I just wanted to say thank you, because this is exactly the kind of HN discussion that I find valuable (and increasingly rare in public discourse). It's so easy to get on the "credit bureaus are evil" bandwagon, especially in this story where Equifax's statements are honestly downright insulting, and your comment made me put away my pitchfork for a second and reflect on the benefits that credit scores give us. Yes, there are certainly arguments that one can have about the respective costs and benefits of credit scores, but it's good to know we can have informed debate about those pros and cons.