EQUIFAX SUPPORTS PAYDAY LENDERS IN NEW BEST PRACTICE MEASURES

www.equifax.co.uk

London, November 2012 - Equifax, the leading consumer credit data and analytics expert, is supporting payday lenders as the industry’s Charter comes into force on 26th November 2012.  The Good Practice Charter aims to give more protection to consumers considering a payday loan and Equifax welcomes the focus on treating customers fairly.  The company is encouraging payday lenders to share their own data on customers’ payment behaviour and offering access to the latest affordability intelligence to help them comply with the new rules.

“Payday loans are clearly a positive solution for some consumers”, explained Craig Tebbutt, Business Development Manager, Equifax.  “We have been working with the sector to identify the best ways to fully assess the financial status of applicants so that they are not extending credit to those already heavily indebted.

"We have been encouraging data sharing by all payday lenders – enabling them to benefit from payment information from other consumer credit providers to improve decision processes.  In addition, to further enhance their ability to extend credit responsibly and comply with new regulation, we have developed an innovative suite of products to provide income data as a core component of risk assessment.”

The Equifax Financial Stability Exchange, designed to be the most comprehensive source of data on declared and verified income across the UK, can be used by payday lenders, who are members of Equifax Insight, who agree to share income data collected from their customers.   

“We know that timely access to income data is crucial to be able to verify the information provided on customers’ credit applications” continued Craig Tebbutt.  “Equifax Financial Stability will give payday lenders this intelligence in real-time.  With the ability to be delivered directly to their web-based decision tools, it will help make more accurate affordability assessments at new application and rollover stages, meeting the requirements of the Good Practice Charter as well as future regulatory challenges.”