U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs chair introduces Credit Access and Inclusion Act to add rent and utility payments to credit reporting

The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs published a majority press release announcing that Chairman Tim Scott introduced the Credit Access and Inclusion Act, a bill intended to expand access to credit for consumers with limited or non-existent credit histories by enabling additional on-time payment data to be reflected in credit reporting. The legislation would allow property owners and utility and telecom providers to report payments data to credit reporting agencies so credit bureaus can incorporate alternative data such as rent, internet, phone, electricity, and other utility payments. The release describes the measure as addressing “credit invisible” consumers, citing estimates of approximately 26 million Americans without traditional credit records and comments that over 40 million Americans have no payment history reflected in their credit score, and states that adding these payments could generate credit scores for consumers who were previously “unscoreable.”