Yahoo Finance Spike in UK customers using Experian to check credit rating levels out
The spike in people choosing Experian over Equifax to access their free credit score levelled off in the final three months of 2017, amid signs hostility over its rival's data breach may have subsided.
In the three months to Dec 31, Experian said 3.3m people were signed up to its free credit checking service in the UK, just over 300,000 more than at September 30. In the prior period, between June and September, almost 800,000 people joined its database.
Experian previously noted that "a spike in enrolments in the immediate aftermath of the Equifax data breach" had taken place in the US, with today's figures showing a similar spike had taken place in the UK over the summer.
The security breach, news of which emerged in early September, saw close to 700,000 UK-based customers affected, although the attack was much more wide-spread in the US, where around 14.5m consumers had their data compromised.
Despite this, research compiled by Morning Consult Brand Intelligence and released this week found that Equifax's public favourability rating was higher than that of the financial services industry as a whole, at 35pc compared to 29pc.
Although it no longer appeared to be benefitting from a push back against Equifax in the three months to Dec 31, Experian posted organic revenue growth of 5pc in the period. It said for the year as a whole it continued to expect organic revenue growth of mid-single digits.
However, unlike other companies with US operations, Experian said it was not anticipating any positive or negative effect from Donald Trump's tax reforms. It said the reduction in the federal tax rate from 35pc to 21pc was likely to be offset by the reduction in availability of tax deductions for interest and other group costs.
