Quick verdict
Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) and Experian Business are the two dominant US commercial credit bureaus. They are not interchangeable.
D&B is the standard for trade-payment behavior. Its PAYDEX score, scaled 0-100 based on payment history contributed by suppliers and vendors, is the number most US credit managers and procurement officers reach for when they want to know whether a company pays its bills on time. D&B’s D-U-N-S Number is mandatory for US federal government contracting and accepted by more than 50 global trade associations. D&B’s Business Information Report (BIR) at $189.99 per single report is the most widely used paid US business credit product.
Experian Business is stronger for blended-risk assessment, particularly on younger companies. Its Intelliscore Plus score pulls more than 800 data points, including credit usage, public records, and business demographics, and can incorporate owner personal credit when trade-line history is thin. Experian’s retail pricing is more transparent, with per-report pricing published ($49.95 for a CreditScore Report, $59.95 for ProfilePlus), and its Business Credit Advantage subscription ($199/year) gives small-volume buyers ongoing monitoring on their own business file.
Most large US lenders, government agencies, and procurement programs check both rather than choosing one. The question for most compliance and credit buyers is not which bureau to use but which bureau covers the specific gap in their current program.
What D&B is and what it does
D&B was founded in 1841 and is arguably the oldest continuously operating commercial data business in the world. Its core product is the D-U-N-S Number: a nine-digit proprietary identifier assigned to business entities globally. D&B’s database holds more than 300 million entities worldwide, including a large majority of US businesses that have applied for or been assigned a D-U-N-S Number.
The D-U-N-S Number’s market position is unique: it is required for US federal government contracting under the System for Award Management (SAM.gov), recognized by more than 50 global trade associations and industry bodies, and used by Fortune 500 procurement teams as a standard vendor identifier. No other commercial business identifier has this depth of institutional embedding in the US market.
D&B’s flagship product for credit buyers is the Business Information Report (BIR). A BIR packages:
- Company registration data (state of formation, date incorporated, entity type)
- PAYDEX score (0-100, trade-payment history)
- Financial Stress Score (predictive, probability of severe financial distress)
- Delinquency Predictor Score (probability of severe delinquency)
- Supplier Evaluation Risk rating
- Trade payment trends (industry averages, payment behavior over time)
- Public filings (suits, liens, judgments, UCC filings)
- Corporate linkage (parent, subsidiaries, corporate family tree)
Pricing for retail buyers: $189.99 for a single BIR; a BIR Snapshot (shorter version) is $139.99; a 25-pack BIR runs $3,799.99 (approximately $152 per report). The Credit Evaluator Plus, a lighter product, is $61.99 for one or $3,719.99 for 100. Enterprise buyers access D&B through D&B Finance Analytics and D&B Hoovers under annual contracts.
D&B’s PAYDEX score is its most distinctive feature. No other US credit bureau produces an equivalent payment-history-focused score for business entities. PAYDEX is calculated from trade experiences contributed by D&B’s network of suppliers and vendors, which means a company’s score is only as good as the number of trade lines contributing. A company with few or no trade-line contributions may have a thin D&B file even if it is profitable and well-established.
What Experian Business is and what it does
Experian Business is the business credit division of Experian, the global credit information company. Experian’s US business credit database covers more than 27 million active US businesses. Its flagship scoring product is the Intelliscore Plus, scaled 1-100, which aggregates more than 800 data points including trade payment history, credit usage, public records, and business demographic variables.
Experian’s product line for US business credit buyers:
- CreditScore Report: $49.95 per report; includes Intelliscore Plus, Financial Stability Risk Rating, payment trends, and public records.
- ProfilePlus Report: $59.95 per report; adds trade payment detail, inquiry detail, and UCC filings.
- Business Credit Advantage subscription: $199 per year; unlimited access to the buyer’s own business credit report with daily monitoring alerts.
- Business CreditScore Pro plan: $1,495 per year; up to 30 CreditScore reports per month for buyers checking multiple businesses.
