For US individuals
What is Aire?
Aire Labs Inc. is a consumer reporting agency (CRA) that uses voluntary, consumer-supplied data (1st party) to assist financial institutions in evaluating financial risk when they provide offers of credit to qualifying consumers or in managing existing customer’s accounts. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) permits Aire to provide certain types of consumer information to those financial institutions for specific purposes allowed by the Act.
Is Aire a consumer reporting agency?
Yes, Aire operates as a consumer reporting agency.
What do credit grantors and financial institutions do with information from Aire?
Credit grantors and financial institutions may use the information provided by Aire to decide whether to extend credit as well as in their on-going review of credit accounts to make decisions about credit limits and whether to continue to extend credit. Information provided by Aire may be used by credit grantors and financial institutions along with credit bureau scores and other evaluation tools to decide what action, if any, to take on an account or an application, or whether to make an offer of credit to qualifying consumers. Aire provides information, but is not involved in the financial institution’s decision-making process.
What makes Aire different from other consumer reporting agencies?
Aire recently celebrated its 6th birthday, as the 4th credit reference agency in the United Kingdom (UK), authorised by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, and its second anniversary as an operating business in the U.S. We are different from traditional credit bureaus, which compile dossiers on consumers from third party historical data. Rather, we collect data from consumers directly (1st party data), so consumers can tell lenders their own financial story. This approach allows us to get a richer, deeper, more up-to-date view of the consumer.
How current is the information Aire uses?
Aire collects information from consumers primarily through its proprietary Interactive Virtual Interview (IVI) platform. Consumers answer the IVI in real-time, so Aire’s information is typically more current than information lenders obtain from a traditional consumer reporting agency.
What is an Interactive Virtual Interview?
Aire’s Interactive Virtual Interview (or IVI) operates as a platform for collecting first-party data in a seamless, low friction manner. By asking consumers a limited number of questions about their current financial status, the IVI can help customers share their financial story with a lender across the customer lifecycle, from acquisition and credit limit increases to the management of collections and recoveries.
What questions do you ask consumers in the IVI?
In general we ask about applicants’ current financial situation, including questions regarding their income, their employment, whether the applicant owns or rents a home, the applicant’s monthly expenses, etc. Questions can vary depending on the product being offered and the applicants responses.
How do I get a copy of my Aire consumer report?
You can request your credit report from us at any time. Also known as your credit file or file disclosure, you can do this by completing our File Request Form and sending it to the address stated.
What if I think something in my Aire consumer report is wrong?
You have the right to dispute any information in your Aire Consumer Report that you think is erroneous. A Dispute Form is included with your Aire Consumer Report. You can fill out the form, send us a letter, or call us with the information. To process your dispute, we will need the following:
Your name and address
Your Social Security number
DOB
The account number associated with the disputed authorization request;
A description of the disputed information, such as the status and date or the authorization request date and amount; and
The reason for the dispute.
Your telephone number is optional, but helpful if we need to reach you.
Email address is optional, but helpful if we need to reach you.