The Equifax Data Breach and Some Important Considerations
October 4, 2017
The true consequences of the Equifax breach will remain unknown for quite some time to come. During our recent strategic planning sessions, the business impact of this breach has been a high priority for management teams. They are discussing various issues, such as:
Should we change our account opening process? If yes,
- How should we change it?
- What would the verification process be?
- How much time are we comfortable adding to the process in order to reduce fraud?
- How will our measures of success change?
- What impact will this have on membership growth and budget expectations?
Similarly, the teams are asking: Should we change our loan origination process? If yes,
- What changes need to be made?
- How will these changes impact our position on credit risk?
- What will the impact be to interest income if we tighten up our credit risk?
- How will our “look-to-book” number change and what does success look like now?
- What impact will this have on loan growth and budget expectations?
No doubt there are more questions and issues to discuss, and most will have strategic and operational implications. The key is always to gain clarity and agree on what those implications will be, and monitor them to understand if there are any unintended consequences.
