Business Credit Bureau:Equifax Launches Small Business Program

July 5, 2010 By Marco Carbajo

Business Credit Bureau – Equifax

In a recent press release Equifax announced the launch of a small business program that now allows you to order your small business credit report.

This is great news for business owners because up until now the only way you could obtain a copy of your report was if your company was declined credit based on a member pulling your report.

Here is a brief overview of the press release:

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) today announced the launch of its Small Business initiative with services to help businesses understand, monitor and strengthen their own credit performance as well as the credit health of the companies they’re doing business with.

Through Equifax’s new Small Business website (equifaxsmallbusiness.com), customers can purchase the Business Credit Report, to easily and cost-effectively check the credit reports of nearly 25 million firms, supplying smaller companies with the type of information to help reduce losses, establish business credit, and benefit from profitable business relationships.

The reports, available via credit card individually or in discounted multi-packs of five, help customers evaluate a potential partner or supplier as well as gain valuable insight into their own business credit score. Unlike others in the industry, Equifax has an exclusive partnership with the Small Business Financial Exchange (SBFE), an organization made up of more than 400 small business financial institutions with a database on more than 24 million companies. This exclusive relationship allows Equifax to combine this unique information with its own distinctive data to offer the most comprehensive, relevant and predictive industry information in the United States.

“Equifax is dedicated to supporting this important segment of the business population by giving them easy access to the same comprehensive business credit data available to larger corporations,” said Dan Csont, Chief Marketing Officer, Equifax Commercial Information Solutions. “With a minor investment, a small business can prepare itself for large opportunities and mitigate risk.”

Equifax Business Credit Reports which are simple to obtain, easy to use and interpret include:

A trade and lending summary showing a company’s financial and non-financial obligations.
A public records summary detailing any judgments, liens, or business registration with secretaries of state.
Three scores to help evaluate a company’s credit risk, payment history and likelihood of business failure.

To help keep an ongoing, watchful eye on critical partner, supplier and customer relationships, Equifax also offers Business Credit Monitoring and Alert services. This service tracks a company’s credit report and sends a daily email if significant changes occur to it. Businesses also use the service to monitor their own business credit scores to help manage their own commercial credit.

To view the press release in its entirety titled Equifax Launches Small Business Program visit the Equifax web site.

SOURCE Equifax Inc.

With Experian launching its new Triple Score Business Credit Report and Dun and Bradstreet joining forces with Transunion and now Equifax announcing its own small business program it’s clear to me that business credit is finally getting the much needed attention it deserves.

Ready to get your business listed with the major business credit bureaus? Become a member of my Business Credit Insiders Circle and gain access to a proven step-by-step business credit building system. A system that provides you access to premium vendors, business credit cards, funding sources and lenders that report to all the major business credit bureaus. Submit your name and email below for details and receive a free audio seminar ($597 value) =>

About the author

Marco Carbajo is a business credit expert, author, speaker, and founder of the Business Credit Insiders Circle. A business credit solutions membership helping business owners obtain business credit. He is a business credit blogger for AllBusiness.com, a subsidiary of Dun and Bradstreet and author of “Eight Steps to Ultimate Business Credit” and “How to Build Business Credit with No Personal Guarantee.” His articles and blogs have also been featured in American Express Small Business, Business Week, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Tribune, Scotsman Guide, Alltop, Entrepreneur Connect, and Active Rain.

Business Debit Card: More Than a Checkbook and Better Than an ATM Card

June 24, 2010 By Marco Carbajo

Business Debit Card

Opening a small business bank account is a vital part of running a business. I’m sure you’re familiar with online banking and overdraft protection but let’s cover the key advantages of the business debit card also known as the business check card.

While checkbooks will always play a part in your business the faster and more convenient way to make company purchases, track expenses, and manage finances is with a business debit card.

