Why are My Three Credit Reports so Different?

Gail wrote in this morning with a good question about her credit data:

Can you tell me why the three major credit reporting agencies do not have the same information on their credit reports pertaining to the individual?  Every one of my reports have different information.

The three national credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – are three entirely separate companies. They each gather data directly from creditors, lenders and data retailers according to their own schedules and policies. They don't share data, so a person's credit report with each bureau can be very different. It would be like Nike and Adidas sharing shoe designs or Coke and Pepsi sharing recipes.

Most large creditors report the same information to all three credit bureaus. So you shouldn't see much of a difference with your Chase credit card or Bank of America mortgage. Smaller creditors and other agencies may choose to only report to one or two of the three bureaus, leaving that record missing from some of your reports. There is no law stating that a business has to report to all three credit bureaus or even report at all.

All of this impacts your credit data consistency, but the main culprit for credit report differences comes from the way that applications for credit are processed. When you apply for a credit card or loan, the company will usually pull your data from just one of the three credit bureaus. Only that credit bureau will get the inquiry record and only that credit report will get any updates to your personal information (name, address, birth date, employer) from the application.

Emily Davidson – Credit.com's Financial Expert and former TransUnion credit insider. Emily writes about credit reports, credit cards, loans and personal finance as the CreditBloggers.com moderator.

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