Its about time we created a resources page to give you contact/process information for the major credit bureaus and for checking/bank accounts. This will probably start off small and grow as many posts do on this site. We will cover everything from how to lock down your credit files, to submitting a dispute to opt-out. Be sure to bookmark this page.

What most people don’t know is there are hundreds of data mining companies/credit reporting companies that have a profile on you. Most people only know of the big 3 (Experian, Equifax and Transunion), but a lot of these fintechs who don’t pull credit reports and companies like Upgrade are actually just using what I call 2nd tier ratings companies like DataX (owned by Equifax), FactorTrust( Transunion) and Clarity (Experian). All of these sites offer free reports, fraud reporting, optin/optout and freezes as well. These companies are considered low-income/subprime by the CFPB.

Major Credit Reporting Agencies

• Experian
• Equifax
• Transunion

Low Income & Subprime Credit Reporting Agencies

• FactorTrust (owned by Transunion) Collects loan performance information on nonprime consumers to provide predictive credit data, analytics and risk scoring solutions to shortterm lenders, installment lenders, nonprime auto lenders (and leasing companies) and other subprime credit providers.
• Clarity (owned by Experian) Collects and provides information on payday loans, installment loans, auto loans (and leasing),check cashing services, rent-to-own transactions, telecommunication account openings, and financial services with an emphasis on the lower income and subprime consumer market segments.
• DataX (owned by Equifax) Collects and provides payment history regarding subprime consumers
• CoreLogic Teletrack (owned by Equifax) Collects consumer information about, and provides data to, payday lenders, rent-to-own businesses, furniture stores that offer financing, auto finance and leasing companies, high risk consumer finance businesses, subprime home lending businesses, subprime credit card issuers, banks, credit unions, cable/telecom companies and debt buyers/collectors. This is also the major data source for evictions and convictions.
• MicroBilt/PRBC Provides consumer credit information, bill payment information, employment information, bank account data, property records, court judgments, address and phone information on low income and subprime consumers to businesses that offer short term, rent-to-own, auto, retail and consumer finance lending

Supplementary Reporting Agencies

• Innovis Provides ID verification data to assist with fraud detection and prevention
• LexisNexis Collects information from public records and multiple proprietary data sources. This includes items such as real estate transaction and ownership data, lien, judgment, and bankruptcy records, professional license information, and historical addresses on file.
• Corelogic Credco Collects and reports personal data such as property ownership and home loan obligation records; property legal filings and tax payment status; rental applications and collection accounts; consumer bankruptcies, liens, judgments, and child support obligations.
• SageStream (owned by LexisNexis) This reporting company collects information from, and provides supplementary consumer reports to, auto lenders, credit card issuers, retailers, utilities and mobile phone service providers among other service providers. SageStream is a subsidiary of ID Analytics.
• Advanced Resolution Services (ARS) At one point owned by Visa and crucial for US bank credit card approval (not sure if still true) this is another credit report focusing on consumer data (inquires, accounts etc)

Credit Report Security Freeze

You use these links and initiate a security freeze or credit freeze when you don’t want creditors/banks to look at your credit file without your permission. Keep in mind this has to be removed before applying for any new credit cards/loans or you will instantly be denied.

Credit Bureau	Online	By Phone	By Mail
	Equifax Credit Freeze page	1-800-685-1111 (NY residents call 1-800-349-9960)	Equifax Security Freeze, P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348
	Experian Credit Freeze page	1-888-EXPERIAN (1-888-397-3742)	Experian Security Freeze, P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013
	TransUnion Credit Freeze page	1-888-909-8872	TransUnion LLC, P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016
	Innovis Credit freeze page	800-540-2505	Innovis Consumer Assistance P.O. Box 1689 Pittsburgh, PA 15230-1689
	FactorTrust Credit Freeze page	844- 773-3321
	Clarity Credit freeze page	866-390-3118 (Option 1)
	DataX Credit freeze page	800-295-4790 (Option 1)	Data X Security Freeze P.O. Box 704124 Atlanta, GA 30374
	Teletrack Security Freeze page
	Request security freeze (bottom of page)	888-222-7621 Hours: Monday – Friday 8:30AM – 5:00PM ET	MicroBilt / Connect Attn: Consumer Affairs Department P.O. Box 440693 Kennesaw, GA 30160
	Request security freeze Online form	(800) 392-8911 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST Monday – Friday	Advanced Resolution Services, Inc. 5005 Rockside Road, Suite 600 Independence, OH 44131

Other Credit Profile Security Freeze Options

I want to note that there are two other places you can lock down your accounts from inquiries and consumer access and they are SageStream and LexisNexis.

