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The Daily Insight Hub

What are the functions of a credit bureaus?

Author

Andrew Campbell

Updated on February 08, 2026

Credit bureaus provide some of the information creditors and lenders use to help them make important lending decisions. While credit bureaus collect credit information in order to make it available to certain third parties, the decision to deny or approve someone credit ultimately lies with the lender or creditor.

What is the main role of the three major credit reporting agencies?

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are the three main consumer credit bureaus. They collect and store information about you that they use to generate your credit reports, which are used as the basis of your credit scores.

What are the 5 elements of your credit score?

There are five factors that are used to calculate your FICO credit score: your payment history; how much debt you have relative to available credit; how long you have had credit accounts; your mix of different types of credit (loans and credit card accounts); and your appetite for new credit.

What are the three major credit?

On AnnualCreditReport.com you are entitled to a free annual credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies. These agencies include Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

Which credit score is most important?

FICO® Scores
Which credit score matters the most? While there’s no exact answer to which credit score matters most, lenders have a clear favorite: FICO® Scores are used in over 90% of lending decisions.

Which is the most important credit score?

What is the purpose of a credit reporting agency?

Credit reporting agencies serve various purposes in the credit industry. They maintain credit information, calculate credit scores, provide credit reports and partner with credit issuers for marketing.

What are the credit agencies?

Credit reporting agencies are generally one of two types: reporting either on individuals or on businesses. The largest consumer credit reporting agencies are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

Who is responsible for maintaining your credit report?

Credit reporting agencies (CRAs) collect and maintain information for your credit reports. Each CRA manages its own records and might not have information about all your accounts. Even though there are differences between their reports, no agency is more important than the others.

Who are the largest credit reporting agencies in the US?

A credit reporting agency (also known as a credit bureau or consumer reporting agency) collects and records the credit information of both individual consumers and businesses. In the United States, the industry is dominated by the largest credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.