Credit Bureau Inquiries

Protect your financial integrity and sensitive data

The Credit Bureau Inquiry with Identity Cross-Check is a quick and cost-efficient way to make more informed hiring decisions. Obtain insight into your candidates’ financial responsibility in order to fill positions requiring financial oversight and to minimize risk.

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Valuable Insights to Reduce Risk

Credit checks are often mandated  for candidates with managerial, accounting, financial record, or cheque-writing responsibilities. Sterling Backcheck’s Credit Bureau Inquiry with Identity Cross-Check provides data about candidates’ financial history from one of Canada’s major credit bureaus, TransUnion. Uncover unpaid accounts, financial judgements, bankruptcies, and other valuable insights which help you to hire better-quality candidates.

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Delivering Provable Value

  • 0 %
    of clients in the financial and banking sector use the Credit Bureau Inquiry.
  • 0 ,431
    Identity Cross-Checks ordered over the past 12 months.
  • 0 %
    of Identity Cross-Checks reveal undisclosed aliases.
Source: Sterling 2024
8235-Co workers

Sterling Backcheck’s Credit Bureau Inquiry with Identity Cross-Check includes:

  • Identifying Information – Names and aliases, date of birth, social insurance number, address history, and employment history.
  • Financial Information – Financial accounts (credit cards, loans, installment plans, etc.) and the payment history for those accounts.
  • Public Records – Registered items, bankruptcies, and legal items.
  • Collections – Information regarding delinquent accounts which have been sent to collection.
  • Banking items – Information regarding any fraudulent activity as reported by the individual’s financial institution.

Frequently Asked Questions

A Credit Bureau Inquiry consists of an inquiry to TransUnion, one of Canada’s major credit bureaus, in order to obtain the individual’s credit report.

TransUnion is a major credit bureau clearing house widely used by many financial, private, and government institutions to obtain and monitor credit profiles. For more information, visit TransUnion’s website at www.transunion.ca.

The following pieces of information must be obtained from the candidate:

  • Signed consent form
  • Full name and any aliases
  • Full current address
  • Date of birth

The following pieces of information are not mandatory, but are preferred and may be required in order to locate the candidate’s credit report or to ensure accuracy:

  • Social Insurance Number
  • Previous address history
  • Home phone number, including area code

Sterling Backcheck has four statuses for Credit Bureau Inquiry results:

Incomplete - This means that the Credit Bureau Inquiry is pending or awaiting quality assurance steps.

Clear - This means that the Credit Bureau Inquiry has been conducted and has no flags or negative items.

Not Clear - This means that the Credit Bureau Inquiry has been conducted and there were flags or negative items found such as:

  • Missed payments on financial accounts
  • Collection activity
  • Negative banking information
  • Legal items
  • Bankruptcies

Unable to Complete - This means that there is something missing in the candidate’s file which is preventing Sterling Backcheck from conducting the Credit Bureau Inquiry. This is usually due to missing applicant information, such as date of birth.

Sterling Backcheck’s average turnaround time is one business day for a Credit Bureau Inquiry, provided that all the necessary information is submitted.

No, there is no impact. There are different types of inquiries that reside on a credit report. The score only considers those inquiries that are posted as a result of applying for credit; these inquiries are referred to as hard inquiries. When Sterling Backcheck pulls a candidate’s credit report for a prospective employer in order to assess their financial risk, this is referred to as a soft inquiry. Soft inquiries have no effect on a candidate’s credit score.

This is quite rare, but candidates may contact TransUnion directly at 1-800-663-9980 to dispute or update their information. The candidate must provide Sterling Backcheck as the company that inquired about their credit in the past 60 days, and the TransUnion representative will assist in clearing up any inaccuracies. We are not in a position to update candidates’ credit files, as the candidates are the legal owners.

No. We’re unable to evaluate credit records based on a candidate’s claims. Moreover, one missed payment does not lead to a negative account; it usually requires two to three months of missed payments to negatively affect an account rating. Sterling Backcheck cannot change items (whether negative or positive) on a candidate’s credit report. This responsibility falls solely on the credit bureau (with reliance on accurate information from the consumer and his/her creditors).

By comparing the information provided on the candidate’s consent forms with the information provided by the credit bureau, Sterling Backcheck can identify more aliases and other inconsistencies which help provide more accurate Employment Verifications, Reference Checks, and Criminal Record Checks.

No. A credit history does not require any form of ID.

Yes. All candidates must sign a consent form, provided by Sterling Backcheck, which indicates that they are aware of and accept having their credit history examined by Sterling Backcheck and that the results will be relayed to you as their potential employer.

If a candidate is too young to have credit, has recently immigrated, or simply has no credit history to their name, Sterling Backcheck will indicate this on the final report by writing, “Sterling Backcheck was unable to locate a credit file.” The Credit Bureau Inquiry will then be marked as Clear.

Reading the Credit Bureau Inquiry Result

Sterling Backcheck does not rate the accounts in-house. The system used to rate accounts comes directly from TransUnion. A typical example is regarding payment frequency. If minimum payments are missed successively, a negative rating is eventually given to the account. The overall rating, as it appears on the Credit Bureau Inquiry Result, is calculated based on the following items:

A third-party company takes over the collection of an amount outstanding. Both paid and unpaid collection items are reported as negative.

Proceedings must involve a monetary value to be reported to a credit bureau. The outcome of these proceedings may or may not be reported at the time of our check. This means that we may not know the balance/outcome of the judgment, as it may still be in process. Items could range from small claims court to unpaid taxes or child support.

A bank reports a customer with some type of infraction. These items are summarized/differentiated by these phrases:

  • Uncollected overdraft or charges.
  • Unacceptable ABM  activity (activity-based management).
  • Stolen, forged, worthless, and NSF (no sufficient funds)  cheques.

A bankruptcy is the release of a consumer from their obligation to pay back creditors. The process of filing for bankruptcy takes about 10 months, which means that bankruptcies can be reported as “not discharged” depending on when we do the check. A bankruptcy can be reported as discharged or pending.  

A proposal is an attempt by a consumer to consolidate his debt and, through a trustee, pay back some of what is owed. A proposal is defined by regular payments for a predetermined period. A proposal can be reported as proposal, failed, or satisfied.

Here is a brief outline of TransUnion’s credit rating system:

Types of Ratings

0 = Too new to rate/no payments have been made. 

1 = Regular payments

2 = 30-59 days late

3 = 60-89 days late

4 = 90-119 days late

5 = 120 or more days late

7 = Credit Counseling

8 = Repossession

9 = Bad Debt Write-off. May or may not be passed on to collection agency.

Types of Accounts

R = Revolving account. Credit Card. Balance and payments fluctuate with consumer use.

I = Installment account. Loan. Balance is the amount still owing. Predetermined payment amount and frequency.

O = Open account. Account with time limit (i.e. a cell phone contract). Once the predetermined time has expired, the account is closed.

M = Mortgage account.

C = Line of credit.

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The Sterling Backcheck Advantage

Measurable Value. No Shortcuts.

We offer your organization the highest level of quality and service at a competitive price, all to deliver you the best value.

Process and Technology

We leverage proprietary technology  to streamline the screening process and provide you with an outstanding client experience and your candidates with an improved candidate experience.

In-House Compliance Experts

Our team of compliance experts help you and your organization stay up-to-date with global and regional regulatory changes.

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