What Is A Credit Bureau?

So........ What exactly is a credit bureau?  These are the people/companies that score us on whether or not we pay our bills or debts we create for ourselves. The collect and store information on all of us that gives various organizations and companies insight on whether or not they should extend credit to us for a good, loan or service. A credit bureau is also called a credit reference agency. By using these agencies companies are able to determine our borrowing and bill paying habits. This helps lenders assess our credit worthiness, the ability to pay back a loan, and can affect the interest rate and other terms of a loan. Interest rates are not the same for everyone, but instead can be based on risk-based pricing. There are even employers who determine who they are going to hire based on a persons credit. 

In the U.S., credit bureaus collect personal information, financial data, and alternative data on individuals from a variety of sources called data furnishers with which the bureaus have a relationship. These Data furnishers are typically creditors, lenders, utilities, debt collection agencies and the courts,public records that a consumer has had a relationship or experience with. They report their payment experience with the consumer to the credit bureaus whether it is good or bad. The data provided are then placed into the credit bureau's data files.