Equifax Follows TransUnion In Offering Nationwide Credit Freeze for Consumers
Following upon credit bureau TransUnion’s announement that it will allow consumers to “freeze” their credit in the case of identity theft, Equifax said it will make that same service available in the eleven states that do not have credit-freeze laws:
The company was responding to an announcement by TransUnion a day earlier that it will allow consumers to bar anyone from accessing its credit reports on them without their permission beginning Oct. 15. Freezes would be free of charge to ID theft victims, TransUnion said.
For everyone else, however, the cost will be $10 to initiate the credit freeze, and an additional $10 to lift it.
Experian, based in Costa Mesa, Calif., seemingly will do the same.
“Experian has been studying this matter for some time and is nearing the end of that process,” spokesman Donald A. Girard wrote in an e-mail Friday. “We expect to make an announcement on our decision in the near term.”
Under TransUnion’s plan, consumers — except for ID theft victims — will pay a $10 fee each time they want to freeze their credit reports and another $10 whenever they want to unfreeze their files. TransUnion said customers will be able to unfreeze their accounts with a telephone and a PIN.
Consumer activists welcomed the measure. But they said unless Experian and Equifax did the same, people would remain vulnerable to ID theft. They also said the $10 fee is too high.
“For a security freeze to be effective to stop new account identity theft, it must be placed at each of the three major credit reporting agencies,” Gail Hillebrand, a senior attorney at Consumers Union, said in a statement. “Otherwise, it would be like locking the front door to your house, while leaving your window and back door open.”
Consumers Union, AARP, Consumer Action, the Consumer Federation of America, and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse sent letters to Equifax and Experian, asking them to match or surpass TransUnion’s plan.
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