What every CEO should know about the three business credit bureaus, and why personal credit and business credit are not the same thing.
D&B maintains a business credit file built from trade experiences, public records, and firmographic data. It aggregates how a business pays its bills, along with filings and basic company facts.
PAYDEX is D&B's payment behavior score, expressed on a 0 to 100 scale. A higher number generally means payments are made earlier relative to the agreed terms. It is a payment performance indicator, not a guarantee of credit approval.
Your D&B file includes your business name, address, industry, employee count, public filings, and trade lines. You build it by obtaining a DUNS number and having reporting vendors submit trade experiences on your account.
Experian's commercial reports combine trade data, public records, and demographic information into a business credit risk profile. The report is what other businesses may pull when evaluating your company.
Reported tradelines show whether you pay early, on time, or late. The pattern over time is what matters, not a single payment. Consistent on-time or early payments generally support a stronger profile.
Experian calculates commercial risk scores, such as Intelliscore, to estimate the likelihood of severe delinquency. Lower risk indicators generally support access to more favorable terms from creditors and partners.
Equifax maintains commercial credit files built from trade lines, public records, and business demographic data. These files help creditors assess a business's payment reliability and stability.
Reporting vendors contribute payment experiences that Equifax uses to score payment behavior and business failure risk. Verify reporting directly with each creditor, because reporting policies and approval requirements can change.
Personal credit follows your Social Security Number with the consumer bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Business credit follows your Employer Identification Number with the commercial bureaus: D&B, Experian Business, and Equifax Business.
Consumer scores like FICO and VantageScore are different from commercial scores like PAYDEX, Intelliscore, and Equifax business risk scores. They use different data and different models.
Personal credit comes from consumer accounts such as credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages. Business credit comes from trade lines with vendors and suppliers, plus public business records.
Many business funding applications still require a personal credit check because the owner guarantees the debt. Strong business credit helps, but it often does not fully replace a personal credit review.
Consumer credit pulls require permissible purpose and, in many cases, your authorization. Business credit files are often accessible to other businesses with a legitimate business purpose.
Personal credit builds through consumer accounts and on-time payments. Business credit builds through a registered legal entity, an EIN, reporting tradelines, and consistent on-time payments to those tradelines.
This guide describes how business credit reporting works in general terms. It is not a guarantee of any credit outcome. Reporting policies and approval requirements can change. Verify reporting directly with each creditor before relying on any account to build credit.
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