How to Choose the Best Background Check Companies for Hiring
June 9 2026
Summary: The best background check companies share five operational traits: FCRA compliance from authorization to adverse action, consistent turnaround times across jurisdictions, robust delay notification, technology integrations that work, and customer support that picks up the phone. These traits are easy to claim and hard to verify. Here’s what to look for, plus the red flags that set top background check companies apart from competitors.
What to Look For in the Best Background Check Companies
Every background screening provider claims to deliver fast, accurate, and compliant results. Saying it is the easy part. If you’re shopping for the best background check companies, you’ve usually been through one of three things: a provider that stopped picking up the phone, an acquisition that changed your service, or a hiring process stalling on pre-employment screenings.
Every good background screening provider should do five things consistently across all employee background checks:
- Keep FCRA compliance auditable across every order
- Keep turnaround times predictable across jurisdictions
- Robust delay notification
- Plug into your hiring process with working integrations
- Answer the phone when something goes wrong
The best background check companies still deliver all five in month thirteen.
FCRA Compliance at Every Step
FCRA compliance is one of those credentials every vendor advertises, yet few can back up. The best screening providers build it into employee background checks at every step: authorization, accurate disclosure, adverse action handling, and proper sourcing of criminal history, credit history, public records, and sex offender registry data. When a vendor mishandles any step, the employer bears the legal exposure.
PBSA accreditation is one of the signals that compliance gets taken seriously, requiring third-party audits of background screening workflows and data handling. The best background check companies can explain what’s involved in conducting background checks for compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). If your provider can’t walk you through their FCRA process step by step, that’s your answer.
Consistent Turnaround Times Across Jurisdictions
Turnaround time is one of the first things employers ask about, and the answer almost always starts with the court system. Every jurisdiction moves at its own pace, which is why consistency across jurisdictions matters. The best background check companies return most criminal background checks within one business day when digital court access is available. Vendors promising same-day results in clerk-assisted jurisdictions might be skipping validation or pulling from databases that miss court records.
The best background check companies can give you the expected turnaround time by jurisdiction before you place an order. They flag counties that take longer and tell you which verifications depend on third-party responses. When results are delayed, they tell you specifically why.
The time it takes for a criminal background check varies by jurisdiction and court access type. Top background check companies build employee background checks around achievable timelines. If the estimate sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Robust Delay Notification
A comprehensive background check can include employment verifications, education verifications, drug testing, social media screening, and motor vehicle record searches in addition to criminal history searches. Each one works differently and when roadblocks arise the reasons for them vary. The best background check companies track any ongoing searches and can explain whether a delay is tied to a former employer, a court closure, a candidate who hasn’t completed authorization, or something else.
The best companies for background checks treat running a background check as a transparent workflow and can answer “where is this search right now?” without putting you on hold.
Technology That Integrates With Your Hiring Process
Many ATS integrations look great in a demo and fall apart after the first platform migration. The best background check companies maintain ATS integrations that trigger background screenings when an applicant advances to the next stage. Good background check software doesn’t rely on manual exports that slow the hiring process down.
This gets worse after a provider gets acquired, when platforms get patched together, and the experience your sales rep demoed six months ago needs workarounds. The best background check companies maintain ATS integrations that trigger background screenings when an applicant advances to the next stage.
Customer Support That Knows Your Account
This is where vendors talk a great game and route you to a ticket queue when something goes wrong. The best background check companies give you a dedicated account rep who knows your account when you call – not a rotating cast of agents or a chatbot routing you back into the queue. You want a provider who remembers your last delayed search was a clerk-assisted county in Tennessee and can pick up the thread.
The best screening providers offer extended business hours, U.S.-based support, and a person who picks up the phone. Behind every employee background check is a real person waiting for an offer. Top background check companies don’t outsource the part of the business that matters most to you. If yours has, here are the signs you’re working with the wrong provider.
What Happens When a Background Check Company Gets Acquired?
When a background check company gets acquired, you typically see it first in your turnaround times. Screenings that used to clear in a day now take three, and the account rep you’d worked with for years has been reassigned. The acquirer “normalizes” pricing to match their model, which means yours went up. Integrations that worked last quarter suddenly break, and the workarounds become your team’s problem. None of this makes the press release, but you’ll see it in the work.