- ProfilePlus CreditScore Pro plan: $1,995 per year; includes trade payment and inquiry data on each report.
The Intelliscore Plus score differs from PAYDEX in three meaningful ways. First, it incorporates credit usage alongside payment history, so a business that has high outstanding credit relative to limits will score differently than one with the same payment history but lower utilization. Second, it can incorporate the business owner’s personal credit history for younger businesses that lack a deep trade-line record, which makes Experian more useful for assessing startups and young SMEs. Third, the Financial Stability Risk Rating, included in higher-tier Experian reports, is a predictive signal for severe delinquency or charge-off over the next 12 months, distinct from a current payment score.
Experian also includes the UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) filing data in its ProfilePlus product, showing outstanding liens on company assets, which is relevant for secured lending decisions. Public records including suits, judgments, bankruptcies, and tax liens are included across all tiers.
At the enterprise level, Experian Business connects to Experian’s decisioning analytics, commercial data enrichment, and identity verification products through the Experian business information API.
Scoring model comparison
The core scoring philosophies diverge at the model level.
D&B PAYDEX is backward-looking on payment behavior. It asks: has this company paid its trade obligations on time, early, or late? A score of 80 means “paid within terms”; 100 means “paid early.” The score is built entirely from trade experiences contributed by D&B’s supplier network. A company with no contributing trade experiences has no PAYDEX score, regardless of its financial health.
Experian Intelliscore Plus is a blended predictive model. It asks: given everything we know about this company’s credit profile, trade behavior, public records, and business demographics, what is the probability of severe delinquency in the next 12 months? The 800+ data points give it more signal on companies with thin trade-line histories. The personal credit incorporation for younger businesses is a deliberate design choice to handle the startup population.
For a credit manager assessing a mature supplier with ten or more trade lines in D&B’s network, PAYDEX is the more direct answer to the payment-reliability question. For a lender evaluating a three-year-old business with limited trade history, Intelliscore Plus may produce a score where D&B returns thin-file status.
Coverage depth by company type
| Company type | D&B coverage depth | Experian coverage depth |
|---|---|---|
| Large established US company with federal contracts | Deep; DUNS required for SAM.gov | Moderate to deep depending on trade lines |
| Fortune 500 and large private companies | Very deep, long trade history | Deep |
| SMB with established supplier relationships | Moderate to deep, depends on contributing trade lines | Moderate, supplements with owner credit |
| Young company (under 3 years) | Thin if no trade lines contributed | May incorporate owner credit for a blended score |
| Sole proprietor/single-member LLC | Often thin or absent | May be covered via owner personal credit crossover |
| Foreign company with US operations | DUNS assigned if applied for | Coverage depends on US activity |
Compliance posture: what each bureau covers and what it doesn’t
Both D&B and Experian Business are commercial credit bureaus. They are not identity verification platforms, sanctions screening tools, or UBO providers.
For a compliance buyer running a Know Your Business (KYB) program, a D&B or Experian Business credit report tells you about payment behavior and credit risk. It does not tell you:
- Whether the entity is on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals list (SDN screening requires a separate product).
- Who the ultimate beneficial owners are (UBO data is not a credit bureau product; see Sayari and Moody’s Orbis for that).
- Whether the entity is currently registered in good standing in its state of incorporation (requires a Secretary of State pull).
- Whether there are FinCEN-flagged suspicious activity reports (SAR data is not commercially available).
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) supervises the major consumer credit bureaus under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). For business credit reporting, the FCRA’s applicability is more limited; commercial credit reporting is regulated primarily by contract law and the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s provisions on business credit, not the full consumer FCRA framework. Buyers using D&B or Experian Business data for credit decisions on businesses should still ensure their permissible purpose is documented, even where the full FCRA framework doesn’t apply.
