Ottawa Credit Bureau
Credit bureaus are companies that collect, maintain and sell information about consumers' credit histories. Credit bureaus source information about consumer’s credit habits from institutions that extend credit such as banks, credit unions, finance companies and retailers. They also collect public record information such as information about bankruptcies, judgments and registered items. All this information is collected by credit bureaus and put together in the form of credit reports. Credit bureau reports typically list how individuals manage their debts and make payments, how much untapped credit they have available and whether they have applied for any loans. These reports are made available to creditors in return for a fee. The creditors use this information in order to decide whether to extend a loan to a particular consumer or not and if yes, then under what terms. Credit bureaus have been around for ages. Credit bureaus started off as local associations of merchants and credit reports tended to be based more on word of mouth. However, as the number of consumers accessing credit has increased and the tools available to access information and analyze it have become more sophisticated, credit bureaus have also evolved.