Equifax
Encyclopedia
Equifax Inc. is a consumer credit reporting agency in the United States
, considered one of the three largest American credit agencies along with Experian
and TransUnion
. Founded in 1899, Equifax is the oldest of the three agencies and gathers and maintains information on over 400 million credit holders worldwide. Based in Atlanta
, Georgia
, Equifax is a global service provider with US $1.5 billion in annual revenue and 7,000+ employees in 14 countries. Equifax is listed on the NYSE.
Retail Credit Company's extensive information holdings, and its willingness to sell them to anyone, attracted criticism of the company in the 1960s and 1970s. These included that it collected "...facts, statistics, inaccuracies and rumors… about virtually every phase of a person's life; his marital troubles, jobs, school history, childhood, sex life, and political activities." The company was also alleged to reward its employees for collecting negative information on consumers.
As a result, when the company moved to computerize its records, which would lead to much wider availability of the personal information it held, the US Congress held hearings in 1970. These led to the enactment of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
in the same year which gave consumers rights regarding information stored about them in corporate databanks. It is alleged that the hearings prompted the Retail Credit Company to change its name to Equifax in 1975 to improve its image.
The company later expanded into commercial credit reports on companies in the US, Canada and the UK, where it came into competition with companies such as Dun & Bradstreet
and Experian
. The insurance reporting was phased out. The company also had a division selling specialist credit information to the insurance industry but spun off this service, including the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) database as ChoicePoint
in 1997. The company formerly offered digital certification services, which it sold to GeoTrust
in September 2001. In the same year, Equifax spun off its payment services division, forming the publicly-listed company Certegy
, which subsequently acquired Fidelity National Information Services
in 2006. Certegy effectively became a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial
as a result of this reverse acquisition merger (See Certegy
and Fidelity National Information Services
for further information).
The company has been fined by the Federal Trade Commission on two occasions for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In 2000, Equifax along with Experian and Trans Union were fined US$2.5 million for blocking and delaying phone calls from consumers trying to get information about their credit. In 2003, the FTC took Equifax to court for the same reason and settled its lawsuit with the company for a fine of US$250,000.
ers, insurance
firms, healthcare providers, utilities, government agencies, as well as bank
s and other financial institutions. Equifax sells businesses credit reports, analytics, demographic data, and software. Credit reports provide detailed information on the personal credit and payment history of individuals, indicating how they have honored financial obligations such as paying bills or repaying a loan
. Businesses then use this information to decide what sort of products or services to offer their customers, and on what terms.
From 1999, Equifax began offering services to the credit consumer sector in addition, such as credit fraud and identity theft prevention products. Equifax, and other credit monitoring agencies are required by law to provide US citizens with one free credit file disclosure every 12 months; the Annualcreditreport.com
website incorporates data from US Equifax credit records.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, considered one of the three largest American credit agencies along with Experian
Experian
Experian plc, formerly known as CCN Systems, is a global credit information group with operations in 36 countries. The company employs 15,500 people with corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland and operational headquarters in Nottingham, England and Costa Mesa, California, US...
and TransUnion
TransUnion
TransUnion is the third largest credit bureau in the United States, which offers credit-related information to potential creditors. Like major competitors Equifax and Experian, TransUnion markets credit reports directly to consumers.- History :...
. Founded in 1899, Equifax is the oldest of the three agencies and gathers and maintains information on over 400 million credit holders worldwide. Based in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Equifax is a global service provider with US $1.5 billion in annual revenue and 7,000+ employees in 14 countries. Equifax is listed on the NYSE.
History
Equifax was founded in Atlanta, GA, as Retail Credit Company in 1899. The company grew quickly and by 1920 had offices throughout the US and Canada. By the 1960s, Retail Credit Company was one of the nation's largest credit bureaus, holding files on millions of American and Canadian citizens. Even though they still did credit reporting the majority of their business was making reports to insurance companies when people applied for new insurance policies including life, auto, fire and medical insurance. All of the major insurance companies used RCC to get information on health, habits, morals, use of vehicles and finances. They also investigated insurance claims and made employment reports when people were seeking new jobs. Most of the credit work was then being done by a subsidiary, Retailers Commercial Agency.Retail Credit Company's extensive information holdings, and its willingness to sell them to anyone, attracted criticism of the company in the 1960s and 1970s. These included that it collected "...facts, statistics, inaccuracies and rumors… about virtually every phase of a person's life; his marital troubles, jobs, school history, childhood, sex life, and political activities." The company was also alleged to reward its employees for collecting negative information on consumers.
As a result, when the company moved to computerize its records, which would lead to much wider availability of the personal information it held, the US Congress held hearings in 1970. These led to the enactment of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a United States federal law that regulates the collection, dissemination, and use of consumer information, including consumer credit information. Along with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act , it forms the base of consumer credit rights in the United States...
in the same year which gave consumers rights regarding information stored about them in corporate databanks. It is alleged that the hearings prompted the Retail Credit Company to change its name to Equifax in 1975 to improve its image.