The FATF framework for commercial due diligence (Recommendation 10) requires financial institutions to verify the nature and purpose of a business relationship and conduct ongoing monitoring. A commercial credit report from D&B or Experian covers the financial-risk dimension but is not alone sufficient for AML/KYC compliance. It is one component of a broader CDD package alongside entity verification, sanctions screening, and (for higher-risk accounts) UBO investigation.
Pricing comparison at different volume levels
Scenario A: One-off check on a single US vendor. Experian CreditScore Report at $49.95 is cheaper than a D&B BIR at $189.99 for a lighter view. A D&B Credit Evaluator Plus at $61.99 is the closer comparison to Experian’s CreditScore Report.
Scenario B: 20 company checks per month for a procurement team. D&B 25-pack BIRs at $3,799.99 (approximately $152 per report) compared to Experian Business CreditScore Pro at $1,495 per year for up to 30 reports per month (approximately $124 per month plus $4.15 per report). At 20 reports per month, Experian Pro comes out cheaper on annual basis. If trade-payment depth matters, the D&B BIR has more PAYDEX signal; if Intelliscore Plus meets the need, Experian wins on price.
Scenario C: Enterprise credit operations at a bank or large insurer. Both are priced under enterprise contracts not publicly listed. A bank running D&B Finance Analytics and Experian Business API alongside each other is the norm at large institutions.
When to use D&B
D&B is the right primary choice when:
The PAYDEX score is the explicit scoring requirement. Procurement policy, banking guidelines, or lender covenants that reference the PAYDEX score by name require D&B data. There is no third-party equivalent.
The buyer needs a D-U-N-S Number lookup or verification. Federal government contracting, vendor registration in SAM.gov, and many Fortune 500 procurement portals require a verified D-U-N-S. D&B is the issuing authority.
The company has been in business long enough to have substantial trade-line contributions. For established suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and B2B service companies with 5+ years of operating history, D&B’s PAYDEX file is likely rich.
Corporate family tree data is needed. D&B’s Corporate Linkage product maps parent-subsidiary relationships and corporate families, which is useful for enterprise accounts payable, group credit exposure management, and compliance programs that need to aggregate exposure by corporate group.
When to use Experian Business
Experian Business is the right choice when:
The target company is young or has thin trade-line history. Experian’s ability to incorporate owner personal credit produces a score where D&B returns thin-file status, which is relevant for lending to startups and newer SMEs.
Intelliscore Plus is the required metric. Some lending platforms, fintech underwriting models, and bank decisioning systems are built around Intelliscore Plus rather than PAYDEX. If the decisioning model calls for Intelliscore, Experian is the source.
The buyer wants self-service monitoring on a small portfolio. Experian’s Business Credit Advantage ($199/year) and Business CreditScore Pro ($1,495/year) are designed for buyers who manage their own credit files or want ongoing monitoring on a moderate-sized counterparty book without an enterprise contract. D&B does not offer an equivalent self-service monitoring tier at comparable price points.
The buyer needs the Financial Stability Risk Rating. Experian’s predictive 12-month distress probability is a different signal from PAYDEX and is not available at D&B’s equivalent without a more expensive enterprise data product.
The case for running both
Most serious US credit and compliance programs run D&B and Experian Business alongside each other rather than choosing one. The practical reason: the two bureaus have different coverage strengths for different company types, and a single bureau miss on a thin file leaves the decision unmade.
A mid-size bank’s commercial lending program typically pulls D&B first (for PAYDEX and corporate linkage), then Experian Business (for Intelliscore Plus and financial stability rating), then adds the Secretary of State registry pull for entity verification. The combined output gives more signal than either bureau alone, particularly for companies with uneven coverage across the two databases.
For a smaller procurement team, the economics of running both are less clear. If the D&B BIR answers the vendor-payment-reliability question and the company is established enough to have a PAYDEX score, adding Experian Business may not materially change the decision. The case for both is stronger when the company book includes young businesses, startups, or companies without federal contracting history that may be thin in D&B.