LexisNexis compiles multiple data sources about consumers, including public records information, as well as reports with insurance claims and policy data. Your information might be pulled if you’re applying for insurance. LexisNexis also has an affiliated company called LexisNexis CLUE (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) which is a claims history information exchange. It collects and reports up to seven years of auto and personal property claims respectively. Data provided include policy information such as name, date of birth and policy number; and claim information such as date of loss, type of loss and amounts paid, and property information.

Applying a security freeze prohibits LexisNexis Risk Solutions and SageStream from releasing your LexisNexis Consumer Disclosure Report, your SageStream Consumer Report, or your credit score without your express authorization. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, a security freeze does not apply to companies, or collection agencies acting on behalf of such companies, with which you have an existing account that requests information in your consumer report for the purposes of reviewing or collecting the account. Reviewing the account includes activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements. LexisNexis Risk Solutions does not charge a fee to apply, lift or remove a security freeze from your file.

A security freeze has the following effects on a consumer’s report:

1. No consumer information is returned to a customer if the consumer has a security freeze on their file, and the customer’s permissible purpose is one that the consumer’s state of residence had determined blocks the report.
2. A consumer will receive their LexisNexis Consumer Disclosure Report, if they request it. You can request your Consumer Disclosure Report.

Request a security freeze for both LexisNexis and SageStream here.

Submit A Credit Report Dispute

Credit Bureau	Online	By Phone	By Mail
	Equifax Submit/manage disputes	866-349-5191 M-F 9am-9pm EST Sat-Sun 9am-6pm EST	Equifax Information Services LLC P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374
	Experian Submit/manage disputes	866-200- 6020	Experian, P.O. Box 4500, Allen, TX 75013
	TransUnion Submit/manage disputes	(833)-395-6941 Monday – Friday 8:00 AM – 11:00 PM ET	TransUnion Consumer Solutions P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016-2000
	FactorTrust online submission	844-773-3321	FactorTrust, Inc. Attn: Consumer Inquiries P.O. Box 3653 Alpharetta, GA 30023
		866-390-3118 Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm EST	Clarity Services, Inc. P.O. Box 5717 Clearwater, FL 33758
	Download document here	800-295-4790 Mon – Thu 7 am – 4 pm PT Fri 7 am – 12 pm PT compliance@dataxltd.com	DataX, an Equifax Company Consumer Reporting Division P.O. Box 740125 Atlanta, GA 30374
	Teletrack offers to request investigation aka dispute	877-309-5226
	Download document here	888-222-7621 option #5 Hours: Monday – Friday 8:30AM – 5:00PM ET	MicroBilt / Connect Attn: Consumer Affairs Department P.O. Box 440693 Kennesaw, GA 30160
Corelogic CREDOCO		800-637-2422	Credco Consumer Relations Department P.O. Box 509124 San Diego, CA 92150
	More information here	(800) 392-8911 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST Monday – Friday	Advanced Resolution Services, Inc. 5005 Rockside Road, Suite 600 Independence, OH 44131

All the information and requirements for submitting your disputes are right there on the page with Equifax, including an FAQ, same with Transunion along with a mailing label you can print out if you need. More information, along with a step-by-step guide on how to submit your dispute on Experian.

You can also dispute items on your LexisNexis and SageStream by calling (888) 395-0277 or mail to

SageStream, LLC, LexisNexis Risk Solutions Consumer Center
P.O. Box 105108, Atlanta,
Georgia 30348-5108

Free Credit Reports

Due to not only Coronavirus but also due to many settlements over the past few years over data breaches, the bureaus are allowing free credit reports through Annual Credit Report, which originally was doing a free weekly report through April of 2021 (according to Transunion’s website they have given ACR permission until April 20th 2022 to give out weekly free credit reports), but I see they are still offering it so I am not sure when this will end but keep in mind that Equifax is obligated to offer at least six free credit reports per year through December 2026. Also as a note, ACR does not give you credit scores, just your reports and it can be a bit tedious putting in all your security questions on all 3 bureaus to get access (sometimes they timeout or don’t give you) but if you need a look at your report immediately that is the fastest way to get it.

You can also sign up for both Credit Karma and Wallet Hub for free to track your VantageScore.

