Whether you’re competing for a government contract or trying to secure favorable terms for a loan, a solid Dun & Bradstreet Rating may help you take your business to the next level. As the oldest credit bureau in the U.S., Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) deals only in business credit and is often the go-to credit agency for the the federal government and other high volume lenders.
But how do you get your Dun & Bradstreet credit scores? We answer that question and more in this article from Nav’s experts.
How Do Business Credit Scores Work?
Business credit works differently from personal credit. Unlike with personal credit, you aren’t entitled to one free business credit report per year, and lenders aren’t required to tell you if they turned you down for a loan based on your business credit score or lack thereof. Many business owners may not know how to interpret their business credit, and that goes doubly for a multi-faceted rating like Dun & Bradstreet’s.
Dun & Bradstreet’s credit rating process can be separated into two ratings that lenders can use to evaluate a business’s creditworthiness: the D&B Rating and the D&B PAYDEX® score. These two factors work together to inform lenders about a business’s credit risk.
Dun & Bradstreet Rating
A business’s D&B Rating is generated based on the amount of financial information a business provides to Dun & Bradstreet. The D&B Rating is meant to estimate a business’s creditworthiness by looking at a business’s net worth, number of employees, time in business, and credit history.
D&B PAYDEX Score
In conjunction with the D&B rating, Dun & Bradstreet creates the D&B PAYDEX score to rate businesses’ creditworthiness. Despite the D&B Rating sounding more like a traditional credit score, the D&B PAYDEX is more representative of what people think of when they think of credit ratings. A business’s D&B PAYDEX score reflects how quickly a business pays back lenders without taking into account business size and total capital.
How to Get My Scores
Once business owners have their D-U-N-S® number, they can begin monitoring their D&B Rating and D&B PAYDEX score by signing up for D&B’s Credit Insights or Nav Prime. D&B’s free service will alert business owners to changes in their credit scores, and business owners can pay to see their full reports.
Related Resources:
UCC Filings and Business Credit Scores
Why Is a DUNS Number Important?
This article was originally written on July 13, 2018 and updated on November 20, 2024.
I want to get my D &B number
If you mean your D-U-N-S number you can visit Dun & Bradstreet’s website. If you mean a D&B PAYDEX score, you can purchase it from D&B or get it through Nav.
I need my D&B number
Is it possible to update the business address DnB has on file through Nav?
I have a free DnB account and number, but I have a new business address. I’m not able to verify that I own the entity through their iUpdate website or with their mail in order verification process. I want to avoid spending $150 just to change my address if possible.
I need my D&B number
If you have a Nav account, go into Business Launcher, where you’ll see instructions for requesting your D&B D-U-N-S number at no cost. You can get a free Nav account here.