This blog post was last updated on March 10, 2021.
As reported by Entrepreneur.com, 60 percent of small and midsized business owners don’t know their business credit scores and 50 percent don’t even know that they have a business credit score. This is less a function of disinterest and more a result of widespread misunderstandings and misinformation – including those spread by some unscrupulous “credit consultants” who sell their so-called services to individuals and businesses.
To help set the record straight, below we clarify how a credit score is created, and what it ultimately means when trying to access a business loan.
How Do Business Credit Scores Get Created?
A business credit score is derived from multiple sources, including legal files, credit applications, supplier and vendor payment histories, collections information, and other background data.
Personal Credit Scores vs. Business Credit Scores
Personal credit scores are calculated by the three national credit bureaus (TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax), and the number ranges from 300 and 850 – with about 700 being considered “good”.
Business credit scores, however, are calculated by various companies including Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, Equifax Business, and Business Credit USA. Because these companies each use different algorithms and calculation methods, what one company deems as a good (or excellent) score will not necessarily translate to another.
For example, Experian uses a scale of 0-100, with a breakdown as follows:
- 1-10 is considered high risk
- 11-25 is considered medium to high risk
- 26-50 is considered medium risk
- 51-75 is considered low to medium risk
- 76-100 is considered low risk
Dun & Bradstreet’s PAYDEX also uses a scale of 1-100, but the ranking is based on whether a company has paid invoices on time within the last 2 years. As such:
- 1-49 is considered high risk
- 50-79 is considered moderate risk
- 80-100 is considered low risk
Establishing Business Credit History
Many business owners who’ve been operating for years are shocked to discover that their credit history is not well-established. This is because contrary to popular belief, creditors are not required to report payment behavior to the commercial (business) credit rating firms noted above.
Business Credit Scores & Access to Capital
A variety of third parties – including banks, credit card issuers, insurance companies, leasing firms, investors, and so on – pull business credit scores to evaluate risk and reliability. For some of these third parties, the score will be one of several factors they consider. For others such as banks, it will be their primary factor.
This is why millions of businesses across the country often cannot get a business loan from their bank. They either don’t have a long enough credit history (banks typically want two or more years of history), or their scores aren’t high enough (anything less than “excellent” may be considered risky).
How Mulligan Funding Assesses Business Credit Scores
At Mulligan Funding, we conduct a business credit check at the time of application, which is standard operating procedure. However, unlike some large, traditional banks, we do NOT interpret scores as the end-all-and-be-all of creditworthiness1.
We know that a business is much more than the sum total of its credit score. As such, we regularly provide access to funding for businesses with imperfect or damaged credit. Plus, for businesses who are approved, funding can also become available as soon as the business day after approval*.
Learn More
Call Mulligan Funding at 855-326-3564 to discuss your financing options today!
The information shared is intended to be used for informational purposes only and you should independently research and verify.
Note: Prior to January 23, 2020, Mulligan Funding operated solely as a direct lender, originating all of its own loans and Merchant Cash Advance contracts. From that date onwards, the majority of funding offered by Mulligan Funding will be by Loans originated by FinWise Bank, a Utah-chartered Bank, pursuant to a Loan Program conducted jointly by Mulligan Funding and FinWise Bank.
