Equifax and National Telecommunications Data Exchange, Inc. Sign $5 Million Deal
biz.yahoo.com, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX), a leader in information management, announced today it been awarded the $5 million National Telecommunications Data Exchange, Inc. (NTDE) contract for the next five years -- the third consecutive time this contract has been awarded to Equifax. Equifax has managed the NTDE database of default commercial account information from 72 telecommunications companies since 1995.
The NTDE provides information in a manner which permits early identification of ``risk accounts'' among new service applicants. This unique forum enables telecommunication companies to share information on businesses that have left a carrier with an unpaid final bill. Members use the data to assess potential credit risk when considering an application for service. Data is also used to assist in skip tracing and to prescreen marketing/prospect lists.
``Equifax's mission of enabling global commerce is exemplified by our development of NTDE and 14 other Exchanges,'' said Paul Springman, Equifax Group Executive, Global Sales. ``The exchange business is a core competency, and we are pleased that NTDE has renewed the contract with us.''
``We have been very pleased with Equifax's handling of the data,'' said Alice Haslam, executive director of NTDE. ``Equifax constantly works to improve the Exchange capability by improving the matching algorithm, developing easier-to-read reports and offering additional secure channels for transmitting and receiving data. Past performance and the anticipation of future performance is one of the leading factors in continuing our relationship with Equifax,'' Haslam said.
As a credit risk tool, NTDE is unique in the marketplace. NTDE was built and is maintained in collaboration with 72 telecommunication companies who regularly submit millions of records from their customer bases. The result is a credit risk tool that identifies non-payment behavior unique to telecommunication customers, which differs from the behavior of those same customers becoming delinquent on their commercial credit accounts.
``NTDE houses over $1.2 billion in total bad debt,'' said Glenn Schwartz, president, NTDE. ``Considering that the average commercial write-off can be quite large, preventing just one high-risk commercial account from being put on the books represents enormous savings. In the past three months, more than 1,000 matches of unpaid balances of $100,000+ were made. NTDE alerted member companies to a huge risk,'' Schwartz said. |
