Everyone Should be Credit Visible

There are many things we do in life where we don’t necessarily get the recognition or credit we deserve. For instance, being a parent is often a thankless job; so is being in food service or retail or hospitality. The list of things we do without receiving recognition could be huge. 

However, there’s one thing millions of Americans do without receiving appropriate recognition, and it can seriously affect their financial status. Millions of Americans are paying their bills on time and being financially responsible adults, yet they are unable to build a good credit score because traditional credit reports just don’t count the data these individuals have available. 

So, even though they may be excellent at sticking to their budget and paying their bills on time, one out of every five Americans lacks enough credit history to begin building credit. Not only is this simply frustrating, but it can put these individuals at a serious disadvantage when it comes time to make big purchases, such as a car or a house; or when emergencies come up for which they need to borrow money. 

By using the data that is actually available, such as utility payments, transaction histories, and phone bill payments, creditors can give an accurate credit score to these Americans. Nearly half of them would prove to be prime or near prime borrowers, and all of them deserve to be credit visible.


Equifax expands access to credit with alternative data