Credit glossary
Innovis
A credit reporting company separate from the big three, listed by the CFPB among supplementary credit reporting companies.
Innovis keeps credit files that some lenders check, and it's part of the industry's plumbing. The CFPB's 2012 review says Metro 2 was developed for the nationwide bureaus and Innovis, and describes the e-OSCAR dispute system as built and owned by Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion. Your Innovis file isn't available through AnnualCreditReport.com, so you request it from Innovis directly.
A freeze at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion does nothing at Innovis, so it needs its own freeze request. Innovis mails a 10-digit PIN after verifying your identity, and you'll need that PIN to lift the freeze later. Like any consumer reporting agency, Innovis must investigate disputes about information in its file.
Guides that go deeper
- Freezing all the bureaus, including the ones nobody mentionsEquifax, Experian and TransUnion are three of the freezes you need. The other four, with each company's own freeze link, phone and mail address.
- Specialty consumer reports: ChexSystems, tenant screening and moreBanks, landlords, insurers and utilities often check reports you've never seen. Who keeps them, how to get yours free, and how to fix errors in them.
Sources
- Security Freeze, Innovis
- Key Dimensions and Processes in the U.S. Credit Reporting System (December 2012), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- List of consumer reporting companies, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- 15 U.S.C. 1681i: Procedure in case of disputed accuracy, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
This is education, not legal or financial advice. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it.