Responsibilities and Roles in Credit Reporting
Who does what in the credit reporting ecosystem, and how furnishers, CRAs, and consumers interact.
Overview
Accurate credit reporting depends on clear division of responsibilities: furnishers supply factual account data, consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) compile and display that data, and consumers have rights to dispute inaccuracies. Each party benefits when information is timely, complete, and consistent across monthly cycles.
Furnisher responsibilities
Provide accurate, complete, timely data; correct errors promptly and monitor rejects/disputes as quality signals.
Keep persistent identifiers stable (furnisher/branch, account numbers) to preserve history and dispute continuity.
CRA responsibilities
Aggregate and disclose tradelines, apply format and consistency checks, and route disputes via e-OSCAR for investigation and resolution.
Consumer rights (high-level)
Access to reports, ability to dispute inaccuracies, and expectation of timely investigation and correction when warranted.
Data governance & security
Restrict access to sensitive data, log changes, and reconcile monthly counts. Use a single as-of date per cycle to avoid mixing periods.