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    Credit Category Descriptions

    How Experian classifies businesses

    Evaluate credit risk
    1. Small Business
    2. Credit Category
    Your Business Credit
    • Your Business Credit
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    Credit Categories

    Experian provides a credit category by analyzing the business's current trade experiences and the presence or absence of collection data and derogatory public record filings. We then classify the business into one of the following categories:

    • Acceptable
      This company actively uses credit and pays its bills no later than nine days late, on average. There are no derogatory legal records on file for this company.
    • Caution
      A company may fall into this category in one of two ways:
      If the company actively uses credit, the risk category is based on the current payment performance and/or legal records on file. If the company does not actively use credit, it may pose increased risk.
      In either case, the caution risk category suggests you investigate further before making credit or business decisions related to the company.
    • Warning
      Derogatory payment performance information and/or derogatory legal records exist on file for this company. Experian recommends further investigation prior to making any credit or business decisions.
    • Serious risk warning
      Serious derogatory payment performance information and/or serious derogatory legal records exist on file for this company. Experian strongly recommends further investigation prior to making any credit or business decisions. Fifteen percent of businesses fall into this higher-risk category.
    • Bankruptcy
      This company has previously filed for bankruptcy.

    Having the correct business information on file with Experian is crucial to building your credit report and improving your credit score. Here's how to update your business information.

    Start with a Business Search

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