How to Run a Credit Report for Customers

It is wise to run a credit check on any customer to whom you extend credit or allow to delay payment for a service, particularly if you have a large volume of customers. The simplest method is to subscribe to the business services offered by the three major credit bureaus (Transunion, Equifax, and Experian). Most debts from major companies will be reported accurately to all three of them, but others may only report to one or two. You also have the alternative of working with a third-party credit checking service, which has its own subscriptions with the credit bureaus.

Instructions

1

Determine your credit checking needs. If you need to run dozens of credit reports or more every week, you will probably save money by opening accounts with all three major credit bureaus. If you only need to request credit reports a few times a month at most, you may be better off ordering individual credit reports from third party companies.

2

Visit the website of at least one of the major credit bureaus. Go the section for businesses. Select the subscription level appropriate for the level of detail you require in your credit reports and the volume that you expect to have to order. If you require hard copies of the credit reports, expect to pay slightly more for the service. Subscribe to the level of service that you require.

3

Review the credit reports of the customers that you're curious about. A few late payments or other issues on the credit report doesn't necessarily mean that you can't extend them some sort of credit. It behooves you, however, to bring up the credit report with the customer and take special precautions to ensure that you protect your assets. If a customer has excellent credit, it may be beneficial to your business to offer them some kind of deal to keep their business.

4

Consider working with a third-party credit checking company if you don't plan to order a high volume of credit reports for your customers. Many of these companies will offer you a limited number of credit reports for a lower fee than you would need to pay if you worked with the credit bureaus directly. Read any agreements with such companies carefully to ensure that you're not signing up for a more expensive subscription service than your business needs.

5

Avoid doing business with companies that don't offer you a full credit report from one of the three major bureaus. If they provide you with simply a summary of the credit report, it's likely not informing you of everything that you may need to know when extending credit to a customer. Only the three major credit bureaus (Transunion, Equifax and Experian) are authorized to provide accurate credit reporting information. You can get accurate copies of reports from the bureaus through third parties, but don't accept summaries.