Experian Gives Small Businesses Greater Access to Credit

There’s good news for small business owners and entrepreneurs: Experian has enhanced its Small Business Credit Share program to give more comprehensive data and insights on companies’ credit worthiness, making it easier for small businesses to obtain credit.

New scoring models, updated report features and formats, integration with Experian’s application and decision-making management platform, and a “risk dashboard” illustrating payment history, legal filings, fraudulent actions, and other behaviors associated with creditworthiness.

Experian says the new Small Business Credit Share program gives potential lenders and creditors a “more complete view of a business’s creditworthiness, enabling them to make smarter decisions, while helping small business owners gain access to the financial capital they need.”

Credit scores for business similar to credit scores for consumers

Just as people have credit scores, so do businesses. They are based on the same factors that consumer credit cards measure: payment history, length of credit history, types of credit used, amount of debt relative to amount of available credit, and number of new credit requests.

Entrepreneurs may apply for business credit cards under their own names, not their business names. If a business is new, it may not have a credit report yet. But if possible, it’s advantageous for companies to have their own credit history and score.

Updates to the Experian model

Besides the new scoring models and risk dashboard, there are new features including “quick-glimpse views” and enhanced reporting. Commercial Fraud Shield lets companies check for indications of any fraudulent activity. The Small Business Credit Share predicts the likelihood of late payments on financial trades within the next two years, and performance trending gives a three-year trend report on revolving debt and total credit utilization.

Rewards for businesses rival those for consumers

Business credit cards often carry rewards that are specific to an entrepreneur’s needs. Reward points for travel, office supplies, and shipping are common for business credit cards.

Other perks of business cards over consumer cards are the availability of end-of-year reports, spending and budgeting tools designed to help small business owners do bookkeeping, and the ability to get extra cards to pass out to employees. Each card can be tracked and spending reports will reflect what was spent on each card.

Getting a business credit card is generally a very savvy move that can pay off in the end—and the new scoring model from Experian will give more small businesses access to the credit they need.