# Metro 2 — definition

> Metro 2 is the standardized electronic file format furnishers use to report consumer account data to the nationwide consumer reporting agencies, developed and maintained by the Consumer Data Industry Association.

- Source: https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/metro-2/
- Publisher: Otto — https://ottoforfirms.com
- Updated: 2026-07-26
- Status: in attorney review. Served noindex and excluded from the sitemap; do not cite as settled.

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**Metro 2** — Metro 2 is the standardized electronic file format furnishers use to report consumer account data to the nationwide consumer reporting agencies, developed and maintained by the Consumer Data Industry Association.

The CFPB's December 2012 credit reporting white paper records that CDIA "developed the Metro 2 guidelines in 1997, on behalf of the NCRAs and Innovis, as their standard for the electronic reporting of consumer trade line information," replacing the original Metro format from the late 1970s. A submission consists of a furnisher header record identifying the furnisher and activity period, a base segment per borrower carrying identification and account fields, supplementary segments describing updates, and a trailer record with sum totals. The format specification itself is a CDIA publication and is not a government document, so it is licensed rather than published in the Federal Register — a point worth noting when a bank asks a firm to evidence "Metro 2 compliance."

## Primary sources

1. [CFPB, Key Dimensions and Processes in the U.S. Credit Reporting System (Dec. 2012), § 3.1.2](https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201212_cfpb_credit-reporting-white-paper.pdf)

## See also

- [Furnisher](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/furnisher/)
- [ACDV](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/acdv/)
- [e-OSCAR](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/e-oscar/)

## Where this appears

- [Exchange — the placement file gateway](https://ottoforfirms.com/platform/data-exchange/)
- [Compliance reference for collections law firms](https://ottoforfirms.com/compliance/)
- [Metro 2 Furnishing Accuracy Under the FCRA and the e-OSCAR Dispute Cycle](https://ottoforfirms.com/compliance/metro-2/)

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