Credit scores

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking more information about consumers' experience with free access to credit scores.

Equifax Inc.’s massive data breach is proving costly.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said 42% of car loans issued in the last year had a repayment term of six years or more, a huge leap over the 26% with such terms in 2009.

Additional data such as college major enhances the ability to provide credit to thin-file consumers. But could it create other issues?

Text analysis holds the promise of improving lenders’ ability to evaluate which borrowers will repay, but it also carries substantial risks.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority opened an investigation into the hack of credit reporting company Equifax Ltd. that saw personal data stolen from at least 143 million people.

Equifax Inc.’s political troubles expanded, as a top U.K. Parliament lawmaker demanded information from the company and its British regulator about the hack that exposed sensitive data for nearly 700,000 U.K. consumers.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray is using the Equifax breach to suggest the CFPB be given power to examine credit reporting agencies for potential cybersecurity lapses.

Equifax Inc. has seen no evidence that the cyberattackers who got access to sensitive information on 145 million U.S. consumers worked for the company, former Chief Executive Officer Richard Smith said.

Richard Smith came to Capitol Hill this week to speak about the massive breach at Equifax, but it was clear Tuesday that he will be defending the entire credit reporting industry.

Richard Smith came to Capitol Hill this week to speak about the massive breach at Equifax, but it was clear Tuesday that he will be defending the entire credit reporting industry.

The recent Equifax breach wasn't just a failing of one company's digital defenses — it exposed a fundamental weakness of how the entire financial services industry handles consumer identity. What's surprising is how deep the problem goes.

Equifax Inc.’s former chief executive officer said the credit-reporting company didn’t meet its responsibility to protect sensitive consumer information, confirming that the failure to fix a software vulnerability months ago led to the theft of more than 140 million Americans’ personal data.

Tim Welsh has spent his first two months on the job thinking about how to make U.S. Bank as central to consumers’ lives as Amazon, develop new personal financial management services, and expand into new cities.

Equifax Inc.’s board of directors has formed a special committee to review the sales of stock that executives made days after the company found out it was hacked.

Yes, the credit bureau goofed badly on data security, and it proved to be worse at crisis management. But other companies have been just as sloppy with cyber defenses, and business and government leaders should have tackled these problems long before now.

Equifax Inc. will debut a new service that will permanently give consumers the ability to lock and unlock their credit for free.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., plans to reintroduce legislation requiring the IRS to fast-track income verification, which proponents say could reduce the financial industry's dependence on credit bureaus.

It’s not just consumers who are worried about identity theft. For the millions of business owners who rely on their personal credit to finance operations, damage to credit scores could have dire consequences.

As Equifax sheds its top execs, more experts are casting attention on the business practice of charging consumers for monitoring their personal data at bureaus that otherwise give them little control over their financial identities.