A lot of banks and credit unions offer you either a free monthly VantageScore or FICO and some (American Express) will give you access to both scores (they are hidden in different areas of the site, watch this video to learn how to find your FICO) Find out all the banks that will give you your FICO score, through FICOs Open Access program.

Lastly you can also get a CreditWise credit score account for free, if you’re a capital one customer you will get access for free as well but that’s not required.

• Free credit report from Equifax directly
• If you register for a free account on Experian you can access your credit report for free once per month
• Transunion offers a free regular report and other credit profile management tools with their free account as well.
• Request a free Innovis credit report here. They will provide 1 for free every 12 months
• Request a free DataX credit report here. They will provide 1 for free every 12 months
• Request a FactorTrust credit report here. They will provide 1 for free every 12 months
• Request your Clarity credit report here. They will provide 1 for free every 12 months
• Request your MicroBilt credit report here. They will provide 1 for free every 12 months
• Request your Corelogic Teletrack report here. They will provide 1 for free every 12 months
• Request your Corelogic Credco report here. They will provide 1 for free every 12 months
• Request your SageStream report here. They will provide 1 for free every 12 months

If you are struggling to understand credit scores, we wrote a credit score and credit score ranges guide.

Requesting your credit report does NOT hurt your credit score.

Opt-Out

Since there are several different things that fall under the generic term “optout” we will put everything here from opting out of pre-screened offers to the CCPA.

Under the Fair Credit reporting Act (FCRA), credit bureaus are permitted to include your name on lists used by creditors or insurers to make firm offers of credit or insurance that are not initiated by you. If you prefer not to receive such offers call or submit below.

The OptOutPrescreen line and website are run by Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and Innovis. If you opt out and want to opt back in, you can submit on the site or call the number as well.

• Opt-out Of Prescreened Offers or call 888-567-8688

SageStream and LexisNexis also have an optin/optout process

• Optin/optout online or call 888-395-0277

Corelogic Teletrack has its own opt-in/opt-out process, go here (scroll down towards bottom of page) for more or call 1-877-309-5226

ARS has its own opt-out process, checkout this page for more. You can get all their contact info from the Contact Us page.

For California Residents that want protection under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) – Transunion
• CCPA- Experian
• CCPA- Equifax

Chex Systems Report & Score

Chex Systems (affiliated with Fidelity National Information Services Inc (FNIS) is the main consumer monitoring system for your checking accounts, this is the grading system banks use to document your history and worthiness to get a new checking account. Your checking account report contains checking and deposit account information, including general account history, check fraud incidents, non-sufficient funds activity and other reported activity or information related to your use of checking and deposit accounts.

What information is included in the report?

The purpose of checking account reports is to let financial institutions know whether or not they should let a person open a new account. The information they examine includes:

• Repeated account overdrafts
• Uncollected fees
• Suspected fraud
• Suspected abuse of debit card, ATM card or other tools
• Falsified information on the application

Here is all the links you need…

• Request your Chex Systems report for free here (online and mail options)
• Dispute items here
• Security Freeze Information
• Place a Security Freeze

Mail
Chex Systems, Inc.
7805 Hudson Road, Suite 100
Woodbury, MN 55125

Keep in mind there is a Chex Systems report and a Chex Systems Score (QualifFile) you can request as well. First pull the report, if nothing stands out on there then pull your score.

Scoring works on a scale of 100-899, the higher your score the lower your risk profile.

There are, however, some outlier scores or codes that can pop up when ChexSystems reviews your banking history.

For example, a 9998 code means that the Social Security number used to apply for a checking account belongs to someone who’s deceased. A 9999 code means there’s not enough information available about your banking history to generate a score.

You can request your Chex Score (QualiFile) for free here and then mail it in to the address below

Chex Systems, Inc.
Attn: Consumer Relations
PO Box 583399
Minneapolis, MN 55458

Early Warning Service

Early Warning Services assists financial institutions, check acceptance companies such as retail merchants, payment processors and other financial entities in detecting and preventing fraud associated with bank accounts and payment transactions. EWS collects data from thousands of financial institutions (FIs) across the US.

Early Warning is co-owned by Bank of America, BB&T/Truist, Capital One, JP Morgan Chase, PNC Bank, US Bank and Wells Fargo and is the fintech behind the Zelle Network^®.

They will provide one free report every 12 months, check their website here, and if you want to get your free report, download the form here. If you are looking to dispute, you can read more here.

Early Warning
Attn: Consumer Services Department
16552 North 90th Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Phone: 800-325-7775 (option 4)