Who are the 'Big Three' credit bureaus?

• A. FICO, VantageScore, and TransUnion.
• B. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
• C. Experian, Dun & Bradstreet, and Equifax.
• D. TransUnion, Experian, and ChexSystems.

Answer: (B)

Understanding where most of your credit history lives helps explain how lenders assess you. The three major consumer credit reporting agencies are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. They collect information from lenders, credit card issuers, and public records to build your credit reports. Lenders look at these reports to decide whether to extend credit and at what terms. The actual number you often hear about—your credit score, such as a FICO score or a VantageScore—comes from the data in those reports, but the bureaus themselves are not the scores. Other options aren’t correct for this question because FICO and VantageScore are scoring models, not bureaus; Dun & Bradstreet focuses on business credit; ChexSystems tracks banking history, not the general consumer credit reports.