This card works like your business checkbook and each time you use the card to make a purchase the amount of the purchase is deducted right from your account. Basically the limit on your business debit card is the amount of funds you currently have available in your business checking account.

Now keep in mind some banks will provide overdraft protection and may even offer an unsecured business credit card that you can link to your account. This comes especially handy when you may not have enough funds to cover a debit card purchase.

For example, let’s suppose you have a $500 balance in your small business bank account and have an unsecured business credit card linked to that same account with a $1,000 limit.

You go to the store and purchase a computer for $900 using your business debit card. Since you only have $500 in your account the unsecured credit card picks up the difference of $400 by tapping into the $1,000 limit you have available therefore allowing the transaction to go through.

Another advantage that comes with a business check card is convenience. Each bank that offers a business debit card will either carry the Visa or MasterCard logo allowing you to use your card anywhere Visa or MasterCard is accepted which is pretty much everywhere.

This again comes in handy if you travel because you don’t have the hassle of getting out-of-town checks cashed. You also don’t have to deal with providing two pieces of identification or waiting for check approval.

Maintaining good records is another major plus that comes from using a small business debit card. When you use the card each and every transaction appears on your statement so you can easily track your business expenses which make it a lot easier on your bookkeeper too!

Finally, a business debit card also has all the advantages of an ATM card so you can make cash withdrawals at thousands of locations. When you apply for your debit card the bank will issue a personal identification number (PIN) to help protect the account and prevent unauthorized use.

Even though using a business check card does not build your business credit files it does play a key role in your bank credit and banking history. So use your debit card responsibly and avoid mismanaging your account at all costs.

Ready to start building bank credit and business credit? Become a member of my Business Credit Insiders Circle and gain access to a proven step-by-step business credit building system. A system that provides you access to premium vendors, business credit cards, funding sources and lenders that report to all the major business credit bureaus. Submit your name and email below for details and receive a free audio seminar ($597 value) =>

About the author

Marco Carbajo is a business credit expert, author, speaker, and founder of the Business Credit Insiders Circle. A business credit building program helping business owners establish business credit. He is a business credit blogger for AllBusiness.com, a subsidiary of Dun and Bradstreet and author of “Eight Steps to Ultimate Business Credit” and “How to Build Business Credit with No Personal Guarantee.” His articles and blogs have also been featured in American Express Small Business, Business Week, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Tribune, Scotsman Guide, Alltop, Entrepreneur Connect, and Active Rain.

FACT Act Furnisher Rules Go In Effect on July 1st: Are you ready?

June 21, 2010 By Marco Carbajo

Fair Credit Act

Last year the FTC and federal banking agencies passed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act Furnisher Rules which imposes major new responsibilities for lenders, servicers, collectors and other financial institutions that report information to credit bureaus like Transunion, Equifax and Experian.

On July 1^{st, 2010} these new rules go into effect and needless to say they are long overdue. Here’s a quick overview of what it consists of:

Accuracy and Integrity Rule

This new rule requires that all companies who supply data to consumer credit bureaus must establish written policies regarding the accuracy and integrity of data it furnishes to the credit bureaus.

In particular I am happy to see that finally the issue of ‘integrity’ of information is being addressed. For far too long consumers have had specific information like credit limits absent from their files. When some creditors do not supply this important data it provides misleading information in evaluating the true creditworthiness, credit standing and credit capacity of an individual.

This lack of ‘integrity’ in data has for many years impacted debt-to-credit utilization ratios, credit scores, financing ability and interest rates.

This newly revised “integrity” provision requires that furnishers provide a credit limit to the consumer credit bureaus, if applicable and in its possession, in order for the furnished information to have “integrity.”

However, on the business side many suppliers and servicers supplying data to the business credit bureaus fail to report the credit limits of businesses.

Unfortunately, this provision does not address the data being supplied to business credit bureaus and the ‘integrity’ of information being supplied in this industry needs to be regulated as well.

