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Public Records In Your Credit Report

Fraud Alerts On Credit Reports

What Is TransUnion?

by: Sahil | last updated: October 31, 2009
Tags: transunion, credit bureau, credit reports, credit reporting, credit, credit scores, credit rating agencies

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What Is TransUnion?

TransUnion is one of the three major Credit Reporting Agencies in the United States of America which also operates internationally. It is the third largest consumer reporting agency in the United States and was created in 1968 by the United Tank Car Company. It purchased the credit bureau of Cook County in 1969 and started operating as a credit reporting agency. It now operates in more than twenty five countries and in five continents across the world.

The major function of TransUnion is to collect credit related data from lenders, banks, credit card companies, and other financial institutions. This data is then processed and made available to potential lenders for calculating the risk involved in providing credit to potential borrowers. The relevant information about consumers past borrowings, payment history, amount of credit available, and borrowing history and habits is made available by using the credit report. This credit report becomes a yardstick for lenders who can successfully evaluate the risk and grant, deny, or change the interest rates on the loans.

In the United States all the three major credit bureaus are governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. TransUnion also comes under the purview of this act and it is obligated by law to provide one copy of the credit report to the consumer once a year without any charges upon request. However the credit score is not included in the free copy and must be bought from TransUnion or from the lenders themselves.

Some other services that are provided by TransUnion are fraud alert, security freeze, and opting out of marketing offers. These services are offered by most credit bureaus in the U.S and can be availed of by paying a fee. However, a free credit report can be accessed from their website TransUnion.com which also provides detailed information about their operations and their functions.

TransUnion also offers services such as E-mail alerts of any changes in your credit report or credit scores. Other services include credit monitoring and ID theft insurance; credit monitoring is available free of cost for a month and a fee of around fifteen dollars is charged if you avail of the service after the thirty day trial period. TransUnion also offers a service called truecredit.com that allows a user to login and view the credit report, credit scores and other items on the credit report itself.

Truecredit.com also offers extra protection for your car and financial information about your home. The website also has some basic information about credit and related topics which can be used as tools for analyzing your credit scores, credit reports, and your financial standing in the credit market. The website also has a mortgage simulator which gives estimates of interest rates based on your credit report and scores.

The website also offers the option of chatting with a live agent who can answer all the questions related to credit monitoring. Furthermore, TransUnion also provides information about how insurers view your credit report and credit history. The TransUnion Insurance Risk Score is given to assist you in giving a better understanding of how insurers view your credit data when fixing insurance rates. It is not an approval or a determination of your qualification for insurance.

Insurers assess credit data to help in establishing whether or not you are a good contender for insurance and what rate you will pay. However, each insurer has explicit underwriting standards, so you should not take for granted that you will be given matching evaluation from each insurer.