Equifax Most Complained About Financial Company In 2017

Equifax may be working to rebuild its reputation after a massive data breach exposed the information of millions of its customers, but the public still has a lot to say about the company. They’re turned to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to complain in record numbers last year.

According to a research from LendEDU, Equifax accrued more consumer complaints at the CFPB than any other financial company in 2017. Through an analysis of the complaint database, LendEDU discovered that the CFPB received 235,094 complaints about financial services companies last year, with 30,576 having to do with Equifax alone. Excluding the state of North Dakota, complaints about Equifax ranked the highest among financial services companies in every state and Washington, D.C.

“It should not come as much of a surprise that Equifax was the most complained about financial institution in 2017. On Sept. 7, Equifax issued a press release that revealed it was a victim of a major cybersecurity hack that may have impacted at least 143 million consumers. In one LendEDU poll, 54 percent of Americans believed Equifax should have lost its ability to act as a credit bureau following the major hack,” wrote LendEDU in the report analyzing the data. “It is quite … safe to say that there are not many companies more excited than Equifax about the calendar turning to 2018.”

In early September, Equifax announced it was the victim of a data breach that impacted around 145.5 million U.S. consumers and compromised the credit card numbers of approximately 209,000 people. In a press release detailing the security breach at the time, the company said hackers exploited a vulnerability in a U.S. website application to gain access to certain files. Based on the company’s investigation, the unauthorized access occurred from mid-May through July 2017, with no evidence of unlawful activity on Equifax’s consumer or commercial credit reporting databases. Equifax said the impacted information included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, drivers’ license numbers.