Company History
Equifax was first known as Retail Credit Company (RCC), a small firm specializing in business information and intelligence. It grew steadily from the first few years, and by 1920—21 years after its founding—it had offices throughout North America. Over the next few decades, RCC would become one of the largest credit bureaus in the country with millions of Americans in its records.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the company was riddled with controversy and criticism for gathering too much information on credit holders, and for allegedly rewarding its employees for collecting negative information on consumers. When it made a move to computerize its data for better availability, Congress held hearings and came up with the Fair US Credit Reporting Act. RCC changed its name to Equifax in 1975, allegedly to improve its image.
Equifax went on to gather commercial business information outside the US, particularly in Canada and the UK. From the 1990s to early 2000s, it offered a few short-lived services such as insurance credit information, digital certification, and payment services. Today, it focuses largely on business information and consumer credit reporting.