How to Generate a Metro 2^® File in M2R

Once your accounts are entered or imported and tagged for reporting, there's one step left before you're ready to submit to the credit bureaus: generating your Metro 2^® file. This post walks through the process — for the full step-by-step video, see below.

Before You Generate: Two Quick Checks

Before you click Generate, it's worth confirming two things are in order.

Your Reporter Information is correct. The Generate Metro 2^® Report screen displays your company's Reporter Name, Address, Phone Number, and bureau subscriber IDs (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian, Innovis, and MicroBilt/PRBC if applicable) at the top of the screen. This data feeds directly into the Header Segment of your file, and it comes from your Reporting Company Settings — so if anything needs to change, that's where to make the edit, not on this screen.

Your accounts are tagged. The Report Statistics section shows your Total Accounts, J1 and J2 Segment counts, and — most importantly — your Accounts Tagged for Reporting number. If that number looks lower than expected, don't generate yet. Head back to Search Accounts and use Tag All or Tag Selected to make sure everything you want included is actually included.

Generating the File

Once everything checks out, click Generate Metro 2^® File. A progress dialog will show you the current record being processed, the account number being written, and a percentage complete. For a file with a couple thousand accounts, this typically finishes in under a minute.

What's Inside Your Generated File

The finished file is saved in Metro 2^® Fixed Length format with a .txt extension. We recommend a naming convention like COMPANYNAME_MMDDYYYY.txt so your files stay organized and easy to locate later.

Structurally, the file contains:

• Header Segment — identifies your company and reporting date
• Base Segments — one per account, containing account and primary consumer data
• J1 Segments — associated consumers at the same address as the primary consumer
• J2 Segments — associated consumers at a different address
• Trailer Segment — record counts and control totals

Submitting to the Bureaus

Each bureau has its own submission method:

Bureau	Submission Method
Equifax	ePort
TransUnion	TU Connect or SFTP
Experian	Experian Upload or SFTP
Innovis	Innovis Secure File Transfer

Most bureaus will want an initial test file before accepting production data, so check with each one directly if you haven't submitted before.

After You Submit

A few habits worth building into your reporting cycle:

• Keep your own copies of every file you generate. M2R does not automatically archive generated files, so this is on you.
• Watch for bureau acknowledgment or rejection notices, and address any errors before your next reporting cycle.
• Errors not resolved before the next cycle will need to be corrected both in M2R and through your eOscar account.