FAQs
Find fast answers to questions you may have about TransUnion solutions for businesses.
- What is a credit history?
- What information is included in my credit history?
- How do lenders use a credit history?
- Does TransUnion create or change any credit data?
- Who has access to my credit history?
- Who grants or denies my application for credit?
What is a credit history?
Your credit history is an objective statement about your credit activity used by lenders to determine if you’re a good credit risk. It contains information reported by companies who do business with you or have granted you credit.
What information is included in my credit history?
A credit history includes several sections:
- Consumer-identifying information such as name, address, date of birth, telephone or mobile number, government-issued identification number, employment information
- Account histories of your bill-paying record with credit grantors
- Types of Credit Used, (e.g. salary loan, personal loan, credit card, etc)
- Outstanding Obligations
- Inquiries, which list the type of companies (e.g. bank, utility) that have requested your credit history
Your TransUnion Credit Report does not contain information about your medical history, race, religion or national origin.
How do lenders use a credit history?
Here’s an example of how a credit history may be used:
- When you apply for credit, such as a new credit card, the lender will request your credit history from TransUnion.
- The lender uses your credit history, along with other relevant information such as your income, to determine whether to grant you a credit card.
- When you use the new credit card, the lender will periodically report your payment activities to credit reporting agencies, such as TransUnion.
- Credit reporting agencies will update your credit history as they receive new information from lenders.
- Your credit profile will change based on several factors, including how you pay your bills and how many loans you have. When you pay your bills on time, the information is shared with current and future lenders to help improve your credit history and make it easier to acquire credit in the future.
- Each time you apply for credit, the process will be repeated.
Does TransUnion create or change any credit data?
As an impartial third party, we do not create or change any of the information in our reports. We simply collect data from established creditors such as banks, credit unions, utility companies and telephone companies who report your payment history to TransUnion.
Our clients work hard to ensure that accurate and current information is reported and maintained in our database.
Who has access to my credit history?
You give permission to credit grantors to view your credit report when you apply for credit and you submit a credit application and consent form. Your credit report, along with other decisioning tools that they use to process credit applications, helps them decide whether or not to grant credit to you.
Who grants or denies my application for credit?
Each lender has its own criteria and procedures for granting credit. TransUnion does not make the decision to grant or deny credit.