"According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 26 million U.S. adults have no credit history with the three national credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. As a result, they have no credit scores.

Most consumers have a mix of credit activity, some “visible” and some “invisible.” Visible credit is reported to the credit bureau and included in the consumer’s credit score. Invisible credit is credit activity that is not reported to the credit bureau and, therefore, not included in the consumer’s credit score.

“Credit-invisibles” are consumers whose documented credit history is so limited that they don’t have credit scores or their credit scores are not based on a complete history of debt repayment. This is often because several of the payments types they routinely make are not reported to the credit bureaus. Another reason some consumers are invisible is that they are new to the borrowing scene and haven’t established a credit history.

But a credit invisible could actually have a good credit history, if she or he makes on-time payments of rent, insurance, utilities or loans obtained from an organization that doesn’t report to a credit bureau. A true repayment history may not be included in their credit scores, making their good credit history invisible.

This paper explores how credit unions can strategically tap into this under-served market and help credit invisible members increase their visibility in the traditional credit reporting system and build a good credit score."