Every United States citizen is entitled to a free credit report through Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Increased security protocols over the years have enabled citizens to apply for the reports online, and not merely by telephone or postal mail.
The Federal Trade Commission shares citizen rights and provides background on the importance of the information contained within each credit agency’s report.
A credit report includes information on where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued or arrested, or have filed for bankruptcy. Nationwide consumer reporting companies sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home.
While you may be familiar with AnnualCreditReport.com to receive free credit reports, I wonder how acquainted you are with the agencies’ social media initiatives.
Did you know, for instance, that Equifax and Experian offer webinars? Or that TransUnion is the only agency on Twitter and Equifax is the only one on Facebook? I didn’t know these facts, so I recorded a short video about the companies and provide my reasons why Equifax is on top. You may be surprised why I say that. Enjoy.
Please visit Frugal Dad and The Simple Dollar for two great blogs about credit and other financial information to help you lead a better life.
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Interesting post Ari. I find it odd and a little familiar, that whilst many of the agencies you mention in your post also serve us here in the UK, we have to buy our own credit report.
The masses of data these guys hold on us is growing, as we put more and more of ourselves online. I’m wondering if this will continue, or if there will be a watershed moment, where people get to claw back some of the privacy our parents enjoyed?
If you want online privacy, don’t use webmail and don’t use online media services. Don’t personalize who you are. Be anonymous. Or better yet, don’t go online at all. That’s how you return to the ’60s.
Social media history reporting services are going to get more and more common as time goes of. The credit report will just be half of the story.
What sort of social media reporting services do you refer?
Uh, oh. I better stay off webmail.
And returning to the 60s sounds good to me, the best parts of it, that is. The tie-dye dream sequences mostly.
.-= New from Jannie Funster: She At Three In Hat =-.
It’s odd why you replied where you did and not as a threaded reply above, but in any case I wasn’t alive in the ’60s so I can’t be too accurate about that.
I kind of like the idea that everyone else out there knows more about me than I myself know.
It will come in handy when I’m older and start forgetting things.
BTW, has anyone seen my keys??
.-= New from Glen: Interview Tips- Dealing with Profanity =-.
No. I saw your marbles.
I have no sound at the moment, but will save this for when i plug in some speakers…I’ll be back .;)
.-= New from Dennis Edell: Blog Move Is Imminent ! I’m Looking For Launch Partners… =-.
What a cool way to get a link back to your post without actually leaving a comment..
.-= New from Glen: Interview Tips- Dealing with Profanity =-.
Don’t abuse it, Glen, or funny man Ari may mark you as spam and you get no comment! Muahaha!
Its great that these companies are getting involved in social media to help consumers understand their rights. Far too many teens have seen bad financial practices in their lifetime from their parents, and evident in the media. Getting to them before they turn 18 can help this cycle of debt start to erode.
Another great resource is http://www.creditloan.com/, they offer some great advice on their blog that I’ve found useful.
Ari-interesting post to compare the 3 companies and what they have set up to facilitate consumer engagement. What I am surprised at however is you assertion that Experian is not using Twitter. I see at least 10 active Experian Twitter accounts right now. They are from assorted divisions and geographic areas of Experian. Not sure when you did the research, but you might want to update the video.
.-= New from Carla Bobka: Relationship: An HR Dept. that gets it. =-.
I have since been emailed by the media agency working on behalf of Experian and learned the same, so thank you Carla. My research stemmed directly from 1) http://twitter.com/experian was not their account; and 2) I looked on many pages of the Experian website and found zero Twitter links. Maybe I missed the page that they are listed, or maybe they’re not on the website. By contrast, Equifax’ Facebook page is linked on the homepage, and TransUnion’s Twitter feed is linked off their corporate communications page.
If Experian doesn’t make it obvious to find, what does it expect me to conclude?
I have used equifax in the past and found the service to be quite accectable. Most of the credit rating companies are fairly similar eitherway
Experian is on Facebook, their direct to consumer site Freecreditreport.com has a facebook page with over 100k members I believe.
Just a little clarification:
Experian is, as you may or not may know, divided into different divisions and business lines (and by countries). Currently they have, as far as I could count, 16 different twitter accounts for these, including Hitwise and Simmons. The also have 8 facebook pages, and countless groups.
A quick search also shows that TransUnion is present on Facebook and Equifax is present (though not that active) on Twitter.
I belive that before writing an article, people should conduct some (very easy) research first..
…and if you type “twitter” into Experian’s website search box, there are zero matches. If a company does not want to advertise its social media channels on its website, and if the top 10 Google results for “experian twitter” fail to return relevant matches, how much more research should I undertake, Peter? See my comment response to Carla for more background. Thanks.
TransUnion does not have an official Facebook presence on pages or groups; believe me I looked there too.
Thank you, I did enjoy your video
Ari, thanks for taking notice of Equifax’s efforts to further engage with consumers in the social space. More importantly, thank you for taking the time to blog about it and share with others.
Demitra Wilson
Equifax Personal Information Solutions
Thanks for stopping by, Demitra, and offering your thanks. I appreciate it.
It is really interesting to hear many sharing here. I think I myself can learn something that is really good to me.
.-= New from Mark Clayson : Get Your Child’s Twitter Background on MY Twitter Page =-.
What would you like to learn?
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