Merchants Credit Bureau, Inc. is an Augusta, Georgia company founded in 1949 that offers credit reports and screening as well as collection services. Its collection work includes medical debt and retail debt for businesses across the country.
- Type
- Collection agency
- Also known as
- Merchants Credit Bureau, Inc.; MCB; Doctors and Merchants Credit Bureau
- Headquarters
- Augusta, GA
- Collects
- medical bills, retail accounts
- Phone numbers it lists
- (706) 823-6222, (800) 426-5265
- Website
- mcbusa.com
50 debt collection complaints were sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about Merchants Credit Bureau, Inc. from November 13, 2023 to November 12, 2026. A complaint is a consumer's account, not a finding that the company broke the law. Read the complaints in the CFPB database.
Who Is Merchants Credit Bureau?
Merchants Credit Bureau, Inc. (MCB) is based at 2803 Wrightsboro Road in Augusta, Georgia. It says it was founded in 1949 as Doctors and Merchants Credit Bureau and has served clients for more than seventy years. Despite the "credit bureau" name, it is not one of the national credit reporting companies. It provides consumer credit reports and offers mortgage, tenant and employment screening, and it also runs a collection division with pre-collection, collection and medical debt collection services. MCB is a member of ACA International. We did not find a CFPB enforcement action against Merchants Credit Bureau.
Why Merchants Credit Bureau May Be Contacting You
MCB's collections page names two kinds of debt: medical debt and retail debt. It says it serves businesses of all sizes across the United States. A call or letter from MCB's collection side is most likely about:
- a doctor's office, clinic or hospital bill;
- a store account or other retail balance;
- an account a business placed early, before charge-off, under its pre-collection service.
If MCB ran a tenant or employment screening on you, that is a separate credit-reporting function and is not itself a collection.
How to Check a Debt Merchants Credit Bureau Says You Owe
- Get the validation notice naming the creditor and itemizing the balance (15 U.S.C. § 1692g; 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34). See what a validation notice must contain.
- Dispute in writing within the validation period if you don't recognize the provider or the amount. For a medical bill, ask for the itemized charges, the date of service and what insurance paid.
- Ask whether the account is still owned by the provider or store, or has been sold.
- Look for insurance or billing errors. Many medical collection balances shrink once a claim is properly filed.
- Check its age. In Texas, suits on most debts must be filed within four years (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004), and debt buyers may not sue on time-barred consumer debt (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307). Georgia and other states have their own periods.
What Merchants Credit Bureau Can and Can't Do
When MCB collects consumer debts for its clients, it is a "debt collector" under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6). Its credit-report and screening products are covered by a different law, the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
- As a collector, it may not report a debt it knows to be false, and must note a dispute when reporting a disputed debt (15 U.S.C. § 1692e(8)).
- Paid medical collections, and those with an original balance under $500, no longer appear on Equifax, Experian or TransUnion reports; see the bureaus' medical debt changes.
- It must stop contacting you, apart from limited notices, if you ask in writing (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c)).
- It may not call more than seven times in seven days about one debt (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2)).
If MCB's collection seemed improper, see our Texas FDCPA attorneys page.
We Sue Debt Collectors That Break the FDCPA
Texas Debt Law files Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits against debt collectors in federal court for consumers in Texas, California, Illinois, Georgia and Colorado. If Merchants Credit Bureau or anyone collecting for it harassed you, misstated what you owe, threatened action it could not take, or told others about your debt, you may have a claim. A court can order a collector that violated the FDCPA to pay your actual damages, up to $1,000 in additional statutory damages, and your attorney's fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)). An FDCPA claim generally must be filed within one year of the violation (§ 1692k(d)), so keep your letters, call logs, voicemails and screenshots, and talk to us early. Texas residents may also have claims under the Texas Debt Collection Act. Learn more from our FDCPA attorneys.
Free FDCPA Case Review(214) 851-2250
Or start your free case evaluation online. No lawyer can promise a result; every claim depends on its facts and proof.
Sources
- Merchants Credit Bureau: home page
- Merchants Credit Bureau: About Us
- Merchants Credit Bureau: Collections
- CFPB Consumer Complaint Database: Merchants Credit Bureau, Inc., debt collection
This profile is general information compiled from public sources, not legal advice, and it does not state or imply that Merchants Credit Bureau has violated any law. Company details change; tell us if something here is out of date.