A data furnisher or information furnisher is a company that provides information about a customer to consumer reporting agencies. Consumer reporting agencies or credit bureaus use the information from a data furnisher to generate a credit report. A credit report is used by lenders or creditors to assess the credit worthiness of a customer applying for a loan or a credit line.
A data furnisher plays a crucial role in the U.S. credit system by sharing with consumer reporting agencies customer data. Customer data includes credit inquiries and total credit availability, which play a major role in generating credit scores. Credit scores are affected based on the data furnishers’ provided information. Provided information examples are:
Third-party data furnishers include the following companies:
A data furnisher agreement is an established and written document. This established and written document includes the policies and procedures regarding the accuracy and integrity of the information. The accuracy and integrity of the information must be observed by data furnishers upon providing it to a credit reporting agency.
The data furnisher agreement guidelines can be accessed in Appendix A to Furnisher Rule Part 660. Appendix A to Furnisher Rule Part 660 states the following:
The data furnisher requirements are established by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)’s Furnisher Rule. The FCRA Furnisher Rule includes legal obligations of the data furnisher, including:
Data furnishers, as stated by the FCRA, must ensure the accuracy of the furnished information. Furnished or provided information must not be reported by data furnishers if they know or believe that it is inaccurate. Inaccurate information could be reported by the customer if an address was provided by data furnishers. Data furnishers must not provide information if they are informed by the customer about the inaccurate information. Inaccurate information must have a reasonable cause or specific knowledge for data furnishers to believe that the information is inaccurate.
Inaccurate information, as stated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), can be disputed by the customer in two ways:
Data furnishers will be notified by a consumer reporting agency regarding the information dispute. The information dispute must be addressed by data furnishers by:
These steps must be followed and completed within the same time allowed under the FCRA for the dispute to be resolved by the consumer reporting agency. The consumer reporting agency has 30 days to resolve after getting the dispute from the customer. The customer can provide additional relevant information, which gives 15 days more to the consumer reporting agency. The consumer reporting agency must give the additional relevant information provided by the customer to the data furnishers. The data furnishers must investigate and respond to it within the allowable time, or else the consumer reporting agency must remove the disputed information from its files.
Good news, there is data furnishing software. The Metro 2 Credit Reporting Software allows easier and simpler credit reporting for data furnishers. Data furnishers can import or manually upload their data in order to create a Metro 2 file. The Metro 2 file is uploaded to the credit bureaus, including the three major ones Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
The Metro 2 data furnisher software’s basic features are:
Another data furnisher software is e-OSCAR. e-OSCAR enables data furnishers and consumer reporting agencies to create and respond to customer credit history disputes. Credit history disputes include processes like Automated Credit Dispute Verification (ACDV), Automated Universal Dataform (AUD) and other registration, subscriber code management, and reporting processes that are supported by e-OSCAR.
e-OSCAR works as ACDVs are initiated by consumer reporting agencies on behalf of the customer and are routed to the appropriate data furnisher. The data furnisher returns the ACDVs with updated information about the customer’s credit history. The customer’s credit history determines if there are account modifications or deletions. Account modifications or deletions’ carbon copies are sent to each of the consumer reporting agencies relating to the data furnisher.
The data furnisher cost for the M2R Basic standard license is $295 for a one-year duration. The one-year duration includes unlimited technical support, updates, and upgrades for the Metro 2 credit reporting software.
The data furnisher cost, which is not refundable and excludes sales tax, is $90 for e-Oscar registration. E-Oscar registration request is followed by an invoice to be sent by e-mail provided within three business days. The invoice is due and payable upon receipt and can be paid using a credit card, debit card, or bank transfer.
For more information on Data Furnishers contact the professionals at iSoftpull today.
