Credit Bureau
Also called: credit reference agency, Experian, Equifax, TransUnion
A credit bureau is a company that collects your borrowing history from lenders and sells it back to them as a report and score. The US has three majors — Equifax, Experian, TransUnion — and they don't hold identical data, because not every lender reports to all three. That's why your score differs by bureau and why a freeze has to be placed at each one separately. You are the product, not the customer, which is why accuracy is your job to police.