Equifax and TransUnion fined $23 million for misrepresenting credit products

Two of the nation’s largest credit reporting bureaus, TransUnion and Equifax, will together pay more than $23 million in fines and refunds to settle charges from a federal consumer watchdog that they misled consumers about the pricing and value of credit products.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday that the companies deceived consumers by suggesting that the credit scores they provided were the same scores used by financial firms to make lending decisions when in fact, the scores “were not typically used by lenders.” The firms were also unclear about the price structure of some products, marketing them as free or costing $1, when consumers were actually being enrolled in subscriptions that cost $16 a month.