4/27/2023
Among the 3 most important credit bureaus in the world, TransUnion competes with Equifax and Experian in the United States, issuing credit reports for financial institutions that need information about customers who request their services.
If you want to know your score, obtain a credit report, consult your data or modify it, we tell you how to contact TransUnion by phone and how to get a credit report.
And if you still don't know the entity, we tell you a little more about what it represents, how it started and which are its most important services.
TransUnion's customer service phone number
The general number to contact TransUnion in the United States is 800 916 8800.
TransUnion's customer service phone number is open weekday mornings, Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. Eastern Time. It is also open on weekends, Friday through Sunday, from 8 am to 8 pm.
How to obtain a credit report with TransUnion
If you need to know your credit score, check your data and history or monitor your credit health, you have the option to do it through TransUnion in three different ways:
- Using TransUnion's customer service phone number: 800 916 8800
- By registering for free on their website: www.transunion.com.
- Using their mobile app for cell phone and tablet, available for Android and Apple devices.
Other ways to contact TransUnion is through social networks. Specifically, Facebook and Twitter are the best ways to talk to customer service.
What is TransUnion?
TransUnion is a 30-year-old U.S. credit reporting agency headquartered in Chicago, IL.
It is dedicated to receiving and collecting financial data, and its database consists of at least 1 billion people (200 million in the USA) spread over 30 countries. In addition, they provide statistical and analytical support to some 65,000 companies.
As a public company (TRU), it is known as one of the 3 most important credit bureaus in the world. Due to its size and the extent of its network of partners, it has some 90,000 sources of information, performs at least 3 billion monthly updates and stores 30+ petabytes on its servers.
TransUnion History
In its early days (1968), TransUnion was formed as a holding company for the Union Tank Car Company organization. After purchasing the Cook County credit bureau the following year, it obtained some 3.6 million accounts. By 1981, it was acquired by Marmon Group.
In 2010, Advent International and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners would buy it from Madison Dearborn Partners. Following the acquisition of TLO in 2014, it would go public in 2015 and offer services to businesses/individuals. Its products and solutions include CreditVision, DecisionEdge, Prama and TruValidate.
How does TransUnion calculate your score?
Credit scores are generated from formulas and models fed by algorithms. The most common scores for applying for financing are the FICO score and the VantageScore.
TransUnion uses version 3 and 4 of the latter on a scale ranging from 300 to 850. This calculation may vary according to the sources reporting to the bureau.
As you may already know, the financial information TransUnion collects takes into account a number of variables that determine your score:
- What types of accounts you have, such as checking accounts, personal loans, mortgages, or regular or secured credit cards.
- Timely payment of your bills/fees
- How long you have had access to credit
- Amount of credit you use based on what is available to you
- How often you are applying for financing
Your file in this credit bureau is made up of the history you have accumulated since you first received a credit card or applied for a loan.
All of the data that makes up this report comes from banks, financial institutions and other creditors with whom you have had a business relationship.
The most well-known companies that collect financial information do not get their data from the same sources. This means that your credit score on TransUnion is going to look a little different than Equifax and Experian.
Given this circumstance, we recommend that you review each of your files to get a more complete picture of how your credit is doing.
When it comes to credit scores, you've probably heard or experienced that the higher you are on the scale, the better. Having a bad/regular score is not the same as having a very good/excellent score.
The higher your credit score, the better conditions you can get when applying for financing and the faster your applications will be approved.
The VantageScore scale is divided as follows:
- A = 781 a 850
- B = 720 a 780
- C = 658 a 719
- D = 601 a 657
- F = 300 a 600
Services offered by TransUnion in the United States
In principle, TransUnion offers credit information to different entities or individuals with your consent. It also gives you the opportunity to check your credit file at no cost and once a year. Along with this, this company offers a monitoring that costs $24.95 per month and includes a number of services:
- Credit Lock Plus. Through this option, you can block/unblock access to your report at Equifax and TransUnion.
- Credit Compass. You get tips and recommendations so you can make changes that will have a positive impact on your credit history.
- Identity theft protection. Customers who sign up for monitoring have access to an ID theft helpline and the possibility of taking out insurance for these cases.
- Credit Score Simulator. As the name suggests, you can set up different scenarios and conditions to see how your score could change. It is an analysis tool designed to help you make better decisions.
- Credit Protection. With this service, you receive instant notifications when someone checks your history, especially if it is to apply for financing in your name. This helps you know the number of hard inquiries and if someone is trying to usurp your identity.
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