Equifax 2007 Annual Report Download - page 18

Each of our segments is described more fully below.
USCIS
USCIS provides consumer information solutions to businesses in
the U.S. through four product lines, as follows:
Online Consumer Information Solutions (OCIS). OCIS products
are derived from large databases of credit information that we
maintain about individual consumers, including credit history,
current credit status and consumer address information. Our
customers utilize the credit report information we provide to make
decisions for a wide range of credit and business purposes, such
as whether, and on what terms, to approve auto loans or credit
card applications, whether to allow a consumer to open a new
utility or telephone account and similar business uses. We offer
other analytical and predictive services based on the information
in the consumer credit information databases to help further
mitigate risk of granting credit by verifying the identity of a
consumer seeking credit, predicting the risk of consumer bank-
ruptcy, or indicating the credit applicant’s risk potential for
account delinquency, for example. These risk management
services, as well as fraud detection and prevention services,
enable our customers to monitor default rates and proactively
manage their existing credit card or other consumer loan accounts.
OCIS customers access products through a full range of
electronic distribution mechanisms, including direct real-time
access, which facilitates instant decisions, e.g., for the immediate
granting of credit. We also create and host customized decisioning
technology for customers to obtain custom scores and analytical
results along with consumer credit information to enhance the
timeliness and quality of their decision-making process. These
enabling technology applications facilitate pre-approved offers
of credit and automate a variety of credit decisions through our
Interconnect and Decision Power online technology platforms
as well as automate loan underwriting processes with our
LoanCenter platform.
Mortgage Reporting Solutions (Mortgage Services). Our Mortgage
Services products, offered in the U.S., consist of specialized credit
reports that combine the reports of the three major consumer
credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion)
into one credit report provided in an online format, commonly
referred to as a tri-merge credit report. Mortgage lenders use these
tri-merge reports in making their mortgage underwriting decisions.
We also offer, through our settlement services joint venture with
ATM Corporation, certain mortgage settlement services, such as
appraisal, title and closing services, with our traditional mortgage
service offerings.
Credit Marketing Services (CMS). Our CMS products enable
customers to manage their customer marketing efforts for effi ciency
and effectiveness; identify and acquire new customers for credit
relationships; and realize additional revenue from existing
customers. These products utilize information derived from the
credit-based consumer data that also underlies our OCIS products,
provided in a batch output formatted to meet our customers needs.
Customers use this detailed information to make decisions about
which consumers to target for their credit-based marketing
campaigns. We also provide account review services which assist
our customers in managing their customers and prescreen services
that help our clients identify potential new customers.
Direct Marketing Services (DMS). Our DMS products enable
customers to target specifi cally defi ned market segments and
individuals based on individual consumer demographic charac-
teristics; design more effective and economically-efficient
marketing campaigns; facilitate improved direct mail response;
and increase customer loyalty. We offer this information in the
form of a list of consumers having specifi c attributes for ease of
use by our customers. These lists categorize consumers based on
meeting certain characteristics, interests or demographic attributes
(e.g., those having recently acquired a new home). The information
used in these products is acquired from third-party data compilers
or is gathered from consumers directly through voluntary data
submissions to us, an example of which is product registration
cards. This permission-based information is generally less
regulated and restricted than the credit information that we
maintain; see the “Information Security and Government
Regulation” section below. We also offer database management
services which facilitate our customers’ use of demographic and
credit data for marketing purposes.
TALX
TALX operates in the U.S. through two business units, as follows:
The Work Number® (TWN Services). TWN Services include
employment and income verifi cation services; W-2 management
services (which include initial distribution, reissue and correction
of W-2 forms); paperless pay services that enable employees to
electronically receive pay statement information as well as review
and change direct deposit account or W-4 information; integrated
electronic time capture and reporting services; paperless new-hire
services to bring new workers on board using electronic forms;
and I-9 management services designed to help clients electronically
comply with the immigration laws that require employers to
complete an I-9 form for each new hire.
TWN Services enable employers to direct third-party verifi ers
to our website or to a toll-free telephone number to verify the
employee’s employment status and income data. During 2007, we
launched a new TWN service, Find It, which expands employment
verifi cation services to locate data which is not included in our
existing TWN database.
We rely on payroll data from over 1,600 organizations,
including over half of the Fortune 500, to regularly update
the TWN database. The database contained over 165.9 million
employment records at December 31, 2007.
Tax and Talent Management Services. These services are aimed
at reducing the cost to the human resources function of businesses
by assisting with employment tax matters and planning and
16 EQUIFAX | 2007 ANNUAL REPORT