credit bureau

Definition

An agency which collects and sells information about the creditworthiness of individuals. A credit reporting agency does not make any decisions about whether a specific person should be extended credit or not. However, it does collect information that it considers relevant to a person's credit habits and history, and uses this information to assign a credit score to indicate how creditworthy a person is. When a prospective creditor approaches a credit reporting agency to inquire about a particular person, they are sold a credit report which contains all the information relevant to the person and the credit score calculated by the agency (some creditors might have an ongoing subscription to credit bureau). The prospective creditor then uses that information to decide whether to extend the applicant the desired credit or not. Same as credit bureau. also called consumer reporting agency.

Cite this definition

Related Terms

credit rating, downgrade, upgrade

'credit bureau ' appears in the definitions of these other terms on BusinessDictionary.com




Browse by Letter: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Add this Glossary to your Site | Bookmark InvestorWords.com
Home | Terms by Subject | Keyword Advertising | About Us | Contact Us
Work for InvestorWords.com
BusinessDictionary.com | InvestorGuide.com | WebFinanceInc.com
Disclaimer and Copyright©

Copyright©1997-2008 by WebFinance, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized duplication, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited.