LendingPoint, which caters to borrowers with damaged credit records, believes that traditional credit scores are overly pessimistic about the likelihood that certain borrowers will repay.
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.
Normally tight-lipped about security moves, bankers tell how they are re-examining their systems for Equifax-like flaws and providing new cards, fresh accounts and reassuring advice for anxious customers.
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.
Senate Democrats' legislative bid to reform the credit reporting industry is tempered and balanced, according to analysts, which could help it gain traction in the GOP-controlled Congress.
The Alabama bank will add the nonprofit's financial-advice centers for underbanked consumers to 88 branches over the next four years, in addition to the 12 it already housed.
The bill would create a federal obligation for credit reporting agencies to offer free credit freezes and prevent them from selling consumer information while a freeze is in place.
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.
Lawmakers signaled Monday that Congress will likely have a swift and powerful response to revelations that the credit reporting company Equifax was hacked, exposing 143 million people to identity theft.
