The societies had their origin in the associations formed in the mid-18th century for the purpose of disseminating information regarding bankruptcies, assignments and bills of sale.
The mercantile agency in the United States is a much more comprehensive organization and came into existence after the financial crisis of 1837.
Trade in the United States had become scattered over a wide territory, communications were slow, and town merchants lacked adequate information as to the standing of many businessmen seeking credit.
New York City merchants had suffered so severely that they were determined to organize a headquarters where reports regarding the standing of customers could be exchanged.
Lewis Tappan (1788–1873), the founder of the Journal of Commerce (1828) and a prominent abolitionist leader, undertook the work by establishing there in 1841 the Mercantile Agency, later Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, the first organization of its kind.