NOVEMBER 2004

Experian Launches Prospect Alert Service

Creditors on the prowl for consumers who may be in the market for new loans are the target for a new product from Experian. The credit bureau has launched its Prospect Triggers product which offers subscribers daily alerts on consumers shopping for new credit. The service will tell lenders within 24 hours whenever particular consumers submit applications or obtain new credit lines. The lender can either submit a list of names to the bureau to monitor for activity that signals credit shopping, or can request that a list of names be generated that meet specified parameters such as credit score ranges. Experian's senior vice president of credit services, Laura Desoto, told the American Banker that in a recent test of the product with five clients (including two mortgage lenders and a credit card issuer), the response to solicitations mailed to customers on the Prospect Triggers list was twice the normal rate.

Ms. DeSoto noted that under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumer reporting agencies may sell prescreened lists of consumers so long as list purchasers solicit those consumers with firm, preapproved offers of credit. Chris Larsen, CEO of E-Loan and a frequent advocate for tougher privacy rules, told the American Banker that "the concern is will this go beyond the threshold point of people feeling creeped out.... The performance of the product will largely depend on how the credit companies use it, particularly in terms of transparency. The product could easily lead to its own demise if it is not presented as transparently collected market intelligence."