- Equifax sent banks inaccurate credit scores for millions of consumers, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- The faulty scores were sent to lenders over a three-week period.
- Some consumers got higher interest rates or were denied loans due to the mistake, according to the outlet.
Equifax sent lenders incorrect credit scores for millions of consumers over a three-week period earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The faulty scores led to higher interest rates and rejected loan applications, the paper said, citing unnamed bank executives and other sources familiar with the situation.
The incorrect credit scores impacted people applying for mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards, and were sent to banks and non-bank lenders.
Equifax, for its part, told the outlet that it has fixed the issue and that only a small number of consumers received a different credit decision due to the mistake. The company did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.
"We have determined that there was no shift in the vast majority of scores during the three-week timeframe of the issue," Sid Singh, president of Equifax's US Information Solutions, told the outlet. "For those consumers that did experience a score shift, initial analysis indicates that only a small number of them may have received a different credit decision."
The error was first reported by National Mortgage Professional, a trade publication, in May.
One person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that several thousand consumers working with one large auto lender had their scores changed by 25 points or more. Some went from having a high credit score to no score at all, the person said. Banks and other lenders are asking Equifax how to proceed with people who were affected by the erroneous scores, sources said.
In 2017, Equifax said that a massive hack had exposed the personal data — including social security numbers and addresses — of more than 147 million Americans.
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