has anyone heard of a credit reporting agency called PRBC?is it for real and does it actually help you any?

Answer 1

1) Yes, it's a good idea. PRBC is a national credit bureau that helps people build credit using their non-debt bill payments that aren't reported to the other bureaus. So if you've always paid rent and other bills on time, you deserve credit for that.

2) It will not hurt you in any way. PRBC is completely voluntary - meaning, you have the choice to sign up. No bills, payments, accounts are tracked without your knowledge - which is very different than the Big 3. You choose which bills to report too - it's totally up to you. Lastly, you never have to do anything with your credit file with PRBC. It will never be shared without your permission.

3) PRBC creates a separate report and bill payment score. It doesn't report to the Big 3 or fix bad credit with other bureaus, but showing that you pay your bills on time can only help you.

In fact, it is your right under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to have any creditor review "any information the applicant may present that tends to indicate that the credit history being considered by the creditor does not accurately reflect the applicant's creditworthiness." - http://prbc.com/pub/PRBC_ECOA_Advisory.pdf

payments for non-debt bills like rent, utilities, cable, phone, daycare, storage units, cell phone, insurance, etc. should count just as much as a credit card bill! And there are many others who feel the same way.

Lenders are making mortgage loans based on PRBC Reports today. See this -http://prbc.com/consumers/how/mortgage.php

MGIC, the largest mortgage insurance company in the US is using PRBC data to automate approval decisions - http://sev.prnewswire.com/banking-financial-services/20070322/DCTH01222032007-1.html

PRBC is aggressively exploring opportunities with credit card and auto dealers to make credit decisions based on people signing up with PRBC and showing they pay their bills on time.

PRBC received a founding grant from the Ford Foundation http://www.fordfound.org/publications/ff_report/view_ff_report_detail.cfm?report_index=513

and Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Citimortgage are 1st Tier Data Subscribers. They've also received funding from the Omidyar Network - a group that "support(s) institutions and structures that foster conditions for individuals to improve the quality of their lives. (Pierre Omidyar is the co-founder of ebay) - http://home.omidyar.net/portfolio.php

You can sign up and enter your bill payment history for free. When you're ready to use your report, you order a verification (PRBC uses FCRA-compliant partners to actually call and verify the data) - that should cost $20 to verify rent and $15 for other bills. But a PRBC Report could save you hundreds within just a couple of months since you could get better interest rates with it - by proving to lenders you pay your bills on time and are a good credit risk.

You can also have your payments automatically recorded using their online bill pay service. PRBC teamed with CheckFree, the largest bill pay processor in the US, supporting banks like Wachovia and Bank of America. When you sign up and pay your bills online, your credit file with PRBC builds automatically. It's only $4.95 per month, which is the cost of most bill pay services that don't help you build credit. -http://prbc.com/consumers/how/olbp-intro.php

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
has anyone heard of a credit reporting agency called PRBC?is it for real and does it actually help you any?

Answer 3

Mr. X and Smoovy Loco already nailed this answer, but I'll gladly add on. PRBC is definitely for real and can be a great help - particularly for people who have no credit or "not enough" credit.

While there are over 130 regional credit bureaus in the US (as echo mentioned above), there are only 5 major national credit bureaus in the US. Most already know about the "Big 3" - Experian, Equifax and Transunion. Then there's Innovis - in case you're curious, you can read about them here - http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mortgages/20021114a.asp
and
http://www.carreonandassociates.com/articles/bureaufour.htm

PRBC is the only other national credit bureau, and it works much differently than the other 4. PRBC is the only credit bureau that:
1) Allows ANYONE to sign themselves up
2) Allows you to build a positive credit file using payments that ARE NOT automatically reported to the other bureaus
That list includes rent, phone, cell phone, cable, electric, natural gas, heating oil, daycare, self storage, insurance, etc. Basically any bill that's non-debt will not be reported to the Big 3 - unless payments are late or missed.
3) Allows you to view your credit file any time, as many times as you want - for FREE.
4) Will not sell your information to a third party without your permission.
5) Allows you to "quit" - or never share your file or information, if you choose.

The PRBC overview has a lot of that info - http://prbc.com/consumers/how/prbc.php

Lenders do indeed use this information - take a look at this page for an example - http://prbc.com/consumers/how/mortgage.php More testimonials will be coming soon...

I know this because I work for PRBC and I'm proud to say that. The service we have is helping a lot of people get into homes and get better rates than they otherwise could have gotten. We're working hard to develop relationships with more lenders and different lines of credit - auto, credit cards, etc. The financial industry is typically slow to change, but it is definitely happening. Today, if you have no credit with the Big 3, but enroll with PRBC and show you've paid rent and 3 other monthly bills on time for 12 months, we can connect you with lenders that will approve prime mortgages based on that info.

Something to check for when looking at credit offers and sites - see if the site has the Better Business Bureau logo. We just became a member, and the BBB seems to really put companies that have anything to do with credit to the test. I think it'd be tough to run a scam site and be able to post that logo that links to a real BBBonline company report.

All that said, you don't need to take my word for this. Take a look at a few articles written about PRBC...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/30/AR2005093000772.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59605-2004Feb21.html
and check at the bottom of this article
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/credit_scoring_new.html

If you have other questions, please feel free to email me.

Best of luck!
-Keith

Answer 4

Prbc Credit

Answer 5

I agree with the first two posters.

Thirty-Five was incorrect in saying there are only 3 credit reporting agencies. There are actually quite a few.

Most are lesser known than the "big 3" but there are a few that are pretty well known - for example Innovis, PRBC and LexisNexis (though LexNex is not classified as a CRA, they still act as one)

Many of the lesser known CRA's are the ones that are in individual states and cities. And, just because they are lesser known does not mean that they are not used by lenders.

Answer 6

PRBC is a consumer credit reporting agency, more commonly referred to as a credit bureau in the United States. It is similar to the "big three" U.S. credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) in that it is an FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) compliant national data repository. However, PRBC differs in a few distinct ways. Consumers are able to self-enroll and report their own non-debt payment history to PRBC. They can build a positive credit file based on their timely payments for bills such as rent, utilities, cable, telephone, and insurance that are not automatically reported to the other bureaus.

Go for it

Answer 7

No there are 3 major credit reporting agencies. Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. No one can help you do anything to your credit for a fee. You can research and ask questions, please don't pay anyone and if PBRC is self reporting who really uses it to give you credit-NO ONE.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

Good question, I was wondering the same thing myself