One of these industries is the credit reporting industry, where the three major credit agencies – Equifax, Experian and Trans Union – make a great deal of money by selling consumers their own data. Credit agencies routinely collect consumer credit data from banks and credit companies that use to calculate a “credit score,” which they sell back to consumers anytime they need to prove that they are credit worthy. Equifax, Experian and Trans Union Key MetricsCompany Revenues Operating Margins Operating Cash Flow Equifax (EFX) $3.29B 28.32% $826.4M Experian (EXPGY) $4.34B 25.14 $1.36B Trans Union (TRU) $1.8B 22.28 $414.6MSource: Yahoo.Finance.com 9/30/17Wall Street has taken notice, boosting the shares of all three companies higher. Trans Union shares, for instance, are up 406.5 percent over the last 5 years, while Equifax is up 115.10 percent, even after the recent decline. Besides of selling consumers their own data, credit agencies supposed to help consumers protect themselves from data abuses like identity theft.

Source: Forbes October 04, 2017 17:26 UTC