Comparison matrix
| Dimension | Dun and Bradstreet | Experian Business |
|---|---|---|
| Core score | PAYDEX (0-100, payment history) | Intelliscore Plus (1-100, 800+ data points) |
| Score type | Backward-looking payment behavior | Predictive risk model |
| Young company coverage | Thin-file common | Owner credit incorporation available |
| Business identifier | D-U-N-S (required for US federal contracting) | Internal file number |
| Corporate family tree | Yes (Corporate Linkage product) | Limited |
| UCC filings | In BIR | In ProfilePlus and above |
| Public records | Suits, liens, judgments | Suits, judgments, bankruptcies, tax liens |
| Self-service monitoring | Enterprise contract | Yes, from $199/year |
| Single report price | $189.99 (BIR), $61.99 (Credit Evaluator Plus) | $49.95 (CreditScore), $59.95 (ProfilePlus) |
| Enterprise API | Yes | Yes |
| OFAC/sanctions screening | Not primary; separate product | Not primary; separate product |
| UBO data | Not provided | Not provided |
| Best-fit buyer | Procurement, trade credit, federal vendor assessment | Lending to young SMEs, fintech decisioning, portfolio monitoring |
Frequently asked questions
Is D&B or Experian more accurate?
Neither is objectively more accurate; they measure different things. D&B PAYDEX is a precise measure of trade-payment history based on reported trade experiences. Experian Intelliscore Plus is a predictive model that blends multiple signal types. A company can score well on one and poorly on the other if its payment history and its broader credit profile tell different stories. For a well-established company with rich trade-line data, both scores are typically in broad agreement. Discrepancies are informative rather than errors.
Do I need a D-U-N-S number to sell to US federal agencies?
Yes. US federal government contracts are awarded through SAM.gov, which requires a verified D-U-N-S Number (now transitioning to a Unique Entity Identifier, or UEI, issued by SAM.gov directly). D&B remains involved in the DUNS verification process, though SAM.gov has been moving control of the UEI assignment in-house. Suppliers to US federal agencies who have not yet obtained a D-U-N-S or SAM.gov UEI should start the process well before their first contract application.
What is the PAYDEX score and why does it matter?
PAYDEX is D&B’s proprietary business payment score, scaled 0-100. A score of 80 means the company pays within the agreed-upon terms. A score of 100 means the company pays early. Scores below 80 indicate increasing degrees of late payment. The score is calculated from trade experiences contributed by suppliers and vendors to D&B’s database. It is the most widely recognized measure of business payment reliability in the US and is referenced in credit applications, supply chain risk assessments, and procurement policies at both private companies and government agencies.
Can I get a business credit score on a company that is not in D&B or Experian?
Both bureaus have database gaps, particularly on young companies, sole proprietors, and businesses that have never applied for credit or a D-U-N-S number. If a company is not in D&B, a D-U-N-S number can be requested (free, 24-48 hours). Adding trade lines takes time. If Experian has no file, there is no equivalent shortcut. In both cases, the absence of a file is itself a signal in credit decisioning: it means the company has no publicly verifiable payment track record.
Are D&B and Experian regulated like consumer credit bureaus?
Consumer credit bureaus are regulated under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) enforced by the FTC and CFPB. Business credit reporting operates under a different and generally lighter regulatory framework. The FCRA applies to business credit reports in some contexts (particularly when a sole proprietor’s personal credit is intertwined with business credit), but the full FCRA framework, including dispute rights and adverse-action notices, applies primarily to consumer credit. Buyers using business credit data for decisions should document their permissible purpose, particularly when personal credit components appear in the report.
How often does D&B update its database?
D&B continuously updates its database as trade experiences are reported by contributing suppliers, as public filings (court records, liens, judgments, UCC filings) are recorded, and as company filings are updated at state registries. The update cadence varies by data type. Trade payment data is updated as contributing suppliers report, which can be monthly or less frequent. Public records and registry changes may lag by days to weeks depending on the state and record type. Enterprise SLA contracts specify update frequency guarantees.