Slow Pay
Your Electric, Get Turned Down For Credit
Equifax and other credit
reporting agencies are hoping to profit from utility customers who
don't pay their bills on time. Until now, consumer utility
information has NOT been part of a credit report, due to state
regulations and consumer desires. But, banks would like access to
that data and credit bureaus are more than happy to earn revenue from
it.
The National Consumer
Telecommunications Data Exchange, formed by Equifax, is a group of
long distance telephone providers, including AT&T, MCI, and
Sprint. They currently give Equifax the names of their customers who
haven't paid, as well as the names of new customers applying for
service. Seven million names have been gathered by Equifax so far.
Similarly, Trans Union Corp. now markets a part of their database to
the gas, electric, telephone, and cable industries.
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