Experian has announced the launch of Emerging Credit Score, a new credit scoring tool developed with eBureau designed to assist lenders in evaluating the creditworthiness of unbanked and underbanked consumers.   » Continue Reading

Experian( has announced it has filed a lawsuit against LifeLock, Inc. "for allegedly placing fraud alerts illegally on credit files maintained by Experian."   » Continue Reading

Accertify and Experian have announced a strategic partnership to help e-commerce sites process orders quickly while reducing charge-backs and the total cost of fraud. Accertify will offer Experian's Credit Card Verification, an credit card authentication tool, to Accertify's customers. Credit Card Verification provides "robust consumer authentication and confirms the presence of a specific credit card account on a consumer's credit report."   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced that Experian and Microsoft have developed a proof of concept identity management service using Microsoft Windows CardSpace. The company said that "as ID fraud activity intensifies, this service streamlines identity authentication and provides a safer and simpler way to pay online."   » Continue Reading

Experian Consumer Direct has announced a collaboration with Discover Financial Services "to provide Credit ScoreTracker, a comprehensive credit score tracking product, for its more than 50 million cardmembers." The service will cost $7.99/month.   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced that it will offer "the option to freeze credit reports to consumers nationwide. Beginning Nov. 1, Experian will allow any consumer across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories to place a freeze on their credit report. A credit file freeze prevents new creditors from accessing the credit file without the consumer's consent."   » Continue Reading

Grameen American and Experian have announced the two companies have established "a unique data reporting relationship to support Grameen America's business" that will "enable Grameen America's borrowers to establish their credit files and will provide the foundation for building the borrowers' credit scores allowing access to financial services previously not available."   » Continue Reading

Visa and Experian announced an alliance to create unique risk management products for financial institutions. According to the companies, "the alliance intends to deliver a series of jointly developed risk management products designed to help financial institutions reduce credit and fraud risk losses."   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced the launch of BusinessCreditFacts.com, a new online resource designed to help small-business owners gain a greater understanding of the many topics dealing with business credit, such as the importance of business credit and tips for establishing and improving business credit scores.   » Continue Reading

Bloomberg reports that Experian has agreed to buy a majority stake in Brazil's Serasa, that country's largest credit bureau.

Experian has announced a new fraud detection solution that the company says "integrates data authentication with consumer challenge questions to create the most comprehensive approach for detecting fraud and managing the associated risk. The new product, Knowledge IQSM, is the first system to merge two essential elements in the fight against fraud."   » Continue Reading

According to the latest Experian study on the subprime lending market, subprime consumers -- those with an Experian credit score of 620 or lower -- are more likely to be 30 days or more late on their mortgage payments than on their unsecured bankcard obligations. As consumers have historically paid mortgage debt over bankcard debt, this finding represents a significant departure from conventional behavior.   » Continue Reading

Experian Consumer Direct reports that the average credit score for U.S. consumers with no late auto payments is nearly 100 points higher than for those who have at least one late payment.   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced an alliance with VoiceVerified to "jointly market and sell authentication solutions that combine data-based and voice biometric authentication technologies to verify an individual's identity. Multifactor authentication will result in reduced fraud and associated operational losses for organizations, address Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council guidance requirements and provide a more secure operating environment for consumers."   » Continue Reading

Experian and First Manhattan Consulting Group have announced the launch of Financial Personalities, a segmentation and scoring system for specific types of financial services, including credit card, home equity and mortgage. According to the companies, "Financial Personalities provides marketers of lending products with a unique set of tools to improve customer and prospect targeting, better align products and offers and tailor messaging to appeal to prospects.   » Continue Reading

Experian Consumer Direct has announced the results of a recent National Score Index study showing a 16.9 percent decline from 2001 to 2006 in the rate at which consumers are opening new credit accounts and a 12.6 percent rate at which late payments of 90 days or more are increasing. The national average credit score is 675 -- 7 points lower from 2001 when it was 682.   » Continue Reading

According to the latest Experian-Gallup Personal Credit Index survey, one in five (19 percent) consumers report that they have had their financial information stolen including a bank or credit card number. Approximately one in seven (14 percent) say they have had their personal information stolen, such as a birth certificate, driver's license or Social Security number. Combined, 26 percent of Americans report being the victim of one type of theft, while 7 percent report experiencing both.   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced the addition of more than 30 new data elements to its National Business Database, providing business-to-business marketers with additional information and specialty data they can use to target new prospects and gain valuable intelligence on existing customers.   » Continue Reading

Fair Isaac Corporation has announced that it filed a lawsuit yesterday in Federal Court in Minneapolis "alleging that the three national credit reporting agencies and a jointly owned entity have violated antitrust laws and engaged in unfair competitive practices." Fair Isaac alleges that "Equifax Inc., Experian Information Solutions Inc., TransUnion LLC and VantageScore Solutions, LLC, through their launch and marketing of the VantageScore credit scoring model, are jointly engaging in unfair and anti-competitive practices that harm the FICO credit score brand and goodwill that Fair Isaac has spent 50 years creating."   » Continue Reading

Bloomberg reports on Experian's spin-off from GUS plc as the company has completed selling initial shares in London as a newly independent, publicly-traded company.

