Another credit bureau??

Yeah Mac, Innovis seems to be another consumer credit reporting agency. It started off as the ABC services way back in 1970. But it was purchased and renamed as Consumers Credit Associates (CCA). The CCA was purchased in 1997 by First Data Corporation and renamed as Innovis Data Solutions. Currently it is a part of the CBC Companies.

Thanks

I don't think that we are getting fussy about credit scores. At some point of time, if a person is not able to qualify for a loan because of his low credit score, he may consider an alternative score. If that alternative score is good, he may easily get the loan. So having different scores help us in different ways.

Hi Mac,

For purchasing credit report from the Innovis, one has to pay certain fees to them. The fees for different states vary from one another and a list of such state fees are given in their site. One can get only a single free of cost credit report from them. But for that there are certain conditions:
1) If the person is unemployed and wish to apply for employment within next 60 days.
2) If the person receive any public assistance.
3) If the person feels that his Innovis credit report has inaccuracies because of fraud.

As I said in another thread, life would be easier if there was just one credit score instead of now 4 of them. Rediculous I tell you. Rediculous.

Well there must be some reasoning behind having so many credit bureaus, though I myself can't think of what the logic is.

But still for those who want to know how they can get a credit report from them --

A request for your Innovis Credit report can be made by phone or mail.

You can call 800-540-2505 to send in your request and after your identity is verified, the credit report will be mailed within 3 days. But if identity verification cannot be completed on phone then you can be asked to submit request for getting the report by mail.

You will then have to send the credit report request form at:

Innovis
Attention: Consumer Assistance
P.O. Box 1358
Columbus, Ohio 43216-1358

When submitting the request for credit report you will have to include details like:

Full name
SSN
Date of birth
Proof of current address
Copy of legible government issued identification card, like driver's license or state ID card.

Innovis Data Solutions started gaining its importance from the beginning of 2001 when government sponsored agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wanted their loan servicers to report the payment history of borrowers to the credit bureau.

Fannie Mae even requires that it's servicers to send a notice to Innovis if there's any delinquency or foreclosure. Lenders approved by Freddie Mac also need to inform Innovis about the payment status of every borrower.

The Federal Government also reports to Innovis about borrowers who are late on their debt payments.

As far as I have heard of, Innovis Data Solutions provides two products to creditors. One is a database, FailSafe, consisting of consumers who are late or have formerly been late on their debt payments. And, the other is New Movers, a monthly list of consumers who have reported a change in their addresses.

The primary purpose of the FailSafe database is to gather consumer information from creditors across the nation and sell them to other creditors so the latter can prepare mailing lists for their credit card offers.

hello all,

This is something interesting that i go to hear from one of my frineds. Innovis is a secret credit bureau. is that so? what i don 't understand is why do these guys like to have another biureau?? I mean what's the difference and when the googled to find about innovis, i found someone suggesting it's secret bureau - now that sounds interesting! but guys if there's nothing wrong about it, how about getting a report from innovis, just trying out with a new agency altogether

Only 4 is not bad.

I here stories from the "old schoolers" about local credit reports. Does anyone remember those. When you had to make your own credit file from local information. It used to be if you had credit in Cincinnati and then moved to California you had to start all over there.

It is interesting that people complain about credit bureaus but without them we would not have the mortgage industry we have. Without credit bureaus we would not be able to lend to so many people. We would not have 100% programs and have FHA.

AND MOST IMPORTANT. THE SCORE IS NOT WHAT DECIDES IT.

The score is just a basic picture of the total report. Meaning if you pay your bills the score will be good. If you don't it will be bad. Why do we blame the credit bureau for reporting that somoene has bad credit. Who should the blame really be on?

"It is interesting that people complain about credit bureaus but without them we would not have the mortgage industry we have. Without credit bureaus we would not be able to lend to so many people. We would not have 100% programs and have FHA. "

I agree with you Eric.

Credit report just shows a picture of how good a person has been in managing his debts. Mortgage companies feel safer in lending to those who have been able to manage their credit responsibly.

Miller

Eric, it is true that credit bureaus do help us a lot. I mean it does that extra bit to tell us where we stand financially and what's the true picture of our credit condition. that helps us a lot when we need to get the financing. but they do provide innacurate info at times...and one such erroneous detail can even prevent a borrower from getting a loan.

Hi Jenkin,

Innovis Data Solutions differs from all other credit bureaus in the respect that it does not sell consumer information (credit payment data) to creditors, lenders, insurers and employers. It helps creditors in preparing the customer mailing lists. This is mostly required when creditors have to make customers aware of upcoming credit card offers and personal loans.

Usually Innovis provides credit data of consumers having bad credit in the present or even in the past. This is advantageous to creditors in the sense that they can leave out consumers (from the mailing lists) who do not have the credit status to qualify for the loan. So, what they'll have is a clean pre-approved mailing list before offers are printed and mailed. Thus they need not lose much of their money in the mail program costs, and other risks.

However, as far as consumers are concerned, the problem is, if they had a poor credit profile in the past, they would be reported as bad credit consumers. Hence their names would probably not feature in the mailing list prepared by Innovis.

Regards,

Jessica

Most credit card issuers, lenders, employers, banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, etc, report to Innovis, including Chase Bank. However, most consumers do not know this, and Innovis's credit reporting impacts people's ability to obtain credit in the financial market. So, how do we know whether Innovis sells consumer information (credit payment data) to creditors, lenders, insurers and employers? So, next time you are denied credit, housing, insurance, or employment, you should contact Innovis and request a credit history report. Innovis also has an office in Columbus, Ohio, and its address is as follows:

INNOVIS DATA SOLUTIONS
P.O. BOX 1534
COLUMBUS, OH 43216
(800) 457-0247
FAX (614) 228-0998

Hello Eduardo,

Welcome to the forums.

Thanks for sharing the information here.