Experian vs. TransUnion vs. Equifax: What’s the Difference?

Experian

        There are a few differences in the way Experian reports data versus the way the other two agencies report data. For example, people who pay their rent on time will have the payments reflected on their Experian credit report. But with the other two credit bureaus, these payments won’t be on their reports. The only data regarding rent payments that will show up is negative rent data, which is data that reflects missed rent payments. Of course, the property management company has to report the rent data for it to show up on any of them. If you signed a lease with an obligation to make monthly payments for a specified period of time, then it will most likely show up on Experian. Experian credit reports also contain details about each transferred or closed account that you’ve had. These details include the month and year that these accounts will be taken off the credit report. In other credit reports, the only date listed for closed accounts is the last reported status date on the account. To figure out when the closed account gets taken off the credit report, you need to add 10 years to its last reported status date. Experian saves you the trouble of having to add 10 years to figure this out.  

TransUnion

        TransUnion provides credit reports that offer more details about employment than any other credit bureau’s credit report. The other two credit reports will just list the name of the applicant’s employer and nothing else. The TransUnion credit report will contain their employer’s name, position currently held and date they were hired. This information is important because it shows lenders how long the applicant has been with their current employer. If you were to try and obtain a mortgage to purchase a house, the mortgage company is going to check the TransUnion credit report to see if you’ve worked at the same company for at least two years. They won’t get this information from Equifax or Experian credit reports because the date you were hired is not on those.  

Equifax

        An Equifax credit report lists closed and open accounts separately from each other. As for the other two credit reporting agencies, they put all of the accounts together in alphabetical order. People who are unsure of their financial situation will want to have an Equifax credit report, so they can clearly see which accounts are open and which accounts are closed. This will help them determine their total debt by examining all of the open accounts together. The details of closed accounts can also be seen, such as why the account was closed in the first place. This helps lenders understand the outcome of the applicant’s past loans and debt obligations.