax and Dun & Bradstreet, helping you establish a positive credit history.
• Manage your business financial information and spending with powerful expense management tools, spend controls, and real-time reporting all built into our platform.
• Automate your accounting and save time with seamless integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct and more.

With Ramp, you can access the capital you need to grow your business while building a strong business credit profile—all without impacting your personal credit. Customers also get to save an average of 5% on business expenses too. It's a win-win situation.

Visit Ramp to learn more and get started.