As I understand, a "peer review" is a review of a person's or group of persons' work by another (or others) in the same field. Simply put, this is to provide an unbiased evaluation from someone who understands what they are looking at. CPA's are subject to a "peer review" process. My audit workpapers are subject to this type of review by our external auditors, so my independence is not jeopardized and the advice and recommendations are provided by someone with training in the same field.
I can't put that together with a credit check though? Maybe in their terms they are really doing a "background" check/investigation?
Hope this helps, and welcome to BOL..
..at least as a registered user. My expertise is not HR, obviously, but there are several great posters who participate and do specialize in this field.
Good Luck!