If you’re applying for a credit card, bank loan, or line of credit from a lender, the first thing you need to check is your credit score.TransUnion is one of the credit reporting agencies that will provide that information to the lender or credit issuer that you applied to.
We all know that there are three major credit reporting agencies, and TransUnion is one of those. And in this article, you will learn all about TransUnion and how they calculate your credit score so you can make good decisions for your future credit plans and transactions.
About TransUnion
First of all, what is TransUnion? TransUnion is an American credit reporting agency and has been doing business for over 50 years, based in Chicago, Illinois, TransUnion’s 2014 reported revenue was US$ 1.3 billion. The company provides services to over one billion individual consumers in over 30 countries.
TransUnion was originally formed in 1968 as a holding company of the Union Tank Car Company, a railroad leasing company, but in 1969, TransUnion recognized an opportunity to grow a business using its technical expertise. The company acquired the Credit Bureau of Cook County (CBCC), which was manually storing 3.6 million credit account files in 400 seven-drawer cabinets.
After acquiring the CBCC, TransUnion became the first credit reporting agency to replace account receivable information with an automated tape-to-disc transfer, dramatically reducing the amount of time and money required to update consumer data.
What does TransUnion do?
TransUnion collects and aggregates data for about more than one billion individual consumers across more than 30 countries, and nearly every credit-active consumer in the United States.” Its customers include 65,000 businesses.
TransUnion offers a variety of services and products. The company markets credit reports along with credit and fraud-protection products directly to customers. On June 25, 2015, the company became a publicly traded company for the first time, trading under TRU. Transunion later began offering products and services to consumers and businesses. For businesses, it updated its traditional credit score offering to include trend data that can help determine consumer debt and repayment behavior. That product is also known as CreditVision.
Check this list of some of the products and services that TransUnion offers for businesses and individuals:
For Businesses
- Advanced Analytics
- Account Monitoring
- Account Prioritization
- Customer Engagement
- Customer Credit Reporting
- Customer Acquisition
- Debt Recovery
- Digital Lending
- Digital Marketing
- Digital Onboarding
For Personals/Individuals
Products (Premium)
- Credit Monitoring
- Credit Protection
- Score Simulator
(Free)
- Freeze Credit Report
- Dispute Credit Report
- TransUnion Credit Report
- Fraud Alert
- Active Duty Credit Monitoring
- True Identity
How does TransUnion calculate your credit score?
Understanding the basics of credit scores, reporting, and how they’re calculated will aid you in developing a smart way to manage your credit and make the right choices for your financial security. In time, these positive decisions and good credit habits will have a positive impact on your credit score. Healthy credit will enable you to take part more fully in the current economy and will enable you to take advantage of the credit opportunities that you want.
Credit scores are calculated based on the information contained in your credit report. That information is added to your report whenever companies like banks, lenders, as well as utility firms, provide information about your account to a credit reporting agency like TransUnion.
Scoring models then use specific categories of information found in your report to compute a 3-digit score. Most scoring models offer credit scores that range from 300-850.
When you check your credit score, you might notice that it might differ slightly depending on who provides your score to creditors or lenders that you applied for. This is due to various scoring models. The one used by your lender or bank might differ from the one that TransUnion uses.
In TransUnion’s case, the VantageScore 3.0 credit score is the one that’s being used to calculate your credit score, which puts most emphasis on payment history but still considers these factors to calculate your score.
- Types of credit you have
- The length of your history
- If you’ve opened new accounts recently
- How much of your available credit limit are you using(credit utilization)
So with that said, before you apply for a credit card or loan. You want to check your credit report. You want to look for errors that might be bringing down your credit score
