Trade References

A trade reference is the payment experience information provided by a supplier on its customer. Trade references are comprised of 7 base variables, which represent the credit-worthiness of the suppliers’ customers. The variables are: reporting date or as-of date, manner of payment, rolling 12-month high credit (highest amount of credit used), current total amount owing, current total past due, selling terms, and date of last sale.

Some trade references may not qualify for a variety of reasons, including the following:

• D&B works together with thousands of nationwide vendors that report payment experiences on a regular basis. These data providers have requested to remain anonymous and cannot be added by a customer for trade reference.

• Some types of companies do not respond to D&B’s requests for information within a reasonable time frame. D&B will make 6 attempts to contact a company that has been selected to provide trade reference, and will accept inbound references at any time. However, a customer may resubmit references at any time, after which D&B will make 6 more attempts.

• Certain companies have proven, over time, to be less trustworthy. Accordingly, D&B has identified certain characteristics associated with companies and maintains policies related to the eligibility of that company to provide a reference.

The following kinds of trade references are amongst those that are not accepted by D&B:

• Payments that have not yet been made but are anticipated

• Payments to businesses that have shared principals or some other type of legal ownership relationship

• Bank references

• Utilities and gas companies

• Credit card companies

• Landlords

• International companies

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