By Andrew Ackerman, and AnnaMaria Andriotis
Equifax Inc. /zigman2/quotes/208789454/composite EFX +0.41% provided inaccurate credit scores on millions of U.S. consumers seeking loans during a three-week period earlier this year, according to bank executives and others familiar with the errors.
Equifax sent the erroneous scores on people applying for auto loans, mortgages and credit cards to banks and nonbank lenders big and small—including JPMorgan Chase & Co. /zigman2/quotes/205971034/composite JPM -0.23% , Wells Fargo & Co. /zigman2/quotes/203790192/composite WFC +0.23% and Ally Financial Inc. /zigman2/quotes/206227672/composite ALLY -1.65% , the people said. The scores were sometimes off by 20 points or more in either direction, the people said, enough to alter the interest rates consumers were offered or to result in their applications being rejected altogether.
The inaccurate scores were sent from mid-March through early April, the people said. The company began disclosing the errors to lenders in May, they said.
Equifax said it has since fixed the error, which the company described as a “technology coding issue.” The glitch didn’t alter the information in consumers’ credit reports, the company said.
An expanded version of this story appears on WSJ.com.
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