Credit Report Agencies (CRA) are the ones responsible for gathering, processing, and storing consumers’ credit information. They have information on more than 200 million people in the United States. CRAs sell that information to help businesses make decisions about giving loans or credit.
These agencies collect information on how every consumer uses their credit and how they pay their bills. With all this information, CRAs set their own algorithms to come up with a score that can predict a consumer’s creditworthiness. If you’re looking to get a loan, CRAs don’t make that decision. That decision is made by banks, credit unions, or card companies. CRAs only share your information to set the interest rate and conditions for a loan.