Most consumers are familiar with Equifax. But there are a few interesting tidbits that most people don’t know about the company. Here are a few interesting facts about Equifax:
Equifax was founded way back in 1899. Their annual revenues in 2011 were $1.96 billion and they operate in fourteen countries, although, like TransUnion, they are based in the US.
Equifax is also the largest of the Big Three credit bureaus. From their headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, they manage the undisputed heavyweight champion of databases: an astronomical 400 million individual files. That’s bigger than the entire population of the United States!
Not only that, but Equifax has been causing controversy for almost as long as they’ve been in business.
During the 1960s and 70s, Equifax was repeatedly rocked by scandals when it was revealed they ran a cash incentive program to reward employees for uncovering negative information about consumers. These unethical practices are one of the main reasons the FCRA was created in the 1970’s when computers were beginning to be used to mass-store consumer data.
These practices are also the reason for a lot of the specific language in the FCRA that limits the kind of data a bureau can keep and sell, and how they must go about validating the data to insure its accuracy.
Keep your eye on your email for even more interesting facts about Equifax and the other consumer reporting agencies.
