Equifax Acquires Market-Leading Wealth & Asset Data Business

LONDON, March 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- New data will add a greater breadth of intelligence and insight for Equifax customers

Equifax, a leading provider of consumer credit and business risk management services, has acquired Workload Financial Business Consultants Limited, the UK's leading provider of strategic intelligence to wealth and investment financial product providers.

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Formed in 1988, Workload operates a shared investment product data exchange with information provided by over 90 of the UK's leading financial services companies. Workload provides these organisations with business-critical market intelligence in order to drive sales, product design and distribution strategies.

At a time when financial services, telecommunications and retail companies are seeking to gain market advantage through effective customer management, this acquisition allows Equifax to provide the broadest possible insight into consumer behaviours and market opportunities.

"I am tremendously excited about the addition of Workload to the Equifax business," explained Shawn Holtzclaw, Managing Director, Equifax. "It adds real value to the Equifax proposition. Adding their extensive wealth and asset data, including information on ISAs, bonds, unit trusts, pensions and mortgages to our own data, means we can give consumer-facing businesses in a wide range of markets a greater overall insight into the financial status and capabilities of customers and prospects. This will enable us to deliver improved customer acquisition, retention and growth for our clients."

The acquisition of Workload is part of Equifax's global strategy to continue to develop its market-leading wealth intelligence business. Equifax Inc acquired U.S. wealth data specialist, IXI, at the end of 2009 and Workload extends this expertise.

"This partnership gives us a fantastic opportunity to build and improve on the services which we currently provide to our increasingly sophisticated client base," said Mark Hamill, Managing Director, Workload. "Working with the Equifax team we will be able to help companies improve all aspects of their business growth strategies."

"Workload has built a respected and successful business with a blue chip client base that mirrors Equifax's own client profile," concluded Holtzclaw. "I am hugely confident that the combination of our two organisations - the data and the analytical expertise - will create a compelling and innovative proposition that, to date hasn't been seen in the UK market."

About Equifax (http://www.equifax.com)

Equifax 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.

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, Equifax Inc. operates in the U.S. and 15 other countries throughout North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Equifax's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EFX.

Workload Notes to Editors

Workload Financial Business Consultants Limited services include Touchstone Life which profiles IFAs writing bonds, unit trusts, ISAs, individual pensions and group pensions and Touchstone Mortgage which tracks mortgage introducers for prime, sub-prime, self-certification and buy-to-let mortgages.

Touchstone Fund Manager profiles IFAs writing unit trusts, lump sum ISAs, regular saving ISAs, ISA and PEP transfers and Touchstone Client tracks consumer buyers of bonds, unit trusts, ISAs, individual pensions and group pensions. Touchstone Pensions tracks pension IFAs writing new group schemes, transferred schemes, scheme increments, SIPPs and TIPs, and individual pensions.

The company has also recently launched 'My Touchstone', a system for IFA's to self-report and benchmark their performance against other IFA's.