CFPB Fines Experian $3M Over Deceptive Marketing

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) charged the credit reporting agency Experian and its subsidiaries for “deceiving consumers” on how to use its credit scores and fined the company $3 million.

 

The CFPB stated that Experian engaged in deception between 2012 and 2014 by claiming that the credit scores it sold to consumers were the same scores lenders used in making credit decisions. In reality, the CFPB added, lenders did not use the Experian scores sold to consumers, and the scores received by consumers were often very different from the data used by lenders. The CFPB also accused Experian requiring consumers trying to access their free credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com to watch a series of advertisements before gaining their information, which is prohibited by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

 

“Experian deceived consumers over how the credit scores it marketed and sold were used by lenders,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Consumers deserve and should expect honest and accurate information about their credit scores, which are central to their financial lives.”