Metro 2 is the standard electronic file format most creditors and collectors use to send account data to Equifax, Experian, TransUnion and Innovis, usually monthly. Most of what you see on a credit report started as a coded Metro 2 field.
Also called: Metro 2, Metro II, Metro 2 reporting format, credit reporting data format
What it means
Metro 2 is the shared data format that banks, lenders, servicers, debt collectors and debt buyers use to send account information to the credit bureaus. Instead of writing a sentence like “this account is 60 days late and disputed by the consumer,” a furnisher fills in coded fields. The bureau stores those codes and turns them into the words, dates and payment grids you see on your report.
Where it comes from
According to the CFPB’s 2012 report on the credit reporting system, the Consumer Data Industry Association developed Metro 2 in 1997 on behalf of the three nationwide bureaus and Innovis. It replaced an older “Metro” format from the late 1970s. Furnishers usually send a full file once a month.
The CFPB describes each submission as having a header record that identifies the furnisher, a “base segment” for each account, optional supplementary segments, and a trailer record. The base segment carries the core facts: the borrower’s identifying information, account type, credit limit or original amount, account status, date of first delinquency, date closed and up to 24 months of payment history. Supplementary segments can add other people tied to the account (such as authorized users or co-signers), the original creditor’s name, and information about accounts that were sold or transferred.
The detailed field-by-field manual is a licensed industry publication, not a law. The CFPB’s Regulation V guidelines do encourage furnishers to use standard data reporting formats “where feasible.”
Common errors
Because the report is built from codes, a single wrong code can change what lenders see. Common problems include a status code that shows a paid account as unpaid, a payment history that shows late months that were not late, a missing date of first delinquency, the wrong code for who is responsible on the account, or no code showing that you disputed the account. In Seamans v. Temple University, the Third Circuit noted that much credit data “takes the form of ‘codes’ rather than text.”
How to dispute it
You do not need to know Metro 2 to dispute. Describe the error in plain words, include proof, and send the dispute to each bureau that shows it. The bureau will pass it to the furnisher through e-OSCAR, and the furnisher must investigate and correct what is wrong.
When it can be an FCRA violation
Breaking an industry formatting rule is not, by itself, a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. What matters is whether the information that results is inaccurate or misleading and whether the bureau and furnisher reasonably investigated your dispute.
If a coding error is still on your report after you dispute it, request a free case review; there is no fee unless we win.
Related
- Compliance condition code
- ECOA code
- Account status code
- Payment rating and payment history grid
- Furnisher
- Tradeline
- How to Dispute Credit Report Errors With Equifax, Experian and TransUnion
- List of credit reporting agencies
- Dispute letter builder
Sources
- CFPB, Key Dimensions and Processes in the U.S. Credit Reporting System (Dec. 2012)
- Seamans v. Temple University, No. 12-4298 (3d Cir. Feb. 21, 2014)
- 12 CFR Part 1022, Appendix E (Regulation V furnisher guidelines), Cornell LII
Updated November 2026. This glossary is written by FCRA Attorneys from public sources. It is general information, not legal advice, and is not affiliated with any credit bureau or industry association.