Experian
Experian is a business information company. Its principal line of business is consumer credit rating. It also holds other information which enables its clients to make business decisions, for example company records, insurance information, vehicle details and lifestyle data. Experian employs approximately 13,000 worldwide and as of 2005 had clients in 60 countries. It has headquarters in Nottingham in the UK and Costa Mesa in California. According to its website Experian's annual sales exceed $2.2 billion. Experian is owned by the British company GUS plc, although it was announced in March 2006 that Experian will be de-merged and listed on the London Stock Exchange within 12 months.
Experian North America
Experian North America's core business is providing consumer credit information to businesses so that they can in turn extend credit to consumers. It is a consumer credit reporting agency, considered one of the 'big three' agencies in the United States. Like its main competitors, TransUnion and Equifax, it has also begun marketing credit reports directly to consumers through its subsidiary Free Credit Report.com. Its databases contain credit information on 215 million consumers in the U.S.
Experian acquired its credit reporting business from TRW in 1995, and it now employs approximately 4500 people in North America. Its annual sales exceed $1.3 billion.
In addition to providing credit reports, it maintains a database of over 450 million vehicles containing title and registration data from North American governments and provides address information for more than 20 billion promotional mail pieces to more than 100 million households every year.
Experian handles its credit disputes in its "National Consumer Assistance Center" (NCAC) in Allen, Texas. It is frequently sued for violating the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and uses the large national law firm of Jones Day to defend these lawsuits. Its litigation and settlement decisions are made by its in-house attorneys based in California.
Experian provides regional data at National Score Index.com. The website shows average credit scores by region and zipcode as well as various other measures of household debt. The site does not indicate if this is a FICO based credit score, the new Vantage score or some other scoring model.
U.S. Credit Reporting
Experian's credit reporting business, like the other major credit reporting bureaus, is chiefly regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act signed into law on December 1, 2003, amended the FCRA to require the credit reporting companies to provide consumers with one free copy of their credit report per 12 month period.
Experian North America's recent acquisitions
- ClarityBlue - January 26, 2006
- PriceGrabber.com - December 14, 2005 (Goto Web Site)
- Prediction Analytics - October 13, 2005
- Baker Hill - August 31, 2005
- LowerMyBills Inc - May 4, 2005
- Simmons Research - October 14, 2004
- Americas Software Corporation - August 23, 2004
- AutoCount - May 25, 2004
- CheetahMail - March 3, 2004
- Marketswitch - February 11, 2004
- MetaReward - December 16, 2003
- PromiseMark - June 4, 2003