Experian – History & What They Do  | Jul 23,2007

Print E-mail E-mail Del.icio.us Digg

  Experian was established back in 1980 as an information service company. During the period between 1980 and 1995 they were a primarily European company and their main services were to collect information on consumers, motor vehicles, insurance companies and businesses. In 1995, they acquired a U.S. credit reporting agency from TRW and established themselves in the American Market. Today they have offices in Dublin, Ireland, Nottingham, England and Costa Mesa, California.

Current Experian Offerings

A great deal of their current business is based on American consumer habits and credit management. Because their consumer credit services are based in the United States, they are subject to FCRA rules and regulations. This means that Experian is required by law to provide consumers with a free credit report at least once every 12 months. However, they aren’t required to send out free credit reports to people who haven’t requested them. Therefore, consumers have to request their free annual credit report from Experian directly or by utilizing a website authorized by the Federal Trade Commission, Annualcreditreport.com.

Experian Services

Some of the most popular Experian services offered today are credit reports and credit monitoring services. The credit monitoring service is a good option for people interested in improving their credit score, monitoring their credit for signs of identity theft or for people who simply want to periodically examine their credit report. On the other hand, people who are only interested in a single copy of their credit history may be more interested in purchasing their current credit report from Experian, especially if they have maxed out the number of credit reports they can order in a given year.