In the U.S. there are three major credit bureaus, sometimes called credit reporting agencies or credit reporting companies. The “Big Three,” as they are commonly referred to, are Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Each credit bureau collects information about your credit management habits, which they normalize, store, score, and eventually sell to lenders, insurers, and other companies that have a legal reason to buy it. The information is generally referred to as a credit report and is primarily used by companies to determine the risk of doing business with you when you apply for financing, housing, or services. The following is a list of some, though not necessarily all, of the information the credit bureaus will commonly collect about consumers: Your Name, Address, Social Security Number, Date of Birth, and Employer Loans, Account Balances, and Payment History Credit Cards, Account Balances, Credit Limits, and Payment History Collection Accounts Bankruptcies Although all three of the major credit bureaus collect and sell similar information, they do not work together but are actually competitors. Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian do not share information with each other unless required to do so by federal or state law, nor do they share profits.