Data that credit-reporting agencies maintain on consumers' credit-related experiences play a central role in U.S. credit markets. Analysts widely agree that the data enable these markets to function more efficiently and at lower cost than would otherwise be possible. Despite the great benefits...

Consolidation among banking institutions has substantially changed the structure of the banking industry. Between 1975 and 1997, the number of commercial banks and savings associations declined more than 40 percent. Over the same broad period, the market for home mortgage lending has also...

The past twenty years have been marked by major structural and regulatory changes in the banking industry. This article explores the relationships between these changes and the distribution of "brick and mortar" banking offices between 1975 and 1995. The analysis explores how population shifts,...

For some time, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has sought to obtain more detailed and timely information on the debt status, loan payment behavior, and overall credit quality of U.S. consumers. For decades, information of this type has been gathered by credit reporting...