The company later expanded into commercial credit reports on companies in the US, Canada and the UK, where it came into competition with companies such as Dun & Bradstreet
Dun & Bradstreet
Dun & Bradstreet is a Fortune 500 public company headquartered in Short Hills, New Jersey, USA that provides information on businesses and corporations for use in credit decisions, B2B marketing and supply chain management...
and Experian
Experian
Experian plc, formerly known as CCN Systems, is a global credit information group with operations in 36 countries. The company employs 15,500 people with corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland and operational headquarters in Nottingham, England and Costa Mesa, California, US...
. The insurance reporting was phased out. The company also had a division selling specialist credit information to the insurance industry but spun off this service, including the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) database as ChoicePoint
ChoicePoint
ChoicePoint was a data aggregation company based in Alpharetta, near Atlanta, Georgia, United States, that acted as a private intelligence service to government and industry...
in 1997. The company formerly offered digital certification services, which it sold to GeoTrust
GeoTrust
GeoTrust is a large digital certificate provider.GeoTrust was a restarted company in 2001 that acquired the security business of Equifax. The Equifax business was the basis of its fast growth. The founders of the restarted company were CEO Neal Creighton, CTO Chris Bailey and Principal Engineer...
in September 2001. In the same year, Equifax spun off its payment services division, forming the publicly-listed company Certegy
Certegy
Certegy was a public corporation created in 2001 when Equifax spun off their payment services division. The corporation had two divisions of its own: check verification and credit cards. In September 2005, a merger with Fidelity Information Services, a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial,...
, which subsequently acquired Fidelity National Information Services
Fidelity National Information Services
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. , also known as FIS, is a publicly traded corporation and is a global provider of banking and payments technology solutions, processing services and information-based services...
in 2006. Certegy effectively became a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial
Fidelity National Financial
Fidelity National Financial , headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, USA , is a Fortune 500 company that provides real estate and financial services...
as a result of this reverse acquisition merger (See Certegy
Certegy
Certegy was a public corporation created in 2001 when Equifax spun off their payment services division. The corporation had two divisions of its own: check verification and credit cards. In September 2005, a merger with Fidelity Information Services, a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial,...
and Fidelity National Information Services
Fidelity National Information Services
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. , also known as FIS, is a publicly traded corporation and is a global provider of banking and payments technology solutions, processing services and information-based services...
for further information).
The company has been fined by the Federal Trade Commission on two occasions for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In 2000, Equifax along with Experian and Trans Union were fined US$2.5 million for blocking and delaying phone calls from consumers trying to get information about their credit. In 2003, the FTC took Equifax to court for the same reason and settled its lawsuit with the company for a fine of US$250,000.
Products
For most of its existence, Equifax has operated primarily in the business-to-business sector, selling consumer credit and insurance reports and related analytics to businesses in a range of industries. Business customers include retailRetail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
ers, insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
firms, healthcare providers, utilities, government agencies, as well as bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
s and other financial institutions. Equifax sells businesses credit reports, analytics, demographic data, and software. Credit reports provide detailed information on the personal credit and payment history of individuals, indicating how they have honored financial obligations such as paying bills or repaying a loan
Loan
A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....
. Businesses then use this information to decide what sort of products or services to offer their customers, and on what terms.
From 1999, Equifax began offering services to the credit consumer sector in addition, such as credit fraud and identity theft prevention products. Equifax, and other credit monitoring agencies are required by law to provide US citizens with one free credit file disclosure every 12 months; the Annualcreditreport.com
Annualcreditreport.com
Annualcreditreport.com is a website jointly operated by the three major U.S. credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The site was created in order to comply with their obligations under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act to provide a mechanism for American...
website incorporates data from US Equifax credit records.
See also
- CompuscanCompuscanCompuscan is a South African credit bureau that provides consumer and commercial credit information within South Africa and other African nations....
- Credit bureauCredit bureauA credit bureau , or credit reference agency is a company that collects information from various sources and provides consumer credit information on individual consumers for a variety of uses. It is an organization providing information on individuals' borrowing and bill paying habits...
- InnovisInnovisInnovis is the 4th credit bureau in the United States, the other three being Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Currently, a much smaller number of companies use Innovis for credit reporting, one being Trade Capital Company...
- Credit scoreCredit scoreA credit score is a numerical expression based on a statistical analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of that person...
- Identity theftIdentity theftIdentity theft is a form of stealing another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name...
- Fair Credit Reporting ActFair Credit Reporting ActThe Fair Credit Reporting Act is a United States federal law that regulates the collection, dissemination, and use of consumer information, including consumer credit information. Along with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act , it forms the base of consumer credit rights in the United States...
- TalxTalx-History:Based out St. Louis, Talx was founded in 1971. Talx's primary business involves contesting unemployment claims. During the late 1990s, Talx launched The Work Number, a pay service for employment and salary verification at the request of one of its clients...
- The Work NumberThe Work NumberThe Work Number is a user-paid verification of employment database created by TALX Corporation. TALX was acquired by Equifax Inc. in February 2007....
- TransUnionTransUnionTransUnion is the third largest credit bureau in the United States, which offers credit-related information to potential creditors. Like major competitors Equifax and Experian, TransUnion markets credit reports directly to consumers.- History :...
- ExperianExperianExperian plc, formerly known as CCN Systems, is a global credit information group with operations in 36 countries. The company employs 15,500 people with corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland and operational headquarters in Nottingham, England and Costa Mesa, California, US...