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MacroMonitor Market Trends Newsletter October 2017

If you are not a MacroMonitor sponsor but would like more information about this topic, please contact us.

Identity-Theft Protection

Identity (ID) theft occurs when a person uses another person's identifying information to commit crimes or fraud. Crimes such as running up another person's credit charges or filing tax returns using a stolen identity can ruin a person's credit history and FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) credit score. ID-theft victims face an arduous and lengthy recovery process. ID-theft insurance (protection) is widely available. However, the US Federal Trade Commission warns, "no service can protect you from having your personal information stolen." The Equifax breach between 13 May and 30 July 2017 has placed 143 million Americans at risk of ID theft. In 2016, almost one-half of households (47%) mostly agree that protecting their housheold against ID theft is a high priority.

Figure 1: Trend: Protecting My Household against Identity Theft Is a High Priority (Mostly Agree)

Consumers are not the primary customers of credit-reporting agencies Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion; lenders, insurance companies, and even employers are the customers. Credit-reporting agencies make money from data sales. Many consumers don't know they need to monitor the accuracy of their information until they are denied credit, their ID is stolen, or a data breach occurs. Credit-card and insurance providers, mortgage lenders, mobile-phone companies, auto dealers, and a growing list of various types of companies will purchase the credit histories and FICO scores of potential borrowers.

Abundant opportunity exists for many types of financial-services providers and credit-reporting agencies to incorporate ID monitoring into their product and service offers. For example, somewhat more than one-quarter (27%) of all households with a credit card report that ID theft protection is important enough to cause them to change credit cards. Of these households, only 7.2% currently own ID-theft insurance; only 3.5% have credit-monitoring insurance. The target is attractive. Households most concerned about protecting against ID theft are high-transaction households with good or excellent FICO scores. They have multiple financial relationships and are more likely than all households to own a wide variety of financial products and services—including other niche insurance products such as pet and travel and accident insurance.

If households that are likely to make a large purchase or to borrow in the coming year are important to your business, contact us to learn more. The MacroMonitor measures consumers' self-assessed FICO scores and creditworthiness. Legitimate credit providers may secure MacroMonitor data with credit-history information appended to records. (Personal identifying information is NOT provided.) Subscription to the MacroMonitor will provide you with the ability to monitor these and other important developments. Contact us today.

To learn more, contact us. From their CFD client-landing page, MacroMonitor subscribers may:

  • Access the October 2017 Segment Summary, Credit Cards and ID-Theft Protection.
  • View the October 2017 Quick Stats, Trend: Protecting My Household against Identity Theft Is a High Priority.
  • Schedule a full presentation about these households, including a customized and proprietary Q&A session. Contact us to schedule your presentation.