Beautiful, intimate, and all-inclusive. Different inspectors carried out the two types of investigations. In addition, the agency sells fraud prevention and credit monitoring services to their customers. Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX) 196.37. [59], On October 12, 2017, Equifax's website was reported to have been offering visitors malware via drive-by download. The company would also no longer keep tabs on customers' buying histories for the purpose of placing shoppers in a range of categories from "luxury buyers" to "coupon clippers." Today the facility operates as Morningstar Treatment Services, which serves children with intellectual disabilities. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. In June 1996 the company gained full ownership of Transax plc, the largest check guarantee company in the United Kingdom, while in March 1998 it acquired a leading U.K. risk and credit management firm, CCI Group Plc. [25][26] An Equifax manager, Sudhakar Reddy Bonthu, also pleaded guilty to insider trading and received a sentence of 8 months of home confinement. Reese, Krista. Until his retirement in 1931, he successfully steered the company as general manager, president and chairman. There was an error deleting this problem. The origins of these gardens date back to the 1920's and was once home to Cator Woolford himself - one of the leading founders of what we know today as Equifax. For those that were affected by the data breach, there were open suggestions to file claims against it. [42] Equifax and other credit monitoring agencies are required by law to provide US residents with one free credit file disclosure every 12 months; the Annualcreditreport.com website incorporates data from U.S. Equifax credit records. [64][65], Also on October 13, 2017, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service was reported to have suspended a $7.2 million contract with Equifax as a result of the attack. The headquarters of the agency is in Atlanta, Georgia, and it operates in 24 countries in Asia Pacific, Europe, and America. Equifax Similar Companies Jobs Equifax History FAQs How Old Is Equifax? On March 1, 2018, Equifax announced that 2.4 million additional U.S. customers were affected by the breach,[21] increasing the number of affected to 147.9 million Americans. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. In August 1997 Equifax completed the spinoff of the new publicly traded ChoicePoint Inc. During this same period, Equifax aggressively expanded overseas. Retail Credit set a pattern of aggressive development in the life insurance-related business that would later be applied when entering other fields. Copyright (c) 2022 Company-Histories.com. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Despite this setback, geographical expansion continued and New York premises were opened in 1907. [citation needed] Equifax sells businesses credit reports, analytics, demographic data, and software. The settlement includes up to $425 million to help people affected by the data breach. In 1979 the company took a big step in that direction, acquiring Elrick & Lavidge, a Chicago firm that performed marketing surveys, and merging it into the company's Marketing Information Services subsidiary. The company responded that such findings were never used in credit-rating evaluations but were limited to its insurance and consumer investigations businesses (which were later spun off). There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. The number grew to 258 over the next ten years. According to the reporting, despite receiving this warning from the security researcher, the affected portal was not closed until six months later in June, well after the March and MayJuly breaches had begun. These included that it collected "facts, statistics, inaccuracies and rumors about virtually every phase of a person's life; his marital troubles, jobs, school history, childhood, sex life, and political activities." [77] An Equifax "spokesperson told the Post-Dispatch that Equifax blocked the Heartland account information from appearing on Haman's credit report after a reporter's inquiry. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Cator Ringgold Woolford I found on Findagrave.com. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. Equifax is headed by Mark L. Feidler as the chairman of the board, Mark W. Begor, as the CEO, and John W. as the vice president as well as the CFC. By 1994 Equifax had acquired three more healthcare information firms, giving it a substantial presence in claims processing. In April 1988 the company established a marketing services division, whose first project was to develop a direct-mail program to sell home mortgages for a Midwestern insurance company. