Difference Between Equifax and Transunion (With Table)

Equifax, in simple terms, refers to an American multinational agency that handles the reports of credits of consumers. It monitors the credit scores of individuals and businesses. The credit score of an individual or a company, as calculated by Equifax, is done on the basis of some key factors. These key factors include repayment history, credit utilization ratio, utilization of the type of credit, and credit history length.

With the information of about 1 billion consumers at an individual level and 65,000 customers at a global business level, Transunion has come a long way as a consumer credit agency of American origin. Spreading over more than 30 countries, Transunion manages the credit score of individuals or businesses. As calculated by Transunion, the credit scores get most affected by two factors, namely, payment history and credit history.

Comparison Table Between Equifax and Transunion

What is Equifax?

The number of credit reporting companies and agencies is springing up quickly. However, the three notable agencies continue to dominate their space in this field. After Experian, Transunion and Equifax follow up the list as the top three credit reporting companies with the highest user base. With the information of about 800 million consumers at an individual level, and 80 million customers, at a global business level, Equifax has come a long way since its founding in 1899.

Founded by Cator Woolford and Guy Woolford, Equifax operates globally in more than 15 countries. The credit reports of an individual or business put forward by Equifax are highly detailed. Every single account, irrespective of whether it’s closed or open, and every single transaction, is recorded. Equifax collects its information from creditors such as credit card and mortgage companies to keep the records updated with accurate information. To maintain transparency in reports from all sides, Equifax also keeps a record of the individual or the business’s public records, including bankruptcies and other such cases.

The customer credit database of Equifax has a large reach in terms of geographical coverage. Moreover, all information is updated regularly with the use of sophisticated technology involving matching logic. The credit score can give you an idea about your financial health and personal credit health.

What is Transunion?

Just like Equifax, Transunion is another credit reporting agency and the smallest among the top 3 notable agencies. Transunion also monitors the credit scores and reports of businesses and individuals. However, Transunion doesn’t have the feature to display the complete record of transactions and accounts by which one can know if the account will get closed on account of a low credit score. 

Nevertheless, Transunion has other helpful features wherein it includes employment data and the history of an individual in its credit reports. With the help of this feature, individuals have the freedom to change, correct and update their employment details. Besides credit reports, Transunion also has some other features such as credit monitoring, wherein it acts as a watchdog to an individual’s credit scores, thereby protecting it from all kinds of fraudulent activities. 

This credit-monitoring package comes at an affordable monthly package where even a victim who has fallen into the trap of fraudulent activities can recover from the financial damage. Founded in 1968 by Christopher Cartwright, Transunion offers other features such as advanced analytics, account monitoring, account prioritization, audience segmentation, customer engagement, customer credit reporting, customer acquisition, debt recovery, digital lending, fraud analytics, identity proofing, and others.

Main Differences Between Equifax and Transunion

1. While Equifax has a coverage of around fifteen countries, which includes about eight hundred million individuals and eighty million business level customers, Transunion has a coverage of around thirty countries, including about one billion individuals and sixty-five thousand million business level customers.
2. The credit scores released by Equifax depend on payment history, credit utilization ratio, age of the credit, total accounts and are independent of the number of times credit inquiries have been made. On the other hand, The credit scores released by Transunion depend on all the factors, including the number of times credit inquiries are made. 
3. The credit scores calculated by Equifax are calculated according to a credit history of eighty-one months. However, the credit scores calculated by Transunion are calculated according to a credit history of seven years.
4. The credit reports released by Equifax include identification & contact details, credit summary, recent activity, account details of the individual, which doesn’t include employment history. The credit reports released by Transunion include all the factors, including employment history.
5. Equifax has some beneficial popular products such as basic credit information reports, Equifax risk score, etc. Whereas Transunion’s popular products include account monitoring & advanced analytics, customer credit reporting, fraud analytics, etc.

Conclusion

Both Equifax and Transunion have their own credit scores and reports. In fact, the reports of all three credit reporting agencies are accurate in their own spheres. A healthy Equifax credit score falls beyond 670. On the other hand, a healthy Transunion credit score falls beyond 661. Maintaining credit scores becomes necessary because a healthy credit score assures them that you will return the amount on time when lenders view your credit report. If your credit scores are higher, you are more likely to have better credit terms with your lender.

References

1. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3103294
2. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/S0733-558X(2010)000030A008/full/html