Our company began in 1905 with one employee,
a telephone and 3x5 index cards. We were originally called
the Peninsula Grocer’s Association, formed as a result of
losses incurred by local grocers due to their customers not
taking care of their obligations. To combat this problem,
the grocers decided to build files to record the credit experience
of those individuals that did not pay and shared this information
with each other. Building this system of files became the
answer to the small grocers’ problem, thus leading to the
development of a Credit Bureau.
Other retailers of furniture, jewelry and soft goods became
members of the newly formed Credit Bureau and soon outnumbered
the grocers. The Association’s name was then changed to Peninsula
Retail Merchants Association, commonly called the Peninsula
Credit Bureau, which directed its efforts on behalf of all
retailers.
In May 1989, the Peninsula Retail Merchants Association became
known as Commonwealth Information Services, Inc. (CIS), a
privately held stock corporation. Prior to that time, the
only customers being serviced by the company were on the Virginia
Peninsula. Since then, our growth has been phenomenal. In
January 2002, to promote our ability to service clients nationwide,
Commonwealth Information Services, Inc. became known as EQUIDATA,
Inc.
