What is the D&B PAYDEX Score?
Your Dun & Bradstreet PAYDEX® Score is D&B’s 1–100 rating of how reliably your business pays certain accounts that are monitored on its Dun & Bradstreet credit report. Scores of 80+ signal on-time or early payments, while anything below 50 flags serious risk.
Created and issued by Dun & Bradstreet, it's tied to your company's unique D-U-N-S Number
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Why the PAYDEX score matters
A PAYDEX score may influence decisions made by various stakeholders who may it to evaluate a business:
- Vendors - Determine payment terms on trade credit (net-30, net-60, etc.)
- Lenders - Consider scores before extending lines of credit or loans
- Insurance companies - Review it when underwriting policies/setting premiums
- Landlords - Check it when deciding whether to approve a tenant
- Potential partners - Evaluate financial reliability for business relationships
A strong PAYDEX score can help a business secure better opportunities. Nav’s financing marketplace can help you find financing options based on your business data.
How the PAYDEX score is calculated
The D&B PAYDEX scoring system uses dollar-weighted and recency weighting to evaluate your payment performance. Recent payment experiences and higher-dollar transactions carry more weight in your score calculation.
Steps in score calculation:
- Invoice issued - Vendor extends credit terms to your business
- Payment timing - You pay according to, ahead of, or behind schedule
- Score point - D&B assigns weight based on payment performance against terms
The scoring is dollar-weighted, meaning each payment experience is weighted by the number of transactions and overall dollar value. Your transactions with an IT vendor where you spend thousands monthly may carry more weight than transactions with a carpet cleaner who provides annual service for a few hundred dollars, for example.
Credit card payments don't usually count here: Only certain trade credit payments (invoices with payment terms) are included in PAYDEX calculations. Most credit card transactions are excluded from this scoring model though they may be included in other business credit scoring models.
However the Nav Prime Card* can impact your D&B PAYDEX score.
The Nav Prime Card can help your business build its D&B PAYDEX score with tradeline reporting.
Requirements to get a PAYDEX score
Your business won’t automatically have a D&B PAYDEX score. Dun & Bradstreet needs specific foundational elements to calculate a score:
Requirement | What it means | Setup tip |
D-U-N-S Number | Unique identifier in Dun & Bradstreet's system | Request free from Dun & Bradstreet |
Two tradelines reporting | Two separate vendor accounts reporting payment history to D&B | Open accounts with suppliers that report |
Three trade experiences | Three separate payment records from vendors | Ensure vendors report your payments to D&B and pay on time or early |
Note: Not all accounts report to Dun & Bradstreet or will be included in a PAYDEX Score calculation.
Where to open starter tradelines: Use Nav’s list of net-30 vendors that regularly report to business credit bureaus. These starter accounts can help establish your initial credit profile with major business credit bureaus.
PAYDEX score ranges & what they mean
Understanding what your score means can help you gauge your business's credit standing:
Here’s a table summary of that graphic:
PAYDEX Score | Payment Time Frame | Risk Level |
100 | 30 days before terms | Low risk |
90 | 20 days before terms | Low risk |
80 | 0 days sooner than terms (0 DBT) | Low risk |
70 | 15 days beyond terms | Medium risk |
60 | 22 days beyond terms | Medium risk |
50 | 30 days beyond terms | Medium risk |
40 | 60 days beyond terms | High risk |
30 | 90 days beyond terms | High risk |
20 | 120 days beyond terms | High risk |
1-19 | 120+ days beyond terms | High risk |
Summary by score range:
- 80-100: Low risk (averages prompt to 30 days within terms)
- 50-79: Medium risk (averages 30 or less days beyond terms)
- 0-49: High risk (averages 30 to 120 days beyond terms)
A D&B PAYDEX score of 100 indicates that a business has consistently paid suppliers early. Scores of 50 to 79 indicate moderate risk, and scores of 49 or below are usually considered high risk.
Keep in mind that Dun & Bradstreet does not tell companies whether or not to extend credit. Each company that uses business credit scores decides what risk levels are acceptable.
How to check & monitor your D&B PAYDEX score
You can access your D&B PAYDEX score through several channels. A free Nav membership provides credit summaries and grades, including a grade based upon your D&B PAYDEX score.
Nav Prime includes three business credit scores, including a D&B PAYDEX score with detailed credit monitoring.
For direct access, you can purchase Dun & Bradstreet business credit reports and scores on their website. D&B Credit Insights Basic, for example, includes multiple D&B credit scores and detailed Dun & Bradstreet business credit report information.
How to build & improve your PAYDEX score
Follow this checklist to help strengthen your PAYDEX score:
- Open three or more net-30 vendor accounts with suppliers that report to Dun & Bradstreet
- Pay invoices 10–20 days early to help achieve a stronger score
- Ask your suppliers to report to D&B if they don't currently do so
- Dispute inaccurate late payments that appear on your credit file
- Keep utilization low on business credit cards to maintain overall credit health (Keep in mind that business credit cards won’t directly impact your D&B PAYDEX score but they may help with other business credit scoring models.)
Prioritize large invoices first when paying early, as the dollar-weighted system gives more importance to higher-value transactions.
PAYDEX vs. other business credit scores
Each bureau offers various business credit scoring models. Here are a few of the most popular ones. For a more extensive list, see Nav’s guide, What is the highest possible credit score for small businesses?
Bureau | Score range | Data focus | Minimum history typically required |
Dun & Bradstreet PAYDEX | 0–100 | Trade payment performance | Two tradelines reporting, three experiences |
Experian Intelliscore PlusSM (V1, V2) | 1–100 | Payment history, credit utilization, company info | One tradeline or one demographic element |
Equifax Business Delinquency Score® for Others | 224–580 | Trade payment performance | One active trade reporting in last 60 months |
FICO® Small Business Scoring Service℠ (SBSS℠) (not V3) | 0–300 | Business and personal credit balances and payment history, utilization + financial info | Scoreable personal and/or business credit tradelines |
How long does it take to reach an 80 PAYDEX?
Every business owner’s experience will be different, but here is a guideline of the typical minimum timeline for achieving a good PAYDEX score:
Day 1–9: Get D-U-N-S Number. Secure at least two tradelines that report to D&B, make purchases, and pay before the due date.
Day 10–90: Vendors report first invoices to D&B.
Day 90–120: Score appears when three experiences are posted to the credit report.
Day 120+: Continue to pay on time to build a credit history. Add new accounts as needed.
The timeline can vary based on your current credit standing, how quickly vendors report payment experiences, and your payment timing.
Frequently asked questions
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Nav Technologies, Inc. is a financial technology company and not a bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. The Nav Prime Card is issued by Thread Bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa cards are accepted. See Cardholder Terms for additional details. All other features of the Nav Prime membership are not associated with Thread Bank.
Consumer credit reporting agencies independently generate personal credit report profiles which may not be influenced by or include such payments or payment activity. Scores are calculated based upon several, sometimes unique, variables; some users may not see improved scores. The Nav Prime Charge Card is a business financing product and may not be used for personal, family or household transactions.
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Gerri Detweiler
Education Consultant, Nav
Gerri Detweiler, a financing and credit expert, has been featured in 4,500+ news stories and answered 10,000+ credit and lending questions online. In addition to Nav, her articles have appeared on Forbes, MarketWatch, and Startup Nation. She is the author or co-author of six books, including Finance Your Own Business, and she has also testified before Congress on consumer credit legislation.