The Work Number and DealerTrack Partner to Provide Automated Employment and Income Verification to the Auto Finance Industry

ATLANTA, March 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Work Number® and DealerTrack, Inc. today announced a partnership to provide lenders access to The Work Number, an automated solution for employment and income verification from Equifax (NYSE: EFX). DealerTrack, Inc., a subsidiary of DealerTrack Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRAK), is a leading provider of on-demand software and data solutions for the North American automotive retail industry.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20060224/CLF037LOGO )

The Work Number will be integrated into the DealerTrack Digital Document Services platform, providing lenders the necessary tools to instantly verify employment and income on auto loan applicants. The Work Number has proven to be a viable solution to verifying loan application information, providing lenders with rapid access to the most current verification of employment (VOE) and verification of income (VOI) database, as well as historical income verification. The database includes more than 50 million current payroll records, updated each pay period to provide the most up-to-date information to lenders.

"In today's lending environment, employment and income are two of the most commonly falsified pieces of information on loan applications," said Janet Ford, Senior Vice President, The Work Number. "For example, last year, eleven individuals were charged in a multimillion dollar auto loan fraud scheme in Texas, where false income and employment information was provided to lenders by the dealership. As a result, 347 borrowers defaulted with more than $4 million in cash losses to the lending institutions. Through this partnership with DealerTrack, auto finance companies and lenders will be able to protect themselves from this fraud risk through access to immediate, verified employment and income information."

According to Kathy Kassinos, Senior Director, Operations, DealerTrack Digital Document Services, "At DealerTrack, our goal is to provide high value solutions to the ever evolving automotive and related financial institutions. Given the pace of change our auto lending clients are experiencing, they are looking to DealerTrack to deliver innovative tools and services that drive efficiency and profitability across the entire lending lifecycle.  This partnership with The Work Number will build on our already successful eDocs offering, providing our lenders with a seamless process for early determination of risk while improving their operating margin through a variable cost model," added Kassinos.

Dann Adams, President, The Work Number, said, "January 2011 showed significant increases in U.S. auto sales – a strong indication that this year will be a good year for the auto finance industry. Equifax Credit Trends reports indicate a positive recovery for the auto industry – up 13 percent year-over-year in auto finance originations and pulling out from their low point in January 2010. Yet, new underwriting is closing at higher loan dollar amounts and to higher risk consumers, driving the need for greater transparency into the auto consumer's current financial situation."

Adams continued, "We embark on this partnership at a perfect time. With a proven track record of contributing to the success of auto dealers, DealerTrack is an ideal partner for us. By offering an automated system to verify a borrower's financial information, lenders will benefit from increased accuracy, further resulting in fewer defaults. We look forward to this partnership and we're confident it will benefit the entire automotive industry as it continues to grow throughout 2011."

About The Work Number

The Work Number, a service of Equifax, is the largest source for up-to-date employment and income verifications.  The service offers access to over 190 million employment records instantly and will manually complete remaining employment verification requests within days. Additionally, The Work Number offers IncomeChek(SM), a 4506-T tax transcript fulfillment service; and DirectChek(SM), an identity authentication service; and AccountChek, a deposit and asset verification service. All of these tools provide more authentic, complete information to help validate employment and income, while reducing risk and preventing fraud. For more information, please visit www.talx.com.

About DealerTrack (www.dealertrack.com)

DealerTrack's intuitive and high-value software solutions enhance efficiency and profitability for all major segments of the automotive retail industry, including dealers, lenders, OEMs, agents and aftermarket providers. Our solution set for dealers is the industry's most comprehensive. DealerTrack operates the industry's largest online credit application network, connecting approximately 17,000 dealers with over 900 lenders. Our Dealer Management System (DMS) provides dealers with easy-to-use tools and real-time data access that will streamline any automotive business. Dealers using DealerTrack AAX get the inventory management tools and services needed to accelerate turns and increase profits. Our Sales and F&I solution enables dealers to streamline the entire sales process while structuring all types of deals from a single integrated platform.  DealerTrack's Compliance Solution helps dealers meet legal and regulatory requirements and protect their hard-earned assets. DealerTrack's family of companies also includes data and consulting services providers ALG and Chrome Systems. For more information, visit www.dealertrack.com.

About Equifax

Equifax, Inc. empowers businesses and consumers with information they can trust. A global leader in information solutions, we leverage one of the largest sources of consumer and commercial data, along with advanced analytics and proprietary technology, to create customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.

With a strong heritage of innovation and leadership, Equifax continuously delivers innovative solutions with the highest integrity and reliability.  Businesses – large and small – rely on us for consumer and business credit intelligence, portfolio management, fraud detection, decisioning technology, marketing tools, and much more.  We empower individual consumers to manage their personal credit information, protect their identity, and maximize their financial well being.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax Inc. operates in the U.S. and 15 other countries throughout North America, Latin America and Europe. Equifax is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500® Index. Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EFX.

SOURCE Equifax