What is a credit reference agency?

• A credit reference agency is a company that collects consumer data from a variety of sources to provide credit information on individual consumers.

  There are 3 credit reference agencies in the UK, they are:

  1. Experian
  2. Equifax
  3. Call Credit

  Credit-granting companies, subscribe to one or more of these agencies to ensure the quality of their lending.

  This includes companies who sell goods or services on credit such as credit card issuers, utility companies and store card issuers.

  Companies who subscribe to the credit reference agencies are expected to provide relevant data to maintain the common data pool.

  Credit reference agencies are bound by the Data Protection Act 1998, which requires that data relating to identifiable individuals must be accurate, relevant, held for a proper purpose and not out-of-date.

  The activities of Credit Reference Agencies are governed by the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

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  See Also:

  1. What is a Statutory Credit Report?
  2. Can I stop credit reference agencies from holding information about me?
  3. Who makes lending decisions?
  4. What is an Equifax Credit Report?
  5. Who are Experian?