Each business credit bureau is unique in the way they operate, so it’s important to understand the dos and don’ts with each of them. One of these areas is how your credit files are created.
Dun & Bradstreet®
With Dun & Bradstreet it is a must to proactively request your DUNS number to generate a file for your company in their database. You could spend thousands of dollars making purchases even from our recommended vendors, but if you don’t have a DUNS number established, you are not going to see any activity for your company in Dun & Bradstreet’s database, let alone see anything report. It would be like throwing your money to the wind!
Experian Business®
Experian is a whole different game. While they do provide the ability to proactively request your BIN from them, we find the fastest and easiest route is to set up an account with Uline and make a purchase with them. Uline will generate your Experian report for you because Experian WILL self-generate a BIN file for your company based on reporting. The possible downside to this, however, is that we often see the need to update and merge inaccurate Experian files for our members when they join because they may not have understood the ins and outs of vendor credit and how reporting works along the way. But not to worry, we have the answers!
Equifax Commercial®
Equifax operates very similar to Experian in that you will not be requesting your EFX ID from them. Your file will be generated with the first account we set up that reports to Equifax and for most clients this usually happens by setting up NAV prime for their monitoring and getting the added benefit of their monthly monitoring being reported to all three business bureaus, including Equifax.
