Credit glossary
Metro 2
The standard electronic format lenders and collectors use to send account data to the credit bureaus, usually in monthly batches.
The Consumer Data Industry Association developed the Metro 2 guidelines in 1997, according to the CFPB's 2012 white paper, and keeps the detailed manual, the Credit Reporting Resource Guide, behind an access agreement for furnishers, data processors, software vendors and bureaus. Each account becomes a record of coded fields: status, balances, dates, the responsibility code and up to 24 months of payment history.
Seeing your report as translated codes explains a lot, such as why a paid collection still reads as a collection. It also explains why precise disputes work better: naming the exact field that's wrong gives the furnisher something to check. Be wary of templates claiming accounts are "not Metro 2 compliant" without saying what's inaccurate, since a bureau can treat those as frivolous.
Look up any of the Metro 2 codes lenders use, explained in plain English.
Guides that go deeper
- Metro 2 explained: the data format behind your credit reportLenders don't mail the bureaus your history. They send Metro 2 files. What the format holds, how e-OSCAR and ACDVs move disputes, and why it matters.
- How to read the payment history grid on your credit reportEach account on your report has a month-by-month strip of OK, 30, 60, 90 and other codes. What each one means, which marks are errors, and what to check.
- How to dispute a credit report error, step by stepA step-by-step guide to disputing credit report errors with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion: online vs. mail, what to include, and how to keep proof.
Sources
- Metro 2 Format for Credit Reporting, Consumer Data Industry Association
- Key Dimensions and Processes in the U.S. Credit Reporting System (December 2012), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- 15 U.S.C. 1681i: Procedure in case of disputed accuracy, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
This is education, not legal or financial advice. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it.