It’s well known that people can leverage online services to report their on-time bill payments to credit bureaus. eCredable is one of the companies that offers this service for both consumers and businesses. I had never heard of the company before I was recently referred, so I did my homework. Now, I want to give you the scoop.
Here’s what I found out:
- Who Owns eCredable & Where are They Located?
- How eCredable Lift™ Works
- What Utility Accounts Does eCredable Report?
- How Much Does eCredable Cost?
- Conclusion: Is eCredable Legit?
Who Owns eCredable & Where are They Located?
According to eCredable’s customer support, the company isn’t owned by another company. I turned to Crunchbase and found out that the company was founded in 2009 by Cutch Moore, Robert Williams, and Terron Lindholme, located in Alpharetta, Georgia.
For Cutch Moore, who has a background in busines consulting and real estate brokering, eCredable is his central venture. The same goes for Terron Lindholme, except that his background is in entrepreneurship and sales. These two appear to be dedicated and established at the company. Finally, Robert Williams no longer seems to be with eCredable, but to have moved on as a serial entrepreneur — it happens.
How eCredable Lift™ Works
The idea behind eCredable Lift™ is that they report on-time payments for vendors, utility bills, or rent to credit bureaus. But, ehat exactly does eCredable do for small businesses?
If you sign up for the business package, upon verification, eCredable will report to Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax Business, Creditsafe, and Ansonia, four business credit bureaus. In one self-written review, the company claims that this can immediately boost your credit score across the threshold from “poor” to “fair” or from “fair” to “good.”
For the system to work, you need to connect to your online utility pay account. This means that you will have to establish the online pay option for each account that you want reported. After an account is linked, you can expect eCredable to download up to 24-months of payment history and report within 1-5 business days.
What Utility Accounts Does eCredable Report?
One of the repeat complaints I’ve heard about eCredable has to do with a lack of transparency about the accounts that a person or business can report and which. When I searched on my own, I wasn’t able to easily find a good answer either.
According to one alleged user, as of 2020, it seems that the online system isn’t connected with Verizon, AT&T, Charter Spectrum, nor several other smaller utility companies. But, the company claims to link seamlessly with over 2,200 utility companies and service providers in the United States.
So, here are the facts for business users:
eCredable collects and reports account information and payment history to business credit bureaus in two ways.
- Automated linking between eCredable and your utility account from inside your dashboard.
- “On-demand” or manual verification.
And, eCredable has limits on which accounts are reported to which business credit bureaus. Let me elaborate for some clarity.
Automated Utility/Vendor Account Linking
Automated account linking provides the most convenient option for businesses to connect utility accounts in the eCredable platform. They can securely download your account details instantly. They report two years of payment history right away, then will continue to automatically report your payments every month to Equifax, Creditsafe, and Ansonia.
While business users can link many power, gas, water, phone, tv, and internet accounts, they can not link rent, insurance, equipment leases, or other business services. To find out if your current utility or vendor accounts can be linked in the platform, you can use the utility search tool.
On-Demand Utility/Vendor Account Verification
“On-demand” account verification is a solution to add accounts that aren’t part of eCredable’s automated linking network. This includes vendors, suppliers, office rent, business insurance, various business services, business credit cards and loans, office furniture/equipment leases, and legal services. Essentially, you provide account details to eCredable who manually verifies your utility or vendor account for a one-time, $19.95 fee for each account.
Manual verification can take between 1-7 days, depending on the vendor’s responsiveness — most take no longer than 48 hours to verify.
Business Credit Reporting Limitations
When I asked eCredable’s customer support to tell me more about the reporting process, I found out that the service only reports your business subscription payment, not any of your utility payments, to Dun & Bradstreet, which is the leading business credit bureau. So, for a fee, you get one account (your eCredable account) reported to D&B. The rest of your accounts (utilities, vendor accounts, etc.) will be reported to Equifax, Creditsafe, and Astonia.
How Much Does eCredable Cost?
For consumers, the cost to use eCredable Lift™ is about $24 per year, which comes to a couple bucks a month. For businesses, there is a $49.95 first-month setup fee and a recurring monthly cost of $9.95 thereafter. Both consumers and businesses may pay an additional $19.95 for manual account verification per account.
Conclusion: Is eCredable Legit?
eCredable Lift™ for business is a solid idea, comparable to Experian Boost for consumers. The company has been around for a decade without any major scandals (not public, at least), which speaks to their trustworthiness. And, I love that they report accounts for the first time within a week. This is fast.
Still, I don’t love that their information isn’t posted conspicuously. I had to reach out more than once to get the answers I was after.
Next, I also don’t love that they’re not reporting vendor or utility accounts to D&B. The eCredable subscription payment reporting is nice and could contribute to your PAYDEX score over time. But, you can pay for actual products that you need anyway with net 30 vendors who report and get something tangible for your cash while working on your score. So, it’s hard to get excited, but it’s something.
Finally, the business offer has been around for at least a few years, yet they still cannot report eCredable account subscriptions to Equifax, which leads me to question their reliability. Update: Students have consistently reported that eCredable has been reporting to Equifax (you just need to upload a business utility bill to their platform as outlined on their site).
Don’t take this the wrong way — I still have hope. If you have a bit of money to spare, it can’t hurt. Plus, a few more positive user reviews and a bit of transparency could go a long way for eCredable. So, if you have experience with the platform, I would love to hear your story. If you want to learn a trusted framework to get $100K in business credit in 30 days, join Business Credit Workshop today.