Equifax acquires transaction analytics company AccountScore as it enhances credit-scoring capabilities

Credit bureau Equifax has acquired AccountScore, a 5-year-old U.K.-based company whose technology helps businesses obtain and understand bank transaction data. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Why should we care?
Equifax – like other credit bureaus – is working to tap alternative data to gain a more comprehensive picture of consumer credit behavior and reduce the number of “credit invisible” consumers. With AccountScore, Equifax will be able to enhance its capabilities beyond what current tools allow, and gain deeper insights into consumers’ ability to pay by taking into account information that isn’t currently considered in traditional credit scoring. Understanding account transaction data, which is within AccountScore’s toolset, is a core part of this. "This is a really exciting development for Equifax and the acquisition of AccountScore, our long-term partner in open banking, is a natural next step as we continue to expand our data and analytics capabilities," Patricio Remon, President of Europe at Equifax said in a statement. The AccountScore buy is part of a recent string of acquisitions for Equifax, including digital identity and fraud prevention software firm Kount, for $640M in January, and Ansonia Credit Data, a supplier of information on receivables from the trucking and transportation industry, for an undisclosed sum in July of last year.