Equifax gets Hacked and Wins?

The Equifax hack is a gross tragedy. The consumer is a big-time loser in this event. If Equifax doesn’t drown in lawsuits, they’ll surely come out of this stronger. And this is a growth catalyst to Experian and Transunion. When an industry causes consumers to lose and that industry benefits from it, that industry is ripe for disruption.

The credit bureau triad of Equifax, Experian, and Transunion have a stranglehold on us. The worst part is that we, as consumers, have no choice in the matter. I’ve never given my information to Equifax. I’ve never chosen to engage with them. Yet, they have this omniscient power over me. Their opinion of me plays a hugely significant role in the quality of my life because we live in a credit-based economy.

“Never let a crisis go to waste”, Rahm Emanuel

The hackers now have all the information they need to steal the identity of almost half of all Americans. And you know this information will be sold on the dark web for years to come.

So everybody is now talking about and thinking about how to protect themselves. We’re all at a much higher risk now. Everyone has to be thinking about adopting a credit monitoring service. From a marketing perspective, this is a dream come true – at least for Experian and Transunion and the smaller credit monitoring services.

Both my wife and I “may have been impacted”. Ugh!

I’ve never purchased a credit monitoring service. Now, I am seriously contemplating if I need to keep a much closer watch on this. I’ve moved from being a cold lead to a warm lead.

I’ve heard horror stories about identity theft. It can takes several years to clean the books. The credit bureaus don’t make it easy on the victims.

Equifax is offering their TrustedID Premier service free for 1-year. BUT, apparently, if you enroll, then you are waiving your right to sue or participate in any class-action lawsuit. Hmmm.

This is how Equifax can come out winners here. If many people take the easy route and sign up for the free year of service, they give up the right to partake in any class action suit that may arise; thereby, protecting Equifax on that front. Equifax also enrolls ALL of those new clients. And everyone knows, it’s much easier (and cheaper) to retain a client than to attract a new one.

Most credit monitoring systems seem to run about $30/mth. This is like an extra $360/yr tax to me. The hackers and their clients have all of our information for life. I now have to watch my credit for life.

This industry is broken. I have to imagine that someone way smarter than me can fix it and make a lot of money. Please do.

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