Transunion

Ahead of testimony by the CEOs of the major bureaus, House Financial Services Committee leaders proposed sweeping changes for the credit reporting industry and credit-score protections for furloughed government workers.

Personal loan balances hit an all-time high in 2018, while fintech lenders widened their market share lead over banks and credit unions, according to new data from TransUnion.

Personal loan balances hit an all-time high in 2018, while fintech lenders widened their market share lead over banks and credit unions, according to new data from TransUnion.

As another possible shutdown looms, concerns about furloughed workers’ credit histories have shifted the reform discussion away from data security.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has proposed barring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from using credit scores developed by VantageScore over concern about conflicts of interest with the joint venture of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Credit Karma has agreed to buy a credit reporting company that TransUnion initially sought to develop as the fintech's British equivalent.

Allowing alternative data such as rent and utility payments has bipartisan support, but some say it could create more problems than it solves.

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

A chunk of alternative loan customers are perfectly creditworthy, a report from the credit bureau shows.

Traditional credit scoring is under siege from alternative underwriting, and TransUnion is joining the future by investing in other emerging trends such as mobile device security and health care payments.

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.