MASSILLON, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The founder and CEO of the nation’s first issuing consumer reporting agency for the telecommunications industry comments on the article concerning “useless” credit scores.
“Consumer Reports should have contacted its readers the same way it does with surveys it sends to millions of consumers about their experiences with other products and services,” said David Howe, president of SubscriberWise. “I’m curious to know if millions of other Consumer Reports subscribers find the credit reports and credit scores they’ve purchased (and often subscribe to on a monthly basis) ‘useless’. Perhaps these scores are expensive to purchase but, in my opinion, they’re far from useless.
I’ve been a continuous subscriber to Consumer Reports magazine with an uninterrupted home subscription for approximately 15 years,” continued Howe. “I’ve also participated in several of its surveys regarding automobiles I’ve owned and other products I was asked to rate. I received no communication from the non-profit organization regarding my experience buying consumer credit scores. I disagree strongly with the advice presented in this article. Moreover, I found the article offensive because I’ve been purchasing credit scores for many years and find the information that’s included both educational and beneficial. I consider myself a highly informed, educated, and thoughtful consumer. And I consider the same of my colleagues and friends, many of whom have also purchased their credit scores and have expressed benefit from the information they’ve obtained. As a long time subscriber of Consumer Reports and occasional contributor to Consumers Union, I’d prefer if the organization continue to present independent and unbiased information regarding the products and services it rates and tests, but avoid making buying decisions for otherwise highly informed consumers without having first conducted appropriate survey research from individuals who may have very different experiences and opinions.”
“As the owner of an issuing consumer reporting agency (www.subscriberwise.com) and an employee of a cable operator (www.mctvohio.com), I have the ability to obtain my credit report and score anytime,” stated Howe. “In other words, I have immediate and unlimited access to the actual score lenders use. Since 2008, I’ve processed my information via SubscriberWise dozens of times and have obtained a lender-based FICO score on each occasion. I have also purchased from FICO (myfico.com) the consumer FICO score and credit report more than 27 times. I do this to compare scores and I’ve gained tremendous knowledge as a result,” Howe emphasized. “I’ve purchased a dozen or so “educational” scores from Experian and also have credit monitoring service from Experian. I’ve purchased the Vantage score at least three times. I’ve purchased scores and credit monitoring from TransUnion. Over the years, I’ve invested approximately $800.00 for this information for both personal and professional benefit. And yes, I do think access to consumer credit scores and reports are too expensive and lower priced options should exist for American consumers.
In the past 5 years, I’ve obtained two mortgages and financed two automobiles. Despite variations in the scores from the different models, on no occasion during the past half-decade and with dozens of lender vs. consumer scores, have I ever obtained a different credit-category for my score range when comparing the lender vs. consumer models. And while I acknowledge that some consumers will have different credit categories because of variations in models, this fact alone does not make buying (and tracking) credit scores useless.”
“It seems ironic that Consumer Reports would imply credit scores for purchase are “useless”. After all, the non-profit is asking individuals like me to pay annually for the advice and information it prints about products and services in its monthly magazine. And I’ll continue to subscribe to the magazine, because I genuinely find value in it…just as I do with the credit products that I’ll continue to purchase. However, I’ve also found that consumer ratings from Amazon.com regarding various products I’ve purchased are also incredibly reliable and dependable. I wonder if other organizations will encourage consumers not to buy “useless” consumer ratings because these ratings may differ from objective and independent reviews found elsewhere and free of charge.”
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Consumers Union have the best interest of America’s consumers,” concluded Howe. “I understand that. And I agree entirely that every consumer has a right to know what information is contained in a consumer report and how that information may impact the cost of credit. Consumers have a right to know that models are objective, empirically derived, and limited only to information contained in a federally complaint consumer report. But I strongly disagree with this particular publication and its advice. Moreover, I think there are other concerns that impact more Americans regarding their financial health and safety.
As an individual who has worked directly with consumer credit for many years, I have first-hand experience with credit scores, business rules and decision management technology, synthetic and child identity theft, Red Flags, predatory and other consumer credit fraud (http://www.subscriberwise.com/news.html). I invite Consumers Union and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to visit our corporate office anytime,” Howe said. “I’ll demonstrate how our technology, including lender-based credit scores and rules processing systems operate equitability for both consumers and operators. I’ll also offer advice and suggest solutions that would more profoundly benefit the nation’s credit consuming population at the same time improve protections for children who are too often innocent victims of identity theft.”
About SubscriberWise
SubscriberWise® launched as the first issuing consumer reporting agency exclusively for the cable industry in 2006. The company filed extensive documentation and end-user agreements to access TransUnion’s consumer database. TransUnion approved the request as part of a pilot project in 2007. In 2009, SubscriberWise and TransUnion announced a joint marketing agreement for the benefit of America’s independent cable operators (http://www.subscriberwise.com/TransUnionJointMarketing.pdf). SubscriberWise also became the first American company to integrate and launch the FICO 8 Score for every U.S. member operator. Today SubscriberWise is a risk management preferred-solutions provider for the National Cable Television Cooperative. The NCTC helps nearly 1000 members nationwide. SubscriberWise was founded by David Howe who is a consultant and credit manager for MCTV (www.mctvohio.com), where he has remained happily employed for nearly two decades. SubscriberWise contributions to the telecom industry are in excess of twenty-five million dollars annually.
SubscriberWise is a U.S.A. federally registered trademark.