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. In the late 1920s Woolford befriended Franklin D. Roosevelt and was one of the founders of the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute. Where It All Started Towards this end, the company opened five new insurance-related offices in that year. This beautiful garden underwent major renovations in 1996 and 2017. Cooper Sanchez, an artist, gardener, and designer, has used his magical skills to convert the Cator Woodford Garden to a popular event venue in Atlanta. The Retail Credit Company continued to expand, going public in 1965 and (with other credit agencies) coming under Federal Trade Commission oversight in 1971. The increased competition resulted in a serious slump in Retail Credit's life insurance and credit reporting activities in 1921. Wanting more opportunity for her daughter, Anne Lane joined forces with her friend and civic leader Rebecca Frazer to create the Cerebral Palsy Centerin 1949 in the basement of St. Lukes Episcopal Church on Peachtree Street. In the ensuing years, the volume of requests for this new service increased dramatically. Two brothers, Cator and Guy Woolford, created the company. Once the home of Cator Woolford, a principal founder of what is now known as Equifax, the Italian-style gardens serve as a wedding and event venue infused with decades of classic beauty and Southern charm. Equifax collects and provides data through the National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange (NCTUE), an exchange of non-credit data including consumer payment history on telecommunications and utility accounts. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. Eventually the company's ability to retrieve information by computer from vast data banks would prove one of Retail Credit's greatest assets. Renamed REACH in 1989 and the Frazer Center in 1999, the vision to offer research-based education, vocational support, and therapeutic intervention to children and adults with developmental disabilities remains intact. [48] The event was considered "one of the biggest data breaches in history. There he supervised the compilation of a list of customers, with indications of their creditworthiness, for the local Retail Grocer's Association. The U.S. entry into World War II had a serious impact on Retail Credit's business. One of Atlanta's most meaningful hidden gems, the Cator Woolford Gardens provides a beautiful event space for life's special moments with all proceeds directly supporting the Frazer Center's mission of fostering inclusion and celebrating diversity in the Atlanta community. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. [57][58] For roughly half the US population, both of the latter pieces of data are known to be in possession of criminals, following Equifax's MayJuly 2017 security breach. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. In Canada, Equifax purchased Collective Credit Bureaus Ltd. and Creditel of Canada Limited, a credit reporting agency. In 1935 Cator Woolford donated a parcel of land he owned in Glynn County, adjacent to an old river plantation known as Elizafield, to the state of Georgia for use as a state park. The following day, a class-action lawsuit was filed by Jacksonville, Florida resident Nydia Jenkins against Equifax alleging she had received a "substantially pricier car loan" (resulting in an additional loan payment of $2,352 more per year) due to Equifax reporting her credit score 130 points off from what it should have been. The company has been in existence for over a decade, and it has stood the test of time to be among the largest consumer credit reporting agency of all time. [11], In 1970, after the company had computerized its records, which led to wider availability of the personal information it held, the U.S. Congress held hearings that led to the enactment of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Expanded into Insurance-Related Business in 1901. Cator Woolford, Co-Founder Guy Woolford, Co-Founder Equifax Board Members Mark Begor, Director Elane B. 2015 mmwoodruff (Atlas Obscura User) The Cator Woolford Gardens, a 39-acre park just a few miles outside of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, are one of the last remaining historic estates anywhere in . By taking these steps to mollify the public, Equifax hoped to ward off federal legislation that would mandate costly measures to increase fairness. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. Relying on his experience in Tennessee, Cator began by seeking out an alliance with the city's grocers. You may request to transfer up to 250,000 memorials managed by Find a Grave. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. Following these failings, Equifax has faced several lawsuits as well as fines over the years. Also proving helpful was the advent of credit bureau associations which had begun springing up as the exchange of information between fellow creditors became more common. The business soon became very successful. Please try again later. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. Woolford's former estate in Druid Hills is now the site of the Frazer Center and the Cator Woolford Gardens. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. Resend Activation Email. Equifax was founded in 1898 by two brothers, Cator and Guy Woolford. Another achievement is being named a Top Technology Provider, Top Workplace, and it was the winner of the InformationWeek Elite 100, among many others. [47], Between May and July 2017, yet-identified hackers were able to use a known exploit on one of Equifax' web servers that had yet to be updated to access the credit records of more than 140 million Americans as well as some British and Canadian citizens before the breach was detected and shut down. Merchants paid $25 a year to use the book and subsequent credit reports; grocers paid less. