A person needs to have a good credit score in order to qualify for an Alphaeon credit card. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are the top 3 Commonly preferred credit bureaus.  An Alphaeon Credit Card uses an Equifax credit score to check an individual’s credit. The respective collection Agency company is an American multinational consumer credit reporting agency. It comes among the three largest consumer credit reporting agencies followed by Experian and TransUnion.

What is an Alphaeon?

An Alphaeon is a credit card commonly known as an Alphaeon credit card. It is offered by the Comenity Capital Bank. An individual cannot easily have access to it. He/she must pre-qualify certain criterias and credit scores in order to be approved and have access to an Alphaeon Credit Card. It uses the Equifax credit score to check an individual’s credit. It uses an Equifax credit score. An alphaeon credit card is an easy and effortless way to pay for procedures, products, treatments and a number of medical services provided. 

What is Equifax? 

Equifax is an American multinational credit reporting agency. It collects, researches and calculates credit scores of more than 800 million individual consumers and collaborates with more than 88 million businesses worldwide. 

How does Equifax work?

Equifax collects consumer data through a number of data providers such as creditors, debtors, debt collection agencies, vendors, court records, offices with public records etc. This data is then collected and researched upon so as to calculate the credit score of an individual.  The received reports are then passed on to a number of lending institutions helping them to calculate the credit worthiness of an individual. It’s headquarters are located in Atlanta, a city in Georgia in the US. Equifax has investments currently in around 24 countries in Europe, Americas and Asia Pacific.

History of Equifax

Equifax was founded in 1899 i.e., around 123 years ago as a Retail Credit Company. It was founded by Cator Woolford and Guy Woolford. Origin1899FoundersCator WoolfordGuy WoolfordHeadquartersAtlanta, Georgia, US ChairpersonMark L. FeidlerCEOMark W. BegorVice President and CFO John W. Gamble, Jr.RevenueUSD4.128 billion (2020)Operating incomeUSD676.6 million (2020)Net incomeUSD520.1 million (2020)Total assetsUSD7.909 billion (2019)Total equityUSD2.579 billion (2019)No. Of employees11,200+  From October 12, 2012, Equifax was charged with supplying inaccurate, incomplete or outdated information held by the company by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. All the misattributed information was the result of a Cyber Security Breach which was publicly disclosed in September,2017 by Equifax.

What is a Credit Bureau?

A credit bureau is a consumer credit reporting agency. It can be referred to as a collection agency company. In simple words, an organization that calculates credit scores of individuals and exchanges them with all types of lending institutions/organizations/creditors for a fee thereby helping them to make lending decisions.  Common clients of credit bureaus are banks, credit card issuers, lending institutions and a number of credit extending companies. They use a range of methodologies to calculate credit scores or FICO scores. Equifax is one such credit bureau. 

Credit Score

Credit Bureaus get information and consumer credit data from several sources listed above. These factors are not just limited to sources with public records, but might also include utility bills, payment history of cell phone bills, rent etc. The data received from these sources is then used to calculate credit scores of individuals. 

FICO Score

FICO score is a type of credit score created by Fair Isaac Corporation. These are the most commonly used credit scores in the US. They were created in 1989.  FICO scores generally take 35% of payment history, 15% of credit history, 10% of new credit and 10% of credit mix into account.  There is a total number of 19 FICO scores. An individual may choose any of them matching their preferences. 

Top 3 Credit Bureaus  

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are the top 3 commonly used credit bureaus in the US. These are also known as The Big Three credit bureaus. Though there are a number of credit reporting agencies in US, these three are the only ones that together are of major national significance. 

Equifax

Located in Atlanta, the credit reporting agency calculates the credit scores of more than 800 million individuals. Being the market leader in the US South and Midwest, the respective agency leads the market in almost every country it works in.  We have discussed more about it above. (page 1) 

Experian

It’s headquarters are located in Costa Mesa, California. This reporting agency is sort of dominant in the US West. Experian uses its own FICO score also known as Experian/Fair Isaac Risk Model v2. The firm has an approx. of 17,000 employees worldwide. 

TransUnion

TransUnion is a Chicago based credit reporting organization. The agency has over 8,000+ employees with regional offices in Hong Kong, India, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, Columbia and the UK. 

Conclusion 

There are a number of consumer credit reporting agencies in the US. But the top 3 or The Big Three are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. They together are considered of major national significance. An Alphaeon Credit Card therefore uses an Equifax credit score to check an individual’s credit scores and thereby make lending decisions. It is offered by the Comenity Capital Bank. 1.How can I have access to an Alphaeon Credit Card?  An Alphaeon Credit Card offers credit lines up to 25,000 dollars. An individual needs to be pre-qualified before completing the full application to be approved for an Alphaeon Credit Card. This does not affect the credit score.  2.What are the age criteria to apply for an Alphaeon Credit Card? The applicant must be at a majority age of his/her country or territory.  3.Can I complete the application if I’m not pre-qualified? No, an application cannot be submitted if you are not pre-qualified. However, you can apply again after 30 days.  4.Can Alphaeon use 2 credit bureau reports at the same time? No. It uses only one that is Equifax.  5.Is there any fee for the application? No