Credit Report XML Standards

MISMO and HR-XML provide open schema for credit report software and web service developers.

Open XML credit report standards are published by two groups: The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, under sponsorship of the Mortgage Banker's Association, is responsible for the MISMO XML standard. The HR-XML Consortium is the group responsible for the HR-XML open standard for XML credit reports.  Open XML standards provide the best assurance of long-term interoperability, and prevent dependence on a specific credit bureau XML schema or proprietary web service XML format.  Avoid getting locked-in to a proprietary XML credit report layout!

• MISMO, the  Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, has defined an open XML standard for credit reports as part of their larger schema for loan origination and loan servicing. A MISMO software interface is available.
   

• The HR-XML Consortium has developed XML standards for employment screening and human resources. Credit reports form an important part of the the HR-XML schema, and software for the HR-XML credit report specification simplifies implementation.

Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion do not have a single shared standard, and they do not provide credit reports formatted according to an open XML standard. Thus, credit report software, or a credit report toolkit for software developers is the solution, whether single-bureau or merged credit reports are needed.

A software API (or COM object) can interface with the credit bureaus directly, gather credit data in the proprietary system-to-system formats, and convert it to one of the open XML credit report standards. XML data opens possibilities for web services and Microsoft .NET (dot net) credit report applications, whether or not the intended uses are in the mortgage or human resources fields. Tenant screening, insurance underwriting, identity verification, and credit scoring can benefit from the same XML standards.

Microsoft SQL Server and IBM DB2 can act as storage for the data, allowing retrieval by XML, SQL, or ActiveX COM objects.