Data Breach US Bank, Tracking Gun Purchases, ESG Disclosure Tool, Protect Your Data, Junk Data

This week we begin with an article about how a US Bank had sensitive data about its customers credit card information leaked for 11,000+ customers through a vendor. Following this we have a piece on how gun control facilitators are now resorting to credit card data to identify suspicious gun purchases. Following this we have a piece on how alternative credit managers have launched a integrated ESG disclosure tool making it easier for investors to take critical decisions. Next we highlight how the digital lending industry requires more personal data from a customer to limit defaults. Finally we cover how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued guidance to consumer reporting companies about their obligation to screen for and eliminate obviously false “junk data” from consumers’ credit reports.

U.S. Bank reveals data breach involving some credit card accounts

U.S. Bank is notifying some of its customers about personal information that was accidentally shared by one of the bank’s third-party vendors, according to filings posted to the California Attorney General’s website. About 11,000 customers were affected after the vendor, a collections recovery group, accidentally shared the info, a U.S. Bank spokesperson told NBC News. The incident occurred Sept. 27 and involved the sharing of information, including names, Social Security numbers, closed account numbers and outstanding balances. Customers with closed U.S. Bank credit card accounts were affected, the letter states.

The financial industry may use credit card data to identify suspicious gun purchases

Gun control advocates are hoping a new tool will help identify suspicious gun sales. It involves a piece of financial plumbing, let’s call it, used by credit card companies and banks. But will the financial industry embrace it?

Now, credit card companies and banks don’t collect product-level data on what specific items people are buying with their cards. But instead share category codes and reference information.

Alternative credit managers launch ESG integrated disclosure tool

A group of leading alternative asset managers and industry bodies in the private and broadly syndicated credit markets have today announced the launch of the ESG Integrated Disclosure Project (ESG IDP) template.

The ESG IDP template will enhance transparency and consistency for both private companies and credit investors by providing a standard format for ESG-related disclosures.
The template offers private companies a baseline from which to develop their ESG reporting capacity.
For investors, the ESG IDP template enhances their ability to identify industry-specific ESG risks in their credit portfolios and compare meaningful data across alternative asset managers more consistently.

Digital Lending: Know how your data is protected

To take a loan, a customer needs to reveal much information regarding himself/herself, so that the lender may assess the risk properly and also to ensure that the customer can’t get away without repaying the loan.

While getting a loan is relatively easy from a digital lender, a customer needs to reveal more data for it. So, in case you have revealed all the required information about yourself to get a digital loan, how to ensure that the data is well protected to ensure that your privacy is not jeopardised?

CFPB Takes Action to Address Junk Data in Credit Reports

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued guidance to consumer reporting companies about their obligation to screen for and eliminate obviously false “junk data” from consumers’ credit reports. Companies need to take steps to reliably detect and remove inconsistent or impossible information from consumers’ credit profiles. For example, many children in foster care have large amounts of information on their credit reports that is clearly junk data because as minors they are prohibited from entering into most contracts for credit.