Experian has announced that it wants access to view people’s bank accounts. It 
wants to see who you’re making debit deposits to, who you’re paying, and when. It wants to look at items that do not report to the credit bureaus.
For instance, Experian wants to look at your cell phone payment, your utility bill, your Xfinity bill, and possibly your rent payment.
They’re calling this new program “Experian Boost.”
Their excuse for gaining this extra access into your personal life is that they claim it will improve credit scores for people who have thin credit, meaning not much credit.
But here’s the problem…
The Experian Boost program uses the FICO Score 8 model, which mortgage lenders consider outdated and don’t even use anymore. Mortgage companies are using FICO10. So this spy action won’t help you qualify to buy a home.
The good news…
is that you must give Experian permission in order for them to access your bank accounts. No permission from you = no spying by Experian.
This new “pioneer program” (as Experian likes to brag) is scheduled to come out in 2019.
Reblogged this on Oregon Real Estate Round Table.
If you give permission, does it start at that time or are they able to go back years? Are they able to look at every statement from the beginning of your relationship with the bank?
Great question, Denise. I called two different credit agencies today to get more info, but wasn’t able to learn anything additional. I will keep digging to get answers.
There is no need for them to have access to your checking account, it’s an intrusion. If they really wanted to make sure you paid your bills they can ask for your account info from cell, or electric or cable companies. Plus this is kind of stupid anyway because if you don’t pay these they can show up on your credit report negatively, so them not showing up as a problem means you do pay.
Thank you for your well-thought out comment.
They want to track any funds that you might be receiving that are not reported to the IRS by you. That way they can then legislate for further tracking, as well as monitor your accounts for buying trends to sell that info to tech companies for a profit.
Very interesting. Thank you for weighing in, Asriel.