Turn It Over: Experian demands full reporting from credit data subscribers
Experian, the Orange, CA-based credit bureau, is requiring all subscribers to fully report information related to their customer accounts. The shift in policy occurred because some users of the company’s credit data services have withheld information for competitive reasons.
The lack of data has hurt 25% of the consumers listed in Experian’s database. These individuals are deemed higher credit risks as a result of the withheld information, says an Experian spokesman.
The policy – which affects users of both credit and pre-screened data – takes effect July 1, thus allowing noncompliant subscribers time to bring their reporting policies up to the new standard.
By omitting specific types of information, such as peak balance and credit limits, some subscribers have allegedly tried to limit competitors’ ability to identify and capture new customers. In addition, the omissions compromise a consumer’s ability to secure appropriate offers of credit at lower interest rates, according to Experian.
The omissions were first noted about a year ago. They coincided with an increase in competition in which credit card issuers and subscribers to Experian’s database services decided to withhold information rather than open their databases to poaching, the spokesman claims.
To enforce the policy, quarterly audits will be conducted and action will be taken on a case-by-case basis against those clients that don’t comply with the new guidelines.
Experian polled banks, credit card issuers, retailers, finance companies and sub-prime lenders, among others, to determine their position on withholding data from the national credit reporting bureaus.
