More than 160 million Americans would be able to learn their all-important credit scores at no charge -- and with no strings attached -- under a settlement by credit reporting giant TransUnion Corp. of a long-running class-action lawsuit.
The agreement would entitle consumers to at least six months of a TransUnion monitoring service, giving them access to the latest information in their credit reports as well as their current scores at any time.
The service also would notify consumers by e-mail of significant changes to their files, including reports of late payments or accounts opened in their names. The latter information could help thwart attempted identity theft.
TransUnion normally sells the service for $59.75 or more, giving the settlement a value that could top $10 billion.
Extracting free services from an industry that many Americans love to hate could give them a measure of satisfaction. On a more practical level, the information could be especially useful for people who are borrowing more because of difficulties caused by the slowing economy or who simply want to find loans or cards with better terms.
Ken McEldowney, executive director of Consumer Action, a national advocacy group based in San Francisco, called the settlement mind-boggling.
"It's everything we tell consumers that they need to find out if they have problems with their credit," he said. "They are getting information on how to improve it and information about whether they are creditworthy. This is astonishing."
A credit report supplied by TransUnion or its rivals, Equifax Inc. and Experian, contains information about your current and recent home and auto loans, credit cards and other credit accounts, including how much is borrowed, your credit limits and whether payments are made on time.
A credit score, which is calculated using a formula based on that data, is a three-digit number that can determine what interest rate you pay on a loan or credit card, or whether you even are approved for one.
Federal law entitles everyone to a free copy of his or her credit report once a year from each of the three major credit-reporting companies, but it doesn't provide access to credit scores.
The case being settled stems from a business operated by TransUnion that sliced and diced data from the Chicago-based company's massive credit files to generate customized lists of consumers. Retailers, lenders and other businesses would buy the lists to use in their marketing.
