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Consumers are gravitating back to plastic for spending splurges

Jul 8, 2021
The Federal Reserve said total consumer credit rose by 10% in May. And lenders issued roughly 6 million new credit cards in March, according to Equifax.
As the economy reopens, American consumers are falling back in love with plastic.
Oliver Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

DOJ says China was behind the Equifax data breach

Feb 10, 2020
Cybersecurity experts say there are lots of reasons China might have wanted that data, including to help identify American spies.
Attorney General William Barr announces charges Monday against four members of China's military accused of hacking into Equifax in 2017.
Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

Not much has changed since the 2017 Equifax breach

Jul 22, 2019
Cyber security experts warn that consumers are as vulnerable to hacking now as they were back then.
Former Equifax CEO Richard Smith prepares to testify before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in October 2017 in Washington, DC.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Is your data safer today than when the Equifax data breach was announced a year ago?

Sep 7, 2018
The breach affected 147 million people. Here's what's happened since.
Saxby Chambliss, a former Republican senator from Georgia, advises former Equifax CEO Richard Smith before he testifies to the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee on Capitol Hill on Oct. 3, 2017. Smith stepped down as CEO of Equifax after it was reported that hackers broke into the credit reporting agency and made off with the personal information of more than 147 million Americans.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Equifax breach happened a year ago. If you’re still frozen, you’re not alone.

Sep 6, 2018
Many consumers are keeping their credit frozen, just to be safe.
Leon Neal/Getty Images

The way credit scores are calculated is changing

Aug 15, 2018
The New York Fed says fewer kinds of missed payments are showing up on credit scores.
A cornerstone in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York building is seen on July 29, 2011 in New York City. 
Andrew Burton/Getty Images

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Treasury intervention could give more help to data breach victims

Aug 2, 2018
This week, the Treasury Department issued recommendations to protect consumers from big data breaches, like the ones we’ve seen at Equifax and Target. Among the Treasury Department’s recommendations: creating a national standard for handling the aftermath of data breaches. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 
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FICO’s grip on mortgage credit scores challenged

Mar 14, 2018
Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac consider one credit score when determining the creditworthiness of mortgage applicants: FICO.  Some members of Congress want to change that by adding a provision to a bank deregulation bill that would require Fannie and Freddie to also look at applicants’ VantageScore. The company that calculates VantageScores is […]

Shouldn’t a company have to tell you when it’s been hacked?

Mar 1, 2018
Here are three reasons why there should be breach-notification law.
In this photo illustration, a virtual map of the internet is projected onto a woman in London.
Leon Neal/Getty Images