Experian-Scorex has announced its Global Bureau Scoring Solutions suite that enables lenders and credit bureaus to enrich their data and turn it into more powerful customer intelligence. The suite is comprised of four distinct components: Smart Start Bureau Scores, Global Bureau Gateway, Global Portfolio Quality Assessment and Value-Added Bureau Solutions.   » Continue Reading

The London Sunday Times profiles Experian and its CEO Don Robert. "Robert is bringing Experian, the huge American credit-checking and business-services group that he heads, to England and a flotation next month on the London Stock Exchange."

Experian Consumer Direct has announced the results of a nationwide study showing the differences between consumers with and without mortgages and consumers with and without second mortgages (including home-equity loans or lines of credit). National and statewide results for the study can be found on Experian's National Score Index Web site at http://www.NationalScoreIndex.com.   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced the results of a new study that takes a deeper look at the makeup of small-business owners and identifies key characteristics between owners of incorporated and unincorporated microbusinesses.   » Continue Reading

Damon Darlin reports for the New York Times on VantageScore, the recently introduced alternative to the long-standing FICO scores produced by Fair Isaac. According to the three credit bureaus that created VantageScore - Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, it improves risk prediction of future credit performance by weighing more factors. VantageScore also reportedly is more accurate at assessing consumers with "thin files" - having a short credit history.

Experian has announced the results of a new study that examines the correlation between a small-business owner's personal credit score and his or her commercial credit score.   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced the acquisition of UK-based Eiger Systems, a provider of bank account validation and payment processing software.   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced that VantageScore from Experian is now available to consumers.   » Continue Reading

Douglas Blew writes to the Charlotte Observer with advice on how to stop credit card marketing solicitations - by removing your name and address from the marketing lists provided by the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. By calling (888) 5 OPT OUT (888-567-8688) you can request removal. More information on opting-out is also available on the Experian web site.

Experian Consumer Direct has announced the results of a nationwide study on consumer debt that shows consumers have increased their debt by more than 12 percent over the past two years. Minimum monthly payment obligations also increased by 10 percent during the same time period.   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced the next generation of its Knowledge-Based Authentication services platform that offers a broader array of authentication questions than had previously been available. The new questions are not related to credit topics and are not under the auspices of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.   » Continue Reading

Advantage Credit has announced some results from a recent teleconference it hosted to explore the new VantageScore, a new consumer credit score jointly developed and introduced recently by Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.   » Continue Reading

Michelle Singletary writes for the Washington Post about VantageScore, the new credit scoring system last week announced by the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced the launch of Credit Migration Solutions providing credit grantors a new solution that analyzes the credit behavior of customers and prospects to make acquisition, portfolio management and collections decisions.   » Continue Reading

Eileen Alt Powell reports for the AP with more details about VantageScore, the new credit scoring system announced yesterday by the three major credit bureaus Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.   » Continue Reading

The nation's three consumer credit reporting companies -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion -- have jointly announced the introduction of a new credit score called VantageScore they say will simplify and enhance the credit process for both consumers and credit grantors.   » Continue Reading

Experian Consumer Direct has announced that Triple Alert, the only three-bureau credit monitoring product at the low price of $4.95 per month, is now available at http://www.TripleAlert.com.   » Continue Reading

Mark Kleinman reports for The Sunday Times (UK) about US private equity firms Hellman & Friedman and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts working to put together an offer to acquire Experian from parent GUS (Great Universal Stores).   » Continue Reading

Experian Consumer Direct has announced the results of a nationwide study on the differences between consumers in high and low credit score ranges.   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced the launch of Collection Triggers, a collections solution that monitors a company's portfolio of collections accounts and identifies new information indicating the possibility of recovering the debt.   » Continue Reading

Rupert Steiner reports for The Business Online (UK) on Great Universal Stores (GUS), parent company of Experian, and its recently announced acquisition of PriceGrabber.com.   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced the acquisition of PriceGrabber.com, an online comparison shopping services. PriceGrabber.com will become part of Experian Interactive, a group of Internet marketing businesses that includes LowerMyBills.com, MetaReward, Affiliate Fuel, ClassesUSA.com and Experian Consumer Direct.   » Continue Reading

Frederick Stakelbeck writes for Asia Times on the opportunity for a national credit bureau in China.   » Continue Reading

Experian and the Gallup Organization have announced the latest Experian-Gallup Personal Credit Index finding that 18 percent of consumers report being victims of identity theft. Younger adults areat greatest risk, with 25 percent of consumers under age 30 reporting having their financial information stolen.   » Continue Reading