A reliable background check provider usually has stable ownership. Without quarterly earnings calls dictating cuts to support, a privately held provider can keep its commitments to existing accounts. If your vendor recently changed hands, see why background checks can get delayed. The top background check companies don’t make turnaround time the customer’s problem.
🚩 Red Flags Among Top Background Check Companies
Inconsistent turnaround time is usually the first warning sign. Here are the other patterns to watch for when evaluating top background check companies — together, they suggest a provider that overpromises and underdelivers:
- Same-day promises in clerk-assisted jurisdictions where manual court access sometimes takes days
- Vague answers when you ask why a search is delayed
- Recent ownership change with no proactive communication about your employee background checks
- Pricing significantly below market, without a clear scope explanation
- Ticket-based support that routes you through a queue before a human
- Inability to confirm whether court access fees are bundled or itemized
When two or more apply to the same provider, you’re looking at a vendor that won’t deliver consistently. The best background check companies handle hard questions without flinching and would rather lose the sale than mislead the buyer — and that includes being upfront about what a background check costs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Background Check Companies
What should employers look for in a background check company?
Employers should look for five operational traits in a background check company: (1) FCRA compliance backed by independent accreditation, (2) consistent turnaround time across jurisdictions, (3) traceable verification workflows, (4) real ATS integrations, and (5) customer support that picks up the phone. Providers earn trust by consistently delivering all five, even long after the contract is signed.
How do the top background check companies handle delays?
The top background check companies call you first to explain why a search is running long, with a rep who already knows your account. Delays still happen because court systems and third-party platforms move at their own pace. A good provider keeps you informed of what’s causing the delay and when to expect results.
What questions should employers ask a background check company before hiring them?
Employers should ask about ownership history, ATS integration, support model, account rep structure, and whether court access fees are bundled or itemized in pricing. The best background check companies answer these questions directly and make the answers part of the sales conversation.
Are bigger background check companies better for employers?
No. Operational fit matters more than size. The largest vendors often stop prioritizing mid-market accounts after acquisitions, while smaller, privately held providers focused on your verticals can outperform publicly traded competitors.
The Best Background Check Companies Pick Up the Phone
If your provider answers a delayed search with a ticket number, you know what’s missing: good service. At InfoMart, every client gets a dedicated account rep who knows your account when you call. The team is U.S.-based with no offshored support and extended business hours.
InfoMart has been PBSA-accredited since 1992 and has remained privately held throughout. While competitors keep changing hands, your account doesn’t. The best background check companies don’t disappear after the contract is signed.
Not ready yet? Our Background Check RFP Guide covers what to ask before you commit to a screening provider. Informed hiring decisions start with the right questions.
About Tammy Cohen
Tammy Cohen, an industry pioneer and expert in identity and employment screening, founded InfoMart 30 years ago. Deemed the “Queen of Screen,” she’s been a force behind industry-leading innovations. She was most recently the first-to-market with a fully compliant sanctions search, as well as a suite of identity services that modernizes talent onboarding. Tammy revolutionized the screening industry when she stepped into the field, developing the first client-facing application and a due diligence criminal search that has since become standard for all background screening companies. Cohen has received national awards and honors for her business and civic involvement, including Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Top 25 Women-Owned Firms in Atlanta, Enterprising Women Magazine’s Enterprising Women of the Year award, the YWCA of Northwest Georgia’s Kathryn Woods Racial Justice Award, and a commendation in the 152nd Congressional Record.
About InfoMart
InfoMart has been revolutionizing the global background and identity screening industry for 30 years, providing businesses the information they need to make informed hiring decisions. They develop innovative technology that modernizes talent onboarding, including a first-to-market biometric identity authentication application and a verified sanctions search. The WBENC-certified company is a founding member of the Professional Background Screening Association, and they have achieved PBSA accreditation in recognition of their consistent business practices and commitment to compliance with the FCRA. The company is dedicated to customer service, speed, and accuracy, and it has been recognized for its success, workplace culture, and corporate citizenship with over 45 industry awards. To Get the Whole Story on InfoMart, please visit www.InfoMart-USA.com, follow @InfoMartUSA, or call (770) 984-2727.