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. "[42], According to senator Michael Crapo, "The amount of data that the private industry and Government collect and store is very concerning. based on information from your browser. There he supervised the compilation of a list of customers, with indications of their creditworthiness, for the local Retail Grocer's Association." This episode of our daily podcast, The Outline World Dispatch was all about the Equifax breach. Today, Equifax has a workforce of about 14,000 employees throughout 19 countries, and reports revenue of $3.14 billion per year. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. [11] RCC also investigated insurance claims and made employment reports when people were seeking new jobs. As a trustee of the Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta, Woolford helped to acquire land that would become a buffer for the Fernbank Forest. In the following year, the company's capacity grew 40 percent, to cover all 50 states. Eventually the Frazers and Lanes acquired the former estate of Cator Woolford (founder of the Retail Credit Company, now Equifax), 39 acres located in Lake Claire/Druid Hills. As a new century dawned and the company entered its second century in business, Equifax was busy gaining a toehold in the burgeoning world of Internet commerce. Founded by brothers Cator and Guy Woolford, each got their start in the credit business as grocers, where they compiled lists of customers based on their creditworthiness. Not long after, the government accused the company of rating employees based on how much negative information they could find about consumers. Guy Woolford was also inclined to make lasting contributions to his community. The Woolford brothers left their own legacies apart from the phenomenally successful business they started. According to Bloomberg, Equifax enlisted Mandiant (owned by FireEye, Inc.) to assist in investigating the March attack. The following year the company also opened a branch office in Cincinnati. [76], In 2014, Equifax and Heartland Bank were sued by Kimberly Haman of the St. Louis area for reporting she was dead. (U.K.); Transax pty Ltd. (Australia); Transax S.N.C. Cator Woolford (1869-1944), Atlanta businessman, civic leader and philanthropist, founded the Retail Credit Company (the precursor to Equifax) in 1899. Having already moved into check verification and credit card processing in the early 1990s, Equifax diversified again in 1992 through the acquisition of Health Economics Corporation, which moved the company into the field of healthcare information. In mid-1992 Equifax agreed to provide consumers with a toll-free number and to begin investigating disputes within 30 days. New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Aug 19, 2013. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/equifax/, Reese, K. (2006). Credit books for Athens, Rome, Columbus, Macon, and Augusta were developed and marketed and a branch office was opened in Augusta. The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print. The credit bureau had opened 34 branch offices in the United States and three in Canada, as well. In addition, the company modified the processes for correcting mistakes in its files, making it easier for consumers to set the record straight. In a ten-year period, 104 smaller credit bureaus had been added to the Equifax network alone. In March 1930 Retail Credit established the Georgia Credit Exchange to provide services in cities across the state. Cator Woolford got his start in the credit bureau business as a grocer in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Cator actually got the idea from his grocery business, where they collected customers' names and evidence of creditworthiness. That year also saw Equifax introduce a record 25 new products. Equifax is the oldest and largest credit bureau in existence today. By the end of the decade, however, Retail Credit had opted to reenter the consumer credit reporting business. Consolidation in the credit bureau industry continued throughout the 1980s, as Equifax and its two largest competitors, TRW Inc. and the Trans Union Corporation, divided up the nation's smaller credit bureaus amongst themselves. Heres a look at how the Atlanta-based company grew into the credit reporting giant that it is today. This legislation gave consumers rights regarding information stored about them in corporate databanks. There is intrinsic vulnerability in collecting and storing personal financial information, and we need to have a meaningful discussion on how to protect and limit access to it. They started their credit investigations by going door-to-door among merchants, asking about their customers and noting the findings in ledgers. Retail Credit Company's information holdings and willingness to sell its information attracted criticism in the 1960s and 1970s. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. 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