Direct Dispute Rule

This rule now allows consumers to take their disputes directly to the company that supplied the data rather than having to deal solely through credit bureaus.

In addition, the rule also includes a debt collector that provides information to a credit bureau as well. It only makes sense because many times a company may sell its debt to a third party collection agency and consumers need to have the ability to initiate a direct dispute with them too.

Now if you are a data furnisher, you are ultimately responsible for the ‘accuracy and integrity’ of your data. Non-compliance has legal consequences so you should prepare your company to meet the new compliance requirements that go into effect on July 1^st.

You may want to check out The Consumer Data Industry Association which has a repeat broadcast event with Mr. Stephen Van Meter, Assistant Director of the Community and Consumer Law Division at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Mr. Andrew Smith, Partner at Morrison & Foerster, for a key discussion on the requirements of these NEW rules.

In their discussions they will cover the new policies and procedures that each data furnisher must establish and implement as well as direct disputes and the required content of a direct dispute notice.

Looking to maximize your consumer and business credit? Become a member of my Business Credit Insiders Circle and gain access to a proven step-by-step business credit building system. A system that provides you access to premium vendors, business credit cards, funding sources and lenders that report to all the major business credit bureaus. Submit your name and email below for details and receive a free audio seminar ($597 value) =>

About the author

Marco Carbajo is a business credit expert, author, speaker, and founder of the Business Credit Insiders Circle. A corporate credit builder system providing business credit services for business owners. He is a business credit blogger for AllBusiness.com, a subsidiary of Dun and Bradstreet and author of “Eight Steps to Ultimate Business Credit” and “How to Build Business Credit with No Personal Guarantee.” His articles and blogs have also been featured in American Express Small Business, Business Week, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Tribune, Scotsman Guide, Alltop, Entrepreneur Connect, and Active Rain.

Build Business Credit and Protect the Corporate Veil

June 17, 2010 By Marco Carbajo

Build Business Credit

Setting up a corporation helps shield your personal assets and personal liability for the debts or actions of your company. It’s treated as a separate legal entity and you must treat it as such which includes avoiding the co mingling of funds, assets and credit files.

One of the reasons to build business credit that gets overlooked the most is protection of the corporate veil.

Unfortunately, corporate veil piercing is the most litigated issue in corporate law today and is more common with small privately held entities. While there are many factors that can cause this let’s focus on the alter ego theory.

Under the alter ego theory a creditor looking to pierce the corporate veil must prove that the owner did not operate his entity as if it were a separate legal entity. This includes some of the formal requirements such as required meetings and recordkeeping.

But did you know this also includes separating your personal financial affairs from your entity’s financial affairs?

By co mingling assets which involves using personal resources like your personal credit cards for business purposes and vice versa you open yourself up to the alter ego theory.

So does this give you incentive enough to build business credit for your company?

You see one of the underlying benefits is the ability to establish a new and separate credit file that is unique from your own personal profile. By doing this you can obtain trade credit, credit cards, leases and loans strictly in the name of your business.

This enables you to separate the financial affairs of your business completely eliminating both your personal credit and personal liability from the equation.

When you decide to build small business credit, the following are the first basic steps:

Incorporate or form a Limited Liability Company
Obtain a Business Federal Tax Identification Number
Complete Corporate Compliance
Open a Small Business Bank Account
Get Listed with the Business Credit Bureaus
Establish Business Credit History
Optimize your Business Credit file and Scores

As long as you respect this separateness, your business entity will have no issues being recognized as a separate entity and will be ultimately responsible for its own debts.

Now there may be instances where a personal guarantee is required to secure a credit line or loan especially if your business has not established enough creditworthiness but make sure the agreements are properly recorded and formally authorized by your entity if in fact your entity’s management structure requires it.

Remember, proper recordkeeping is critical to protecting your limited liability even when you establish business credit in the name of your business.

Don’t leave yourself open to a possible alter ego theory because you don’t want to have unlimited, personal liability for all the debts of your business.

