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December 09, 2013

Credit Access and Inclusion Act Not Necessary, Says Equifax



Equifax Inc. recently released a statement describing the SB1613, Credit Access and Inclusion Act as an unnecessary bill. The company explained that the existing National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange (NCTUE) serves the same purpose that SB1613 is intended to deliver, saying that proposed bill could have a negative impact on the people it is supposed to help.

Prior to releasing this statement, the company, in conjunction with NCTUE, submitted a formal letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to the same effect, which included the company's alternative to the SB1613 bill.

Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced the SB1613 bill, which essentially proposes to grant telecommunications and utility companies’ the permission to submit payment information of consumers to credit reporting agencies.

In a release, Michael Gardner (News - Alert), senior vice president of Equifax said, "Helping consumers build their credit is a top priority of Equifax, so we certainly agree with the intentions of the Credit Access and Inclusion Act. However, there is already a solution – without government involvement – that addresses the needs of consumers who rely on positive payment information to boost their credit scores. We manage NCTUE, which has a proven track record of effectively serving all consumers, especially those with little or no traditional credit history. If the federal government steps in and tries to implement a one-size-fits-all solution, it may lead to adverse, unintended consequences that negatively impact the very people they're trying to help."

Equifax said that the FCRA-compliant NCTUE already includes telecommunications and utility payment data, hence the need for an additional bill for the same purpose is not necessary. Managed and housed by Equifax, the National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange, Inc. (NCTUE) is a member-owned database. The country's leading telecommunication and utility companies can apply for membership to NCTUE and gain access to customer account data for improving their risk management, enhancing credit decisioning, and for improving consumer access to credit. NCTUE and its member's adhere to all regulatory policies.

Equifax is a leading provider of consumer, commercial and workforce information solutions to consumers and businesses. The company organizes information collected from more than 81 million businesses across the globe, and more than 600 million consumers, which help it deliver optimized and customized insights to help in improving business performance and the lives of consumers. 




Edited by Blaise McNamee
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