Credit reporting

In a move designed to improve access to financial products for consumers with low credit scores and short credit histories, Experian, FICO and Finicity are developing an "UltraFICO" score that lets individuals share checking and savings account data and help lenders better assess risk.

The number of consumers being pursued by debt-collection agencies fell dramatically in the past year, but it's as much technicality as achievement, and bankers need to keep that in mind when reviewing the credit scores of millions of Americans.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is suspending its ongoing review of new credit scoring models and will instead move forward with creating a regulatory framework for providers of alternative credit scores to apply and be evaluated for use by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Senators at a hearing Thursday discussed a bill establishing an online portal for consumers to monitor their credit reports free of cost.

Credit reporting firms with significant operations in New York will face new cybersecurity and registration requirements to stave off concerns related to a breach of Equifax's systems last year.

Some speculate that the banks who do business with credit reporting agencies may be looking for alternatives after mounting concerns about their ability to keep information private. But breaking up is hard to do.

Some fear that the removal of such data from individual credit reports could lead lenders to believe a consumer is a better bet than they really are.

A late addition to regulatory relief legislation would direct the Federal Housing Finance Agency to review credit-scoring alternatives, but some say the provision is redundant.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is among several agencies that "continue to investigate events related to" last year's Equifax brief, the credit reporting firm said in a securities filing.

It is unclear whether the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is abandoning its supervisory oversight of Equifax or just taking a back seat to the Federal Trade Commission as the latter investigates the credit bureau.

The credit bureau enraged many with its response to a massive data breach this fall, but closing the company down would ultimately harm consumers.

Consumer credit bureau and data aggregator Experian will gain a foothold in the U.K. mortgage market by acquiring a minority stake in mortgage brokerage London & Country Mortgages Limited.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking more information about consumers' experience with free access to credit scores.

Calls for less reliance on credit bureaus and Social Security numbers for verification are leading many to envision a future of identity on a distributed ledger.

Cybersecurity and breach notification procedures have caught the most public attention following the massive hack at Equifax, but lawmakers are also interested in the accuracy of credit reports.

Congress may soon try to limit the personal identifiable information that companies and the government can collect on consumers based on their reaction to the massive data breach at Equifax.

Equifax observed an increasingly well-worn ritual of scandal-ridden firms by jettisoning CEO Richard Smith: apologize, promise to do better in the future, and sacrifice your top executive in the hopes it will ward off action by Congress and regulators.

The Equifax breach has millions of Americans now thinking about freezing their credit to guard against identity theft. But those who act could be cutting themselves off from the nation's vast credit economy.

Banks should not point blame at the credit bureau but rather should step up and demonstrate their commitment to their customers. If you punt the problem to Equifax, it suggests you don’t really care.

Lawmakers signaled Monday that Congress will likely have a swift and powerful response to revelations that the credit reporting company Equifax was hacked, exposing 143 million people to identity theft.