What are the three main credit bureaus?

Experian, Trans Union and Equifax are the three major credit bureaus in the U.S. The credit reporting agencies are all for-profit, private companies and are not run by the government.

All three of the major credit bureaus receive information about a consumer's credit to compile a credit report and FICO score. This includes information on credit card accounts, loans and other financial accounts. The companies don't share information with one another but instead receive the information from lenders and other companies. While most of the information should be the same, there can be some slight differences in the information included on the credit reports from each of the bureaus.