TransUnion is an American consumer credit reporting agency. TransUnion collects and aggregates information on over one billion individual consumers in over thirty countries including "200 million files profiling nearly every credit-active consumer in the United States". Its customers include over 65,000 businesses. Based in Chicago, Illinois, TransUnion's 2014 revenue was US$1.3 billion. It is the smallest of the three largest credit agencies, along with Experian and Equifax (known as the "Big Three").
TransUnion also markets credit reports and other credit and fraud-protection products directly to consumers. Like all credit reporting agencies, the company is required by U.S. law to provide consumers with one free credit report every year. Additionally a growing segment of TransUnion's business is its business offerings that use advanced big data, particularly its deep AI-TLOxp product.
History
TransUnion was originally formed in 1968 as a holding company for Union Tank Car Company, making TransUnion a descendant of Standard Oil through Union Tank Car Company. The following year, it acquired the Credit Bureau of Cook County, which possessed and maintained 3.6 million credit accounts. In 1981, a Chicago-based holding company, The Marmon Group, acquired TransUnion for approximately $688 million.
In 2010, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Advent International acquired it from Madison Dearborn Partners. In 2014, TransUnion acquired Hank Asher's data company TLO. On June 25, 2015, TransUnion became a publicly traded company for the first time, trading under the symbol TRU.
TransUnion eventually began to offer products and services for both businesses and consumers. For businesses, TransUnion updated its traditional credit score offering to include trended data that helps predict consumer repayment and debt behavior. This product, referred to as CreditVision, launched in October 2013.
Its SmartMove™ service facilitates credit and background checks for landlords. The service also provides credit and background checks for partner companies, such as RentSpree.
In September 2013, the company acquired eScan Data Systems of Austin, Texas, to provide post-service eligibility determination support to hospitals and healthcare systems. The technology was integrated into TransUnion's ClearIQ platform, which tracks patients demographic and insurance related information to support benefit verification.
In November 2013, TransUnion acquired TLO LLC, a company that leverages data in support of its investigative and risk management tools. Its TLOxp technology aggregates data sets and uses a proprietary algorithm to uncover relationships between data.
In 2014, a TransUnion analysis found that reporting rental payment information to credit bureaus can positively affect credit scores. As a result, TransUnion initiated a service called ResidentCredit, making it easy for property owners to report data about their tenants on a monthly basis. These reports include the amount each tenant pays, the timeliness of their last payment, and any remaining balance the tenant currently owes. As a result, some companies have started reporting rent payment information to TransUnion.
In 2015, TransUnion acquired Trustev, a digital verification company specializing in online fraud for $21 million, minus debts.
In 2017, TransUnion acquired FactorTrust, a consumer reporting agency specializing in alternative credit data.
In mid-April 2018, TransUnion announced it intended to buy UK-based CallCredit Information Group for $1.4 billion, subject to regulatory approval.
In December 2021, TransUnion completed the acquisitions of Neustar, initially announced in September 2021 for $3.1 billion, and Sontiq, initially announced in October 2021 for $638 million.
In February 2023, TransUnion announced it was rebranding it's "thousands of existing B2B products into seven business lines." These include: TruAudience, TruValidate, TruContact (all based on former offerings from Neustar), TruVision, TruIQ, TruEmpower, and TruLookup.
Legal and regulatory issues
In 2003, Judy Thomas of Klamath Falls, Oregon, was awarded $5.3 million in a successful lawsuit against TransUnion. The award was made on the grounds that it took her six years to get TransUnion to remove incorrect information in her credit report.