Credit bureau

A company (also called a credit reporting agency) that collects and maintains consumer credit information — accounts, balances, payment history, and public records — and sells it to lenders and other authorized users as credit reports. The three nationwide bureaus in the U.S. are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, and the data they hold feeds your credit scores. Under the FCRA you can get a free report from each bureau, dispute an inaccurate or incomplete item directly with the bureau reporting it, and the bureau must generally investigate within about 30 days.