How Much Does Equifax Know About Me?

Equifax and other credit agencies know a lot more than you think!

Equifax has recently increased the amount of data stored on individuals who don’t have traditional credit records. For instance, there are millions of people in the United States who do not have a typical FDIC-insured bank account or credit card account. This makes determining their credit-worthiness more of a challenge for potential lenders who generally just pull a credit report. Armed with this new information, you might be asking, “how much does Equifax know about me?”

Equifax Data Collection Procedures

The modern way that credit collection companies such as Equifax obtain information about you is that most companies with whom you do regular business will freely offer your payment history to one of the major credit bureaus. The credit agencies act as basically a data clearing house whereby creditors pool their collective knowledge about every single individual who obtains credit in the world.

This might seem like an invasion of privacy, but it has been occurring with regularity for hundreds of years, if not thousands. Before a bank or institution is willing to lend someone money, they need to ensure that they are not going to be robbed of their investment. So, in the event that you fail to pay your bills or debts, it will leave a black mark on your record for whenever you apply for new credit elsewhere.

Since the entire world is now so interconnected, this data is transmitted nonstop and instantaneously. This happens to prevent criminals from applying for thousands of credit cards simultaneously, maxing them out, then fleeing without paying anything back.

Banks, hospitals, car dealerships, utility companies, and all other credit issuers all need some type of guarantee that you have the ability to pay them for loans or services rendered. Companies such as Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian are the three major data warehouses that keep tabs on individual (and some businesses’) credit file. They not only track negative marks, they also include positive marks whenever a payment is made on time and is reported by your creditors.

So What Is Equifax Tracking That’s New?

Equifax and some of the other credit bureaus have reached out to gather more information about those people who have very limited credit history. These new sources of credit-worthiness include cell phone bills, Internet services, job history, rental history, and any other essential or non-essential regular billing data. And once again, most companies are happy to trade away this information freely so that they can paint a better picture when determining if new applicants are worthy of their trust.

While these new sources of financial data gathering are likely to help some people access new sources of credit from potential creditors, they are just as likely to harm low-income borrowers or those who have spotty records for on-time payments.

The FDIC estimated in 2009 that over 9,000,000 US households did not have an active bank account, and that most of those households were occupied by minorities. Equifax and other agencies argue that being able to provide a reasonably-estimated credit score for these “under-banked” individuals and families will open up new sources of loans for them. However, many argue that these new data sources will turn some of these “no credit scores” into “bad credit scores“.

How Can I Find Out What Equifax Knows About Me

The best way to see what is on your public credit report is to simply order one from one of the credit bureaus and take a look yourself. If you are denied credit for any reason, the company that pulled your credit report is required to let you look at it if you ask. Also, you can request a free credit report annually from AnnualCreditReport.com.

However, the one crucial missing piece from an AnnualCreditReport.com request is your credit score. A credit score is a numerical value that is calculated by each of the credit bureaus to determine your overall credit worthiness. It’s basically a spot-check that banks and other lenders can use to, at a glance, determine if you are a worthy investment. It doesn’t always paint the full picture, but it is the industry standard to figure out if you are able to pay your bills.

In order to find out your score, you’ll need to request a full credit report and score from one of the credit bureaus, and you will have to pay for it. But, you can save some money by using our Equifax promo code to do so.

Remember that each bureau will calculate your score differently, so you actually have 3 scores. You might want to grab your score from each of the agencies, or you can usually buy a “3-in-1″ report from each of them. Most creditors will take the middle score if they pull all 3 credit reports.