What Differentiates NAPBS Accredited from Unaccredited Consumer Reporting Agencies?

A consumer reporting agency (CRA) is an entity that gets paid to prepare and furnish consumer reports to third parties. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) expounds this further under Section 1681a. Opportunities to offer services for monetary gain attract any parties who feel they can do the business. The situation applies to the CRA sector where only a small fraction is NAPBS accredited.

As an end user of consumer reports, you may wonder whether it matters for a CRA to be accredited or not. This post aims to inform you what separates the twos.

Why NAPBS Accreditation?

NAPBS is short for the National Association of Professional Background Screeners. It’s an organization that offers the Background Screening Agency Accreditation Program (BSAAP) for CRAs in the United States. The BSAAP follows strict professional standards making it a recognized seal of approval.

Unaccredited CRAs have fewer regulations than the NAPBS accredited ones. Therefore, they tend to have inconsistent consumer reports due to operating in an unstandardized environment. In February 2018, FCRA recorded 422 lawsuits, thanks to disputable consumer reporting.

NAPBS accredited CRAs have a better chance of deriving legitimate outcomes for background checks than unaccredited ones.

How Your Choice of CRA Affects Your Business

The United States has many CRAs. Parties looking for background check services should be careful with unaccredited or inexperienced screening service providers. Engaging them can be a waste of time and money and the information obtained can be misleading.

Background checks may not yield the same results, but NAPBS accredited firms tend to produce more accurate reports. As a CRA client, you benefit from strong client education and great customer service.

Final Thoughts

You can minimize the risk of relying on misguided information by hiring NAPBS accredited CRAs. Ask your CRA of choice to provide evidence of accreditation before engaging them. Better still, check the agency on the NAPBS Accredited Firms Directory.