Equifax
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| Equifax Inc. | |
| Type | Corporation (NYSE:EFX) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1889 as Retail Credit Company |
| Headquarters | 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 |
| Revenue | $1.43 Billion USD (2005) |
| Operating income | $422,000 USD (2005) |
| Net income |  $246,500 USD (2005) |
| Employees | 4,600 |
| Website | www.equifax.com |
Equifax, Inc. (NYSE: EFX) is primarily a consumer credit reporting agency, considered one of the "big three" along with Experian and TransUnion in that business. It has a computer system that amalgamates financial and public record data from credit card companies and other sources into a summary of how quickly the consumer pays their debts. This information can then be reduced to a comprehensive three digit credit risk rating or "score". Reports are provided on private persons residing in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, El Salvador, Peru, Spain, United Kingdom, and Uruguay. Reports can be obtained on consumers in other countries through a series of relationships. 80% of Equifax's revenue is derived from its USA operation.
Equifax has also expanded into Commercial credit reports in direct competition with Dun & Bradstreet and Experian in the USA, Canada and the UK. Through affiliations they can obtain a credit report on any business in the world.
Currently based in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax was founded in 1899 as Retail Credit Company.
In 2001, Equifax spun-off their payment services division, forming the short lived public company Certegy.
In 2006, Equifax had $1.3 billion in annual revenue and 4,400 employees in 12 countries.
Like most computerized credit reporting agencies, Experian, Trans Union, and The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, they now market their credit reports directly to consumers and businesses, in addition to their core business of providing the reports to potential creditors.
Equifax subcontracts out most of its consumer relations. Telephone disputes or requests are diverted to ICT, a Canadian company/vendor. Mail disputes or requests sent to its Georgia post office boxes are opened by another vendor, Innasource, scanned to a computer file and then electronically sent to a subcontract vendor either in Montego Bay, Jamaica, or in the Philippines. Equifax also outsources its software development offshore to India through Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and CGI-AMS.
In the UK, Equifax also operates a consumer debt collection agency under its Westcott Credit Services brand (also Debt Enforcement Agency). Westcott carry out collection for UK utilities and cable companies, and acted on behalf of NTL following the collapse of Internet service provider Gio Internet.
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[edit] Criticism
In 1982, Retail Credit Company was criticized for collecting "...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."[1]
The company was charged with rewarding its employees for collecting negative information on consumers in the 1970s. There was a consent decree. In 1975 the company changed its name to "Equifax"—reportedly to counteract its tarnished reputation.[2]
[edit] Media references
Harrison Ford film Firewall (2006) featured the protagonist, a banking programmer, verifying his credit record with Equifax.
[edit] See also
[edit] References and footnotes
- ^ WIRED Magazine referenced a March 1970 edition of The New York Times, which included an article by Columbia University Professor Alan Westin. No specific date or article is referenced. Simson Garfinkel, Separating Equifax from Fiction, September 1995.
- ^ Simson Garfinkel, Separating Equifax from Fiction, WIRED Magazine, September 1995.