Ready to start building business credit? Become a member of my Business Credit Insiders Circle and gain access to a proven step-by-step business credit building system. A system that provides you access to premium vendors, business credit cards, funding sources and lenders that report to all the major business credit bureaus. Submit your name and email below for details and receive a free audio seminar ($597 value) =>

About the author

Marco Carbajo is a business credit expert, author, speaker, and founder of the Business Credit Insiders Circle. A business credit building system providing business credit without a personal guarantee. He is a weekly columnist for Dun & Bradstreet Small Business Solutions, a business credit blogger for All Business & American Express Small Business and author of “Eight Steps to Ultimate Business Credit” and “How to Build Business Credit with No Personal Guarantee.” His articles and blogs have also been featured in Business Week, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Tribune, Scotsman Guide, Alltop, Entrepreneur Connect, and Active Rain.

Small Business Bank Accounts: How to Establish Bank Credit

June 14, 2010 By Marco Carbajo

Small Business Bank Accounts

As a business owner one of the important decisions you will need to make is deciding where to set up your small business bank accounts. Once you select the banks or financial institutions that fit the needs of your business than you should focus on establishing bank credit.

Bank credit is different from business credit because the criteria are based on factors relating to your business bank accounts. This includes your balance rating, bank rating and NSF check history to name a few.

Did you notice that selecting banks or financial institutions are pluralized? The reason is you should definitely consider establishing multiple banking relationships rather than sticking to just one bank account.

Remember when banks deciding to reduce and in most cases cut the business lines of credit for thousands of small business owners across the country?

The lesson to be learned was don’t depend on just one single bank or financial institution to build all your bank credit with.

Would you rather have one business line of credit with one bank for $150k or would you be much better off and safer with three business lines of credit of $50k each at three separate banks or financial institutions?

Now that we got that out of the way let’s go over what your overall bank credit consists of.

Account Name

When you first open your small business bank account make sure all the information you supply match exactly with the business name and address that is listed on your Federal Tax ID paperwork, articles of incorporation and legal paperwork you have filed with the State.

There must not be any discrepancies because this can also affect how your business information is reported to the business credit bureaus.

Account Age

When you open a smal business checking account keep it open and don’t jump around. This is why you should do your due diligence because the age of your bank account plays a big role in the eyes of lenders.

The longer you have a business account at a particular bank the greater the potential for obtaining larger loans or lines of credit. Now, this is just one component because the next one is far more powerful.

Bank Rating

In a nutshell your bank rating determines how your business manages its cash flow. When you apply for a loan or line of credit lenders use this to determine whether or not your business can handle the extra debt and expense.

Bank ratings consist of three main components which you should familiarize yourself with prior to applying for any type of business loan or small business line of credit.

While I won’t get into the actual numbers I suggest that you shoot for a low five rating and maintain it for at least three months prior to applying.

Remember, even though there are laws and regulations that govern the activities of banks, credit unions and savings loans not all of them are the same neither do they specialize in the same areas of finance!

Looking to start building bank credit? Become a member of my Business Credit Insiders Circle and gain access to a proven step by step business credit building system. A system that provides you access to specialty banks, premium vendors, business credit cards, funding sources and lenders that report to all the major business credit bureaus. Submit your name and email below for details and receive a free audio seminar ($597 value) =>

About the Author

Marco Carbajo is a business credit expert, author, speaker, and founder of the Business Credit Insiders Circle. A business credit building program that provides no personal guarantee business credit. He is a weekly columnist for Dun & Bradstreet Small Business Solutions, a business credit blogger for All Business & American Express Small Business and author of “Eight Steps to Ultimate Business Credit” and “How to Build Business Credit with No Personal Guarantee.” His articles and blogs have also been featured in Business Week, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Tribune, Scotsman Guide, Alltop, Entrepreneur Connect, and Active Rain.