After speaking with my contact at Dun & Bradstreet yesterday about its duns credit builder products there have been recent changes made this year that are important for you to be aware of. These enhancements are good news for small business owners and make the programs offered at DNB more streamlined and affordable to establish, improve, and protect your corporate credit.

Now keep in mind that obtaining a DUNs number does not cost anything to your company but receiving your number can take over 30 days if you choose the free route. However, you can obtain your DUNs number in less than 24 hours by either purchasing one of its business credit builder programs or if you are a government contractor, government vendor, or grant recipient.

Now let’s review each of its business credit solutions and how they can help build company credit for your small business much faster than the traditional route of waiting for your creditors to report.

DUNs File Creator

Price $149

This product is ideal for you if you need to have a DUNs number issued right away. As soon as you purchase this product they will issue your number in 24 hours and you can have a DNB business file in their system within 5 business days. You have the ability to add extensive information on your file like company background information, operational information and financial statements. One of the drawbacks is that it does not include the ability to add trade references to your file. You will have to wait for vendors, creditors or suppliers to report their payment experience with you to Dun & Bradstreet. So if you are trying to build business credit history fast then this would not be the best choice for you because you have to wait until your suppliers report your payments.

* Tip – there are credit builder companies like the Business Credit Insiders Circle that provide access to vendors, suppliers, and companies that report to DNB for building small business credit.

DNBi Self Monitor Basic

Price $449

If you choose to purchase this product then most likely they will waive the DUNs File Creator fee so don’t hesitate to request it. This particular product is ideal for you if you already have existing trade references that you want to add to your file. This service allows you to submit up to 8 references over a period of 3 months for a total of 4 payment experiences to be added. They allow this extra cushion just in case they are unable to contact one of your references for payment experience verification.

Now if the price on this is a bit of stretch for you then you may want to take advantage of their monthly payment option. It costs $39 per month and requires a 3 month minimum term. Keep in mind that if you select this option you are only allowed to add 1 trade reference per quarter with the option to add more if you continue the service.

The product features for this are similar to the DUNs file creator with the main difference being the ability to add trade references.

*Tip – there are credit builder companies like BCIC that report your payments to Dun & Bradstreet. Not only do they give you access to vendors, suppliers, and companies that report to DNB but they also help you build business credit history too!

DNBi Self Monitor Plus Inquiries

Price $799

This product is similar to the DNBi Self Monitor Basic except that it allows you to submit up to 24 references over a period of 3 months for a total of 12 payment experiences to be added. The basic version allows you only a total of 4 payment experiences to be added. They provide this extra cushion just in case they are unable to contact one of your references for payment experience verification.

In addition you have the ability to track the inquiries that others are making into your business credit file. This is a great way to make sure you are up to speed on the latest information that vendors, banks, suppliers and customers are seeing and an effective way to determine if your business is generating the positive interest it needs in the marketplace.

If you choose to purchase this product then most likely they will waive the DUNs File Creator fee so don’t hesitate to request it. This product is ideal for you if you already have existing trade references that you want to add plus closely monitor the activity and inquiries on your file.

DNBi Self Monitor Premium

Price $1,399

This product is the grand daddy of DNBs business credit solutions. In my opinion it’s a big upgrade to DNBi Self Monitor Plus Inquiries product because it allows you to submit up to 200 references over a period of 6 months for a total of 100 payment experiences to be added. The ‘Plus Inquiries’ version allows a total of 12 payment experiences to be added. That is 88 additional references you can add with this product and 6 months time frame to do it.

Some of my members who have been in business for years who now realize they need to build business credit history found this product to be a no brainer. Since they already have long standing relationships with many companies they quickly have the ability to add dozens of trade experiences to their files and create a paydex score of 80+ in a matter of weeks!

I hope you find these product reviews helpful so you can get started building corporate credit for your business today.

Ezine by Marco Carbajo

Author