D&B is one of the easiest ways to open a business credit profile. This starts with obtaining a D-U-N-S number. We go through the entire process. Thus we provide all of the information you need to know throughout this part of the corporate credit building process. Its very important that you read and understand this important step and submit your company correctly. This can be done for free, however you may be charged to change information. So, it’s critical that you give attention to the details.
Getting Your D-U-N-S™ Number
There are two ways to get your D-U-N-S™ Number from D&B. You can have a FREE service from D&B. Alternatively you can choose to have your number assigned the same business day for a fee of between $400 to $1000 or so. Remember that the entire corporate credit building process will take you several months, so paying D&B at this point, isn’t going to make things happen any sooner in the big picture. There are still two other agencies that will have to be covered after D&B, Experian and Equifax.
- FREE D-U-N-S™ Number – Get a D-U-N-S™ Number free of charge. This process will take approximately 60 days. When you choose this free service, after you have completed the form process, you will be given another option to pay for expedited processing. You are given the option to have your number in 5 business days for $49 or in 30 business days at no charge. Again, having your D&B number faster doesn’t speed up the entire process of building business credit, so its up to you.
- D&B Credit Profile – You can Create a D&B credit profile as package service where you will get your D-U-N-S™ number and profile created the same day.
With the free service, you will still end up with the same outcome. You will be told that if you didn’t pay for the D&B profile service that your account is not set up. This is correct, however once you have one vendor or creditor report activity, your profile is created and account is immediately set up.
D&B Practices
When you choose to have your D-U-N-S™ number created for free, you will be contacted by D&B in order to get you to pay for your profile. You will be told that you need a profile from D&B to get corporate credit and you have to pay for the service in order to make that happen, which we have already explained is not true. You get your D-U-N-S™ number for free, you can pull your own report and when you have a vendor or creditor report, your profile is created immediately.
Already Have a D-U-N-S Number?
If you find your company after performing a D&B search, you can check to see if your account is s by purchasing a Company Profile Report, for $12.99. However, your company does not have a profile, a report will not be created for you and your credit card will not be charged.
If you have already confirmed that your profile is active, you can get a copy of your D&B credit report for free or for a fee
Rated and Non Rated D-U-N-S Numbers
If you talk to Dun and Bradstreet, you will be told that the free D-U-N-S™ number is a non-rated identification, that you cannot use to build corporate credit with. You will also be told that if you want a rated number that you can use to develop business credit, you must go through their validation process at a cost of anywhere between $329 and $799. You can compare their two services levels here:
- DNB Credit Builder – This is the $329 credit builder program from DNB.
- DNB Credit Builder Plus This is the $599 credit builder program from DNB.
What You Need to Know About DNB
DNB support is comprised of commission sales representatives. You will be told that you cannot build credit with a D-U-N-S number unless you purchase a credit builder program and go through their validation process. THIS IS NOT TRUE. Your D-U-N-S number is your number and when you have trade references and reporting organizations, your profile will grow.
You will be told the following: The free DUNS number is a listing with D&B, but not a complete registration. It is not eligible for predictive credit scores or credit ratings. You will be told about the two credit builder programs listed above as well as another level of DNB’s service is $799 where you can add an unlimited number of trade references for your business. This is not necessary to build business credit or even create your corporate credit profile. Get your number from DNB and continue with building corporate credit yourself.
