Equifax Brand | brandchannel.com

Equifax
credit denied
by Jonathan Schneider
October 15, 2001

Even if you don’t know them, it’s likely they know you. With records on more than 400 million consumers and business in the Americas and parts of Europe, Equifax is the world’s leading credit reporting agency. They make their money by being in the know. So lets see what they know about websites.

One of the first questions a visitor to Equifax.com might ask is

“Why am I here?” That’s a good question and unless that visitor represents a business which extends credit to customers, there might never be a reason to visit the site.

Wait a second. Upon second glance, it seems that Equifax’s customers include more than just businesses. Is the credit colossus attempting to sell to consumers as well? It certainly looks that way. A banneresque link touting the company’s “personal solutions” occupies prime real estate on the home page and consumer services even get top billing on the side navigation bar.

Yet, the home page is anything but consumer friendly. Its abstract red and black design is about as corporate and staid as they come. Nothing screams “industry leader” and no attempt is made to explain what the company actually does. For people who might be familiar with Equifax, the site does little to scrub away the “wizard behind the curtain” aura that surrounds credit reporting agencies and their mysterious methods of classifying consumers.

Never fear, the digital design pendulum does swing. If one decides to investigate the consumer area of the site, pages with a look and feel that are anything but corporate lie in wait. In fact, “mom and pop” might be a better descriptor. The landing page for Equifax’s consumer services lacks any semblance of design and haphazardly sports 32 links many of which lead visitors toward opportunities to purchase information about one’s personal credit history.

Much of the rest of Equifax.com gets back to its business-boring self. The site has all the trappings of a virtual headquarters including a scrolling stock price, links to investor and media centers, lots of clip art, and few surprises.

Fortunately, there is some meat to this site. Pages related to Equifax’s endeavors in the online security arena include a helpful lexicon of tech terms and an intriguing trial of a digital certificate product. Unfortunately, these pages’ days are numbered as Equifax recently announced the sale of the related business unit.

Jonathan Schneider is the founder of Square One Research. He holds an MBA from Emory University's Goizueta Business School and lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife Randee.

*Due to the constantly changing environment of websites, some reviews may no longer reflect the current website for this brand.


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