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Spotlight PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 The EU e-invoicing mandate is here — France Sept 2026, Belgium Jan 2026, Germany 2025.

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Foundations

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Standards

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Flagship messages

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Tools

X12 155 — Business Credit Report

The 155 transmits a commercial credit report from a credit bureau (D&B, Experian Business, Equifax Business) to a requester evaluating the creditworthiness of a business.

Purpose

The 155 documents a commercial credit report: business identification (D-U-N-S, EIN), payment history, outstanding balances, risk scores (PAYDEX, Commercial Credit Score), trade lines, public records (UCC filings, liens, judgments). It is issued by the credit bureau in response to an explicit consent-based request.

It is used in commercial underwriting (vendor credit, bank line of credit, leasing) and supplier evaluation. Acknowledged by 997; no business response — the report is consumed by the requester's analysis systems.

Envelope structure

The 155 travels within the three X12 envelope levels (ISA/IEA, GS/GE with functional group BC, and ST/SE). Didactic example in release 004010:

x12 example-155.x12 
ISA*00*          *00*          *ZZ*DUNBRADSTR    *ZZ*BANKUNDER     *260514*1700*U*00401*000000155*0*P*>~
GS*BC*DUNBRADSTR*BANKUNDER*20260514*1700*1*X*004010~
ST*155*0001~
BGN*00*BC-2026-0042*20260514~
N1*FA*DUN AND BRADSTREET*24*EIN-DNB~
N1*BU*ACME MANUFACTURING*24*DUNS-123456789~
REF*ZZ*EIN-12-3456789~
REF*ZZ*PAYDEX-78~
AMT*GW*2400000.00~
LX*1~
REF*ZZ*TRADE-LINE-VENDOR-A~
AMT*ZZ*125000.00~
MSG*PAID WITHIN TERMS~
SE*11*0001~
GE*1*1~
IEA*1*000000155~

Common segments

  • Header — ST, BGN.
  • Bureau and business — N1*FA (Bureau), N1*BU (Business reviewed), REF for D-U-N-S and EIN.
  • Scores and balances — REF*ZZ (PAYDEX, Commercial Credit Score), AMT*GW (total outstanding).
  • Trade lines — LX loop: REF*ZZ (vendor / instrument), AMT*ZZ (balance), MSG (payment status).
  • Summary — SE.

Common pitfalls

  • Consent and FCRA: even commercial, a report carrying individual elements (sole proprietor, personal guarantee) may fall under FCRA — the requester must have a permissible purpose and consent.
  • Score vs decision: PAYDEX 78 = pays on time, but does not capture liquidity; an underwriter relying solely on PAYDEX misses imminent bankruptcies flagged by other signals (high credit utilization, recent judgments).
  • Freshness: a 155 is a snapshot; trade-line update lag can be 30-60 days. For critical decisions, require a report with a recent DTM*009 and not a cached copy.

Documentation

The code 155 and the name Business Credit Report are public and listed on x12.org/products/transaction-sets. The complete structure of loops, qualifiers and code lists is distributed by DISA via the proprietary Implementation Guides (TR3). ediverse.io covers only public concepts, the envelope and didactic examples.