My Business Credit Report is Nonexistent. 5 Ways to Build It

August 7, 2018 By Marco Carbajo

My Business Credit Report

Is a business credit report for your company nonexistent?

If you plan to apply for a business loan, buy equipment, open a credit line with a supplier – just about anything that requires borrowing money – having a business credit report established is crucial.

With an established business credit report; banks, lenders, suppliers, retailers, etc. will be able to assess the creditworthiness of your company. Look at it as a report card for how your business handles its financial obligations.

Your business credit report will be used for setting terms on credit, loans, lease payments and insurance premiums to name a few. For example, if you apply for an SBA loan, you are required to have a minimum FICO® SBSS score of 140 (out of 300), which is calculated based on both personal and business credit report information.

Now I’m sure you’ll agree how important it is to have a business credit report for your company but what can you do if you have nothing listed? What steps can you take to establish a business credit report for your startup or existing business?
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Three Ways to Boost Your Business Credit Ratings

December 9, 2010 By Marco Carbajo

Business Credit Ratings

business credit ratings

Is your company listed with the major business credit bureaus?

Would your company’s credit ratings be considered creditworthy in the eyes of lenders?

Like personal credit scores your business credit scores or ratings play a significant role in the amount of financing your company can obtain. It also affects the interest rates and level of terms a creditor will extend to you.

So a better business credit rating equals greater opportunity, lower rates, and better terms.

Here are three ways you can improve your business credit scores:
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Where Does a Business Credit Bureau Get Its Information?

July 26, 2010 By Marco Carbajo

Business Credit Bureau

As a business owner it’s important for you to understand the integral role that a business credit bureau plays in the world of business finance. The data it collects on your business can impact whether or not your application for credit is approved or declined, the rate of interest your company will pay and even the amount of credit you can obtain.

In simple words, a business credit bureau is a repository of collected trade and credit information on millions of companies.

All this collected data is compiled into what are known as business credit reports which are furnished to potential creditors so the creditors can make sound credit granting decisions.

The integrity of this information being disseminated is vital to the success of our country’s credit system.

So it’s essential for you to know how a business credit bureau gets its information about your company. The more informed you are the better you can ensure that your company is being portrayed in the right light to potential creditors.

There are some primary and secondary sources, which are:

Incorporation filings from state and county courts
Business registrations (state, city, county)
Corporate financial reports
Self reported data from company principles
Payment data from suppliers and creditors
Banking data from suppliers and creditors
Companies granting credit (vendors, suppliers, lease companies, etc.)
Uniform Commercial Codes (UCC Filings)
Contracts, grants and loans from the Federal government
Bankruptcy filings from state and county courts
Public records of suits, liens and judgments
Internet data mining
Yellow pages and other print directories
News and media
Company press releases

As you can see all these sources contribute to the information that goes into creating your business credit reports. So stay consistent with all the information you provide about your company so there is no discrepancy or mismatched data.

You can always search the database of a business credit bureau to verify if your company is listed and then order a full report to check for accuracy. Dun and Bradstreet, Corporate Experian and Small Business Equifax all offer database search functions as well as business credit bureaus like Credit.net and Cortera.

Its one thing to get your company listed but what’s even more important is ensuring that your company information is being listed accurately

Ready to start building your business credit reports? 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 vendor lines of credit, fleet cards, business credit cards with and without a PG, 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 providing corporate credit with no personal guarantee. 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 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 Credit Repair:Is Your Business Credit Report Less Than Perfect?

April 19, 2010 By Marco Carbajo

Business Credit Repair

In today’s challenging economy, business owners should be diligent in protecting and, if necessary, repairing their business credit reports.

Unfortunately there’s not much helpful information regarding business credit repair and how you go about correcting errors, inaccuracies or obsolete information on your files with the three main business credit bureaus.

Just the other day one of my members was debating whether to purchase a shelf corporation or work on his existing entity which had two derogatory marks on its DNB file.

He felt it would be much easier to start over instead of working on repairing his existing file because he had no idea of how to go about correcting it.

I suggested he follow some simple steps to initiate an investigation and after one business day his file was updated and the negative marks were both deleted on his file.

This is why it’s so important to monitor your files because the only one who is policing them and ensuring that the data being reported is accurate is you!

There are currently no laws that protect business owners from unfair business credit reporting, like the Fair Credit Reporting Act does for consumers. Business credit repair starts with you and in order to help you I’ve put together several steps you will need to take to initiate an investigation with the business credit bureaus.

Dun & Bradstreet

DNB’s eUpdate enables you to view your business credit report and edit your information all online. If you uncover a derogatory mark that is inaccurate then you will need to contact D&B at 888-814-1435 to request an investigation. They are very fast to respond and I have found that once they complete an investigation the results are updated on your files quickly.

Equifax Small Business

If your business has a profile listed with Equifax Small Business you can get a copy by contacting them and supplying the member (business) name of a company that plans to pull your business credit report. Keep in mind that Business Equifax will provide you a copy of your report ONLY if you supply them with a member name.

Another option to obtain your report is if you have been declined credit based on a member pulling your report. You can contact Business Equifax at 1-800-727-8495

After reviewing your file and if you identify errors that you want to correct then complete the research request form which is provided with your Equifax Business Credit Report. Simply fill out the form and submit it via fax or mail to initiate an investigation.

Corporate Experian

You can order your business file at Smart Business Reports and once you locate any items that you want to dispute call Corporate Experian at 888-808-8242. The dispute process with them is simple and less time intensive then most people are led to believe.

So I encourage you to be diligent with monitoring your business credit files and use this business credit repair information to guide you through the process if you uncover any negative items in question.

To your business credit success!

Looking to rebuild your 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 membership helping business owners build small 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.