Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Equifax shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Equifax offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Equifax at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Equifax? Wrong! If the Equifax is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Equifax then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Equifax? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Equifax and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Equifax wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Equifax then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Equifax site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Equifax, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Equifax, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
{{ambox| type = serious| image = | text = This article is subject to manipulation attempts by the described entity using multiple user names. Please be critical of edits and discussion page entries.-->
{{Infobox Company |company_name = Equifax Inc.|
company_type = Corporation ([NYSE:[http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=EFX EFX)|
foundation = |
location = [Atlanta, Georgia|
// key_people = Richard F. Smith, [Chairman & [CEO
Donald T. Heroman, [CFO
Kent E. Mast, Chief Legal Officer
Paul J. Springman, Chief Marketing Officer
Nuala M. King, Principal Accounting Officer|
industry = Business Services, Consumer Services|
revenue = $1.5 Billion
United States dollar ([)|
//operating_income = $422,000 United States dollar ([)|
//net_income = {{profit--> $246,500
United States dollar ([)|
num_employees = 5,000|
homepage =
http://www.equifax.com/ www.equifax.com
-->
Equifax, Inc. () is a
consumer credit reporting agency in the US, considered one of the big three 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 5,000 employees in 14 countries.
History
Equifax was founded 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 citizens.
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. Separating Equifax from fiction,
Wired, September 1995, retrieved 13 September 2007
As a result, when the company moved to computerise 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 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. Equifax Fined $250,000 Fine By FTC,
NBC 10, 3 August 2003, retrieved 13 September 2007 {{cite news | title = Equifax to Pay $250,000 to Settle Charges
| publisher = ConsumerAffairs.com
| date = [2003-07-30
| url = http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news03/equifax.html
| accessdate = 2007-07-23 -->.
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 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 publicly-listed company
Certegy which was soon acquired by
Fidelity National Information Services.
Products
For most of its existence, Equifax has operated primarily in the business-to-business sector, selling consumer credit reports and related analytics to businesses in a range of industries. Business customers include retailers, insurance firms, healthcare providers, utilities, government agencies, as well as banks 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.
Beginning in 1999, Equifax began offering products that help people monitor their credit history, including alerting consumers to the possibility of their being a victim of credit fraud or identity theft. Equifax, and other credit monitoring agencies are required by law to provide US citizens with one free credit file disclosure every 12 months, which may be requested on-line at
Annualcreditreport.com. Equifax also sells online reports and a subscription services for credit monitoring.
Credit score
Associated with a person’s credit history, though not part of the credit report, is a number called the credit score, which is a mathematical model used to predict how likely a person is to repay a loan. The score is based on information in a person’s credit report, and the most commonly used credit score is the FICO credit score, used by over 70% of the nation's creditors. For the FICO credit score, the scores range from 300 to 850, with higher scores considered better. The majority of credit scores fall within the 600s and 700s.
Recent consumer issues
As of July 2007, Equifax form letters include a toll-free number, (888)876-5796, that is no longer in service. Below this defunct phone number, the Equifax form letter informs customers that they "must call within 60 days" if they wish to dispute any "information" contained within the letter.
See also
References and footnotes
External links
- Company website
- Equifax Credit Report Key
- Yahoo! Finance - Equifax Inc. Company Profile
- {http://www.equifax.com/online-credit-dispute/ Equifax Online Dispute]
{{ambox| type = serious| image = | text = This article is subject to manipulation attempts by the described entity using multiple user names. Please be critical of edits and discussion page entries.-->
{{Infobox Company |company_name = Equifax Inc.|
company_type =
Corporation ([NYSE:[http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=EFX EFX)|
foundation = |
location = [Atlanta, Georgia|
// key_people = Richard F. Smith, [Chairman & [CEO
Donald T. Heroman, [CFO
Kent E. Mast, Chief Legal Officer
Paul J. Springman, Chief Marketing Officer
Nuala M. King, Principal Accounting Officer|
industry = Business Services, Consumer Services|
revenue = $1.5 Billion
United States dollar ([)|
//operating_income = $422,000 United States dollar ([)|
//net_income = {{profit--> $246,500 United States dollar ([)|
num_employees = 5,000|
homepage = http://www.equifax.com/ www.equifax.com
-->
Equifax, Inc. () is a
consumer credit reporting agency in the US, considered one of the big three 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 5,000 employees in 14 countries.
History
Equifax was founded 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 citizens.
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. Separating Equifax from fiction,
Wired, September 1995, retrieved 13 September 2007
As a result, when the company moved to computerise 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 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. Equifax Fined $250,000 Fine By FTC,
NBC 10, 3 August 2003, retrieved 13 September 2007 {{cite news | title = Equifax to Pay $250,000 to Settle Charges
| publisher = ConsumerAffairs.com
| date = [2003-07-30
| url = http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news03/equifax.html
| accessdate = 2007-07-23 -->.
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 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 publicly-listed company
Certegy which was soon acquired by
Fidelity National Information Services.
Products
For most of its existence, Equifax has operated primarily in the business-to-business sector, selling consumer credit reports and related analytics to businesses in a range of industries. Business customers include retailers,
insurance firms, healthcare providers, utilities, government agencies, as well as
banks 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.
Beginning in 1999, Equifax began offering products that help people monitor their credit history, including alerting consumers to the possibility of their being a victim of credit fraud or identity theft. Equifax, and other credit monitoring agencies are required by law to provide US citizens with one free credit file disclosure every 12 months, which may be requested on-line at Annualcreditreport.com. Equifax also sells online reports and a subscription services for credit monitoring.
Credit score
Associated with a person’s credit history, though not part of the credit report, is a number called the credit score, which is a mathematical model used to predict how likely a person is to repay a loan. The score is based on information in a person’s credit report, and the most commonly used credit score is the
FICO credit score, used by over 70% of the nation's creditors. For the FICO credit score, the scores range from 300 to 850, with higher scores considered better. The majority of credit scores fall within the 600s and 700s.
Recent consumer issues
As of July 2007, Equifax form letters include a toll-free number, (888)876-5796, that is no longer in service. Below this defunct phone number, the Equifax form letter informs customers that they "must call within 60 days" if they wish to dispute any "information" contained within the letter.
See also
References and footnotes
External links
- Company website
- Equifax Credit Report Key
- Yahoo! Finance - Equifax Inc. Company Profile
- {http://www.equifax.com/online-credit-dispute/ Equifax Online Dispute]
Online Credit Report and Credit Check Services - Equifax
Consumer credit information including a vehicle and property checking service.
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Organisation specialising in credit referencing and general business advisory services.
