Mexico's Central Bank Opens Door To Economic Growth, Competition

MEXICO CITY and ATLANTA, March 19, 1997 -- The Bank of Mexico, making good on the government's pledge to build a vital consumer economy supported by a more competitive environment, has issued an official ruling that deals with the quality and availability of consumer financial information for credit grantors.

The new legal requirement, published in the government's official public register, took effect on Jan. 6, 1997. It specifies that consumer credit information companies in Mexico must begin sharing data they receive from all Mexican lenders.

"The Mexican government and specifically, the Central Bank, should be congratulated for this step," commented Abel Casillas, director general, Equifax de Mexico Sociedad de Informacion Crediticia S.A. "It opens the way for Equifax to offer more comprehensive services to the financial services industry, as provided in the operating license we obtained from the Mexican government."

Equifax de Mexico Sociedad de Informacion Crediticia S.A. is the primary competitor in Mexico to a consumer credit information system established by the Mexican Banking Association, known as the National Credit Bureau (BNC). Equifax's system began operations late last year and will launch on-line services in 1997.

The initial regulations focus on the sharing of "negative" data -- information on consumers who have fallen behind their debts. The Central Bank also set the stage, however, for another order that would cover the sharing of "positive" information -- accounts and payment histories for consumers who pay on time.

The Bank of Mexico, in its new regulations, explicitly stated the rules were formulated because of "the necessity of a competitive market of credit information." It ordered all "credit societies" to jointly establish transmission standards for the exchange of information and specifically reserved the right "to determine the amount that the Societies may charge for the transmission of the information ..." to each other. Equifax, given the new ruling, now has opened talks with the BNC on procedures for sharing data.

Equifax de Mexico Sociedad de Informacion Crediticia S.A. was granted an authorization by the Mexican Ministry of Finance and Public Credit in October 1995 to establish a consumer credit information system and launched operations in October 1996.

Headquartered in Monterrey with a sales office in Mexico City, Equifax plans to serve all of Mexico with a national database. Its consumer credit system will be an on-line system that complies with all Mexican laws while offering access to banks, retailers and businesses with a legitimate need to review a consumer's credit history.

Equifax's decision to apply for and then to build a credit system in Mexico was prompted in part by the growing number of U.S.-based customers of Equifax that have expanded into Mexico and want to extend credit to Mexican consumers.

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) is the leading provider of information services that help grant credit, authorize and process credit card and check transactions and insure lives and property. Established in 1899 in Atlanta, Equifax today employs 14,000 people throughout North and South America, the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Revenues for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 1996, exceeded $1.8 billion.