Transunion

About 175 million Americans now have access to a credit card, and the delinquency rate has gone up along with that, but an expert at TransUnion, which issued the data Tuesday, said the underlying metrics suggest there is no cause for alarm — yet.

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.

Use of alternative data in traditional credit scoring would help consumers access the banking system and lower their cost of credit.

TransUnion’s analysis of credit card applications and transactions finds fraudsters continue to steal more, but the rate of increase is slowing.

The long-running slide in mortgage payments 60 or more days past due will continue next year, and perhaps even longer as borrowers benefit from favorable economic conditions.

Fed researchers purported to show that consumers who use peer-to-peer loans have bad financial outcomes, but questions quickly emerged about the data they used.

The report’s authors presented findings that seemed to reflect issues with the peer-to-peer lending industry, but they actually relied on data from a much broader category of loans.

The Cleveland Fed's conclusion that U.S. consumers are typically worse off after getting online loans encountered strong pushback from industry groups and the company that provided the data.

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.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., called for bipartisan action against Equifax during a Senate floor speech on Tuesday, criticizing the credit bureau for waiting several weeks after a massive data breach to reveal it to the public.

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.

Efforts to persuade regulators to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to use alternative credit scores would stifle competition between the credit bureaus and FICO and do little to expand access to credit, according to industry analyst Chris Whalen.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., sent a letter to the top executives at TransUnion and Experian on Wednesday asking them what steps they are taking to safeguard consumer data in light of the Equifax breach.

TransUnion Chief Financial Officer Todd Cello said Tuesday the firm kept call centers open through the weekend to deal with the flood of calls from anxious consumers.

Despite rising home prices and a market where many older homeowners are loath to sell, home equity line of credit lending remains muted in all but one corner of the industry: credit unions.

As financial institutions look closer at the increasingly detailed consumer credit data available, they are learning consumers are more apt to pay off personal loans before mortgages, auto loans and credit cards.

As financial institutions look closer at the increasingly detailed consumer credit data available, they are learning consumers are more apt to pay off personal loans before mortgages, auto loans and credit cards.

The credit bureaus will change the way they include information about tax liens and civil judgments in credit reports. This could spur lenders' use of alternative credit data.

In the years ahead, banks will have to fend off better organized and increasingly advanced cybercrime rings. "We're seeing levels of sophistication that we haven't seen before," says Pat Phelan, senior vice president of identity at TransUnion.