Equifax vs Lifelock
Equifax is basically a consumer credit reporting agency in the US. It is part of the three American Credit Reporting Agency giants – the other two are TransUnion and Experian. Equifax operates in other countries as well. As one of the leading providers of personal credit information, it ensures that privacy laws are not violated. Their periodic reports of suspicious activities are very valuable information to many industries and businesses.
Many would think that Equifax is a government-owned company that performs governmental functions, but actually, it is a private company that merely works closely with different governments in various countries. Equifax is already an old company, having being founded in 1899 (formerly known as the Retail Credit Company), which was earlier than the other two (Experian and TransUnion). Worldwide, Equifax collects and maintains information about more than 400 million credit holders. The company has 1.5 billion US dollars in annual revenue, and it has more than 7,000 employees, spread in more than a dozen countries.
Equifax collects and compiles information on individuals from different sources, such as creditors, and puts all that data into a comprehensive report. An Equifax FICO score is also determined. FICO, which stands for Fair, Isaac and Company, is the body that developed a formula for credit report scoring. There are many formulas in existence used by other companies, but Equifax FICO score has become a reputable standard.
On the other hand, Lifelock is a personal fraud protection company, which was only founded recently, in 2005. Clients of the company will be protected from identity theft and other fraudulent acts. Its Identity Alert System will identify deceitful applications. With this system, you will worry less about the threat of someone stealing your identity, and potentially ruining your credit. Their services include informing customers, by putting fraud alerts at credit bureaus. They will also claim damages in the incident of identity theft.
Lifelock seems to have the capabilities to eliminate junk mail and pre-approved credit card offers. It has a proactive stance against the common reactive methods that many companies use to gain profits. Clients are notified if there are any suspicious activities involving their social security number, credit, and bank accounts. In effect, however, an attempt to secure credit may be difficult, but Lifelock expresses that it is always available to communicate, and settle things, with any creditor.
Summary:
1. Equifax is an ancient company, as it was founded in 1899, while Lifelock was just recently founded in 2005.
2. Equifax normally caters to the needs of insurers, and other financial companies, by providing a comprehensive credit report and score of their applicants, while Lifelock caters to individuals by protecting them from identity theft and identity fraud.
3. Lifelock prevents unwanted individuals from tarnishing your credit, by constant monitoring, while Equifax reports your credit data so that companies can treat you accordingly.