5 Top Business Credit Monitoring Services

What is a Business Credit Monitoring Service?

A credit monitoring service keeps track of a consumer’s credit reports and notifies them if there is a possible issue. The service provides consumers with alerts about suspicious events, including unusual accounts and dramatic changes to balances. Such activity could indicate fraud or identity theft. Their services also involve credit score monitoring to help subscribers oversee their credit profiles and address how to build business credit.

5 Options for Business Credit Monitoring

Here are five options for business credit monitoring to consider if you want to stay up-to-date on your business credit score or build business credit:

1. Nav.com

Nav.com has many features and a monthly credit monitoring services that is free. Nav.com helps you monitor critical credit indicators, including Dun & Bradstreet PAYDEX, Equifax Business Credit Risk, and the Experian Intelliscore. Having these tools gives you a clear indication of how your business is viewed concerning your risk as a borrower and buyer.

However, with Nav.com, you do not receive scoring data as you do with a traditional credit report. Instead, you will receive letter grades for each credit bureau. If you’re trying to establish business credit or want to see how you rate with on-time payments, this is likely all you need.

Pricing

Nav.com is free to use each month. Several packages are available, ranging from $29.99 per month to $49.99. The packages include greater access to reports and identity theft protection.

Pros

• Monitors information from major reporting bureaus
• Offers a free plan
• Includes personal credit monitoring

Cons

• Does not provide access to reports

2. Dun & Bradstreet CreditMonitor

If you want details, insights, and analytics, then the Dun & Bradstreet Credit Monitor might be for you. These insights could help your business build credit or improve your score, providing alerts with any activity on your business credit report.

Because this is a Dun & Bradstreet service, you will only have access to your PAYDEX number (or dun and bradstreet rating). You will not have access to other scores or reports through Experian or Equifax. However, you can see changes to your PAYDEX score in real-time.

Pricing

The CreditMonitor service costs $39.99 per month.

Pros

• Offers detailed analytics and insights
• Gives full access to PAYDEX scoring
• Provides online fraud detection tools, such as alerts and dark web monitoring

Cons

• Other business credit reports are not included
• A more expensive option

3. CreditSafe

CreditSafe monitors your business credit report and provides alerts. It also keeps track of businesses you may want to work with, giving you an overall picture of each company's financial health. It even gives you insight into international companies, helping you spot business trends.

CreditSafe also provides full access to multiple credit reports, including PAYDEX, Experian, and Equifax. It also sends you alerts about your business and any other businesses you choose to monitor.

Pricing

The pricing is not listed on the website. Instead, you need to call to obtain a quote for your business.

Pros

• Provides detailed analysis of your business and any businesses you want to work with
• Works with international accounts
• Customer service is available 24/7

Cons

• It does not provide pricing on its website

4. CreditSuite

CreditSuite is a smart option if you believe you may need funding in the future or are concentrating on debt paydown for your business. CreditSuite provides detailed information and analysis on loan repayments while monitoring your business scores, including PAYDEX and Intelliscore.

The monthly subscription gives you ongoing access to these important scores, plus monitoring and alerts. CreditSuite also shows you how to prepare for a loan application and how your business credit report could impact lending decisions.

Pricing

$24 per month

Pros

• An affordable option
• Provides PAYDEX and Intelliscore reports and monitoring
• It is ideal for helping with debt management

Cons

• No free or annual plan is available
• No Equifax monitoring
  
  

5. Experian

You may be familiar with Experian reports regarding your own personal credit score. Experian also offers business credit reporting. You get access to your business’s credit information and can also check the credit details of businesses you wish to work with. It offers a range of alerts and services, including notifications of score changes, alerts on account activity, trends and insights, and access to your Intellscore report.

Because it is an Experian product, its reports and scoring are limited compared to those you might receive from other services. Overall, it provides a user-friendly way of keeping track of your Intelliscore.

Pricing

Experian Business Credit Monitoring is $189 per year for access, or you can pay a one-time fee of $39.99 for one report only.

Pros

• An affordable option
• Offers full Intelliscore monitoring and report access
• Provides detailed insights for your business and other businesses you may want to work with

Cons

• No monthly plan option
• Intelliscore monitoring only

Business credit monitoring Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Do I need a business credit score?

Yes, you need to establish a business credit score and monitor it regularly. Even if you don’t plan on applying for funding anytime soon, landlords, insurance companies, vendors, and suppliers might also be interested in your business credit score. Like the PAYDEX score, certain business credit scores show how timely your business is with payments.

Why do I need to monitor my business credit score?

Monitoring your business credit score is a good practice, especially since credit scores for businesses are available to the public (unlike a personal credit score). Monitoring it will help you track how other businesses see your creditworthiness and risk. Plus, inaccurate information can be there, which you would only know about via monitoring. Monitoring could also help you identify a case of fraud more quickly.

What is business credit used for?

Your score is used for determining your borrowing power, including funding and credit lines. It’s also the determining factor for the interest rates lenders offer you regarding commercial insurance, credit lines, business loans, etc. The more favorable your score is, the more likely your business will receive favorable payment terms.

Is a business credit score different from a personal credit score?

Yes, to begin with, personal credit scores are tied to your social security number, and business scores are tied to the Tax ID Number. Personal scores are established through Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, whereas business scores include information from Dun & Bradstreet.

What is considered a good business credit score?

Each reporting bureau uses its own unique scoring system to assign a business credit score. To understand what makes a good score, you should review each agency’s scoring methodology. For example, the Dun & Bradstreet rating system and the PAYDEX score use a scale system ranging from 0 to 100. A score of 80 indicates that your business makes timely payments.

Conclusion

Business credit monitoring provides real-time alerts if there is new activity or changes to your business credit, ultimately assisting your business’s finances and helping you avoid a bad credit score. If you wish to improve your business’ credit or rebuild it, staying on top of your business credit score is a top way to prepare.

This article has outlined the features of 5 top business credit monitoring services, ensuring you get a solid business credit score. If you aim to scale and grow your business, once you have established a solid credit score you will likely need to obtain funding via a business loan. Online loan service providers, such as Credibly, are a great funding option for start-up and established businesses alike.