how a duns number works
dun bradstreet created its data universal numbering system duns in 1963 to identify businesses as part of its business credit reporting system 2 in 1994 duns became the standard business identifier for federal government electronic commerce 3listed companies include major corporations small business owners nonprofit organizations and partnerships its users include the u s government the united nations and major retailers such as target tgt 42the duns number provides information related to a company such as its official business title name financial data trade name payment history economic status and executive names further the number allows a company to search for information about other companies and helps businesses find potential customers partners or vendors 1 the federal government requires all existing and potential contract vendors grant recipients and cooperative agreement applicants to have a duns number 5registering for a duns number is voluntary however the identifier is necessary to bid on local state or government contracts and apply for federal grants or other credit with a lender it also allows for the confirmation of the credibility of a business and helps with conducting business with retailers and some foreign countries 1applying for a duns numberapplying for a duns number is done through the duns website businesses based in the u s may request a duns number for free an authorized representative of the company must complete the application and receiving a duns number may take up to 30 days 1however the number can be obtained within 24 hours at no cost if applying as part of a federal government contract the authorized representative of the company will need to provide a legal company name headquarters company name and address physical address mailing address telephone number contact name and title and the number of employees at the physical location 5a duns number is specific to a physical location therefore a company would need a separate duns for each of its physical locations such as a branch division or headquarters it is the organization s responsibility to manage its duns numbers and verify that information is accurate 5the duns number lookup tool is used to check whether a business has a duns number the d b database allows for accessing the company s d b business credit score review and update an existing d b credit report view and print a copy of its d b credit report review and dispute payment history and update financial information special considerationsthe duns number is used to identify a business registered with dun bradstreet the listing of companies with another credit bureau such as experian will not be found on the d b database since the credit bureaus each maintain unique databases and do not share data with one another 