EFX 10-K & 10-Q changes, risk factors and insider trading

We are a global data, analytics and technology company. In the ordinary course of business, we collect, process, transmit and store sensitive data, including intellectual property, proprietary business information and personal information of consumers, employees and strategic partners. The secure operation of our information technology networks and systems, and of the processing and maintenance of this information, is critical to our business operations and strategy. Because our products and services involve the storage and transmission of personal information of consumers, we are routinely the target of attempted cyber and other security threats by outside third parties, including technically sophisticated and well-resourced bad actors attempting to access or steal the data we store. Additionally, we could experience service disruptions or a loss of access to critical data or systems due to ransomware or other destructive attacks. Insider or employee cyber and security threats are also a significant concern for all companies, including ours. Despite our substantial investment in physical and technological security measures, employee training and contractual precautions, our information technology networks and infrastructure (or those of our third-party vendors and other service providers) are potentially vulnerable to unauthorized access to data, loss of access to systems or breaches of confidential information due to criminal conduct, attacks by hackers, artificial intelligence-powered attacks, employee or insider malfeasance and/or human error.

The techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems are constantly evolving and often are not recognized until launched against a target, or even some time after. For example, artificial intelligence can automate and hyper-personalize existing attack vectors like phishing and deepfakes. We may be unable to anticipate these techniques, implement adequate preventative measures or remediate any intrusion on a timely or effective basis even if our security measures are appropriate, reasonable and/or comply with applicable legal requirements. Certain efforts may be state-sponsored and supported by significant financial and technological resources, making them even more sophisticated and difficult to detect. Further, the transition of our applications and systems infrastructure to cloud-based technologies may expose us to additional cyber threats, as most of our data has migrated from legacy Equifax systems to cloud-based solutions hosted by third parties. Although we have developed systems and processes that are designed to protect our data and customer data and to prevent data loss and other security breaches, and expect to continue to expend significant additional resources to bolster these protections, these security measures cannot provide absolute security.

We have previously experienced a material cybersecurity incident in 2017 and if we experience additional breaches of our security measures, including from incidents that we fail to detect for a period of time, sensitive data may be accessed, stolen, disclosed or lost. Any such access, disclosure or other loss of information could subject us to business interruption, significant litigation, regulatory fines or penalties, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our cash flows, competitive position, financial condition or results of operations. While we maintain cybersecurity insurance, we cannot ensure that our insurance policies in the future will be adequate to cover losses from any security breaches.

Security breaches and attacks (including those that impact our third-party vendors and other service providers) and the adverse publicity that may follow, can have a negative impact on our reputation and our relationship with our customers. For example, our reputation with consumers and other stakeholders and our customer relationships were damaged following thea prior material cybersecurity incident in 2017,incident, resulting in a negative impact on our revenue for a period of time. If we experience another material cybersecurity incident or are otherwise unable to demonstrate the security of our systems and the data we maintain and retain the trust of our customers, consumers and data suppliers, we could experience a substantial negative impact on our business.

We are in the final stages of migrating the vast majority of our applications and systems infrastructure from legacy on-premises systems to cloud-based solutions hosted by third parties. We expect that our cloud technology transformation will significantlycontinue to increase our efficiency and productivity, enhance our ability to deliver new and differentiated products, improve the stability and functionality of our products and services, and decrease the cost of our overall systems infrastructure, and enable the delivery of advanced artificial intelligence-based products and internal processes, all of which we expect will drive growth and have a positive effect on our business, competitive position and results of operations. This initiative has been a major undertaking as we have replaced most of our previous operating systems with cloud-based systems. This complex, multifaceted and extensive initiative has been expensive and has caused, and may cause in the future, unanticipated problems and expenses. If we are unable to complete the remaining migrationsmigrations, or,or if our new cloud-based systems do not operate as expected, we may have to incur significant additional costs to make modifications and could lose customers and we may suffer reputational harm as a result.

We cannot assure you that our technology transformation will be beneficial to the extent, or within the timeframes expected, or that the estimated efficiency, cost savings and other improvements will be realized as anticipated or at all. Market acceptance of cloud-based and artificial intelligence-based offerings is affected by a variety of factors, including information security, reliability, performance, the sufficiency of technological infrastructure to support our products and services in certain geographies, customer and data provider concerns with entrusting a third party to store and manage its data as well as the customer’s ability to access this data once a contract has expired, and consumer concerns regarding data privacy and the enactment of laws or regulations that restrict our ability to provide such services to customers. If we are unable to correctly respond to these issues, we may experience business disruptions, damage to our reputation, negative publicity, diminished customer trust and relationships and other adverse effects on our business. Even if the anticipated benefits and savings of our technology transformation are substantially realized, there may be consequences, internal control issues or business impacts that were not expected. We have made significant investments in our technology transformation, and if we were to change a primary cloud-based service providers,provider, we may incur additional costs in connection with a transition.

The loss of access to credit, employment, financial and other data or intellectual property from external sources could harm our ability to provide our products and services.

We rely extensively on data from external sources to maintain our proprietary and non-proprietary databases, including data received from customers, licensors, furnishers, strategic partnerspartners, consumers, and various government and public record sources. This data includes the widespread and voluntary contribution of credit data from most lenders in the U.S. and many other markets as well as the contribution of data under proprietary contractual agreements, such as employers’ contribution of employment and income data to The Work Number® and telecommunications, cable and utility companies’ contribution of payment and fraud data to the National Cable, Telecommunications and Utility ExchangeExchange, Inc. (NCTUE). database we manage. In addition, a significant portion of our revenue is derived from products and services that incorporate intellectual property licensed from third party business partners. For a variety of reasons, including concerns of data furnishers arising out of legislatively or judicially imposed restrictions on use, security breaches or competitive reasons, our data sources could withdraw, delay receipt ofof, or increase the cost ofof, the data they provide to us. Where we currently have exclusive use of data, the providers of the data sources could elect to make the information available to competitors. We also compete with several of our third-party data suppliers.suppliers and intellectual property providers. If a substantial number of data sources or certain key data sources were to withdraw or bebecome unable to provide their data, if we were to lose access to data due to government regulation, if we lose our right to the use of data, or if the collection, disclosure or use of data becomes uneconomical, or if we lose the right to use certain intellectual property, our ability to provide products and services to our customers could be adversely affected, which could result in decreased revenue, net income and earnings per share and reputational loss. There can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain data from alternative sources if our current sources become unavailable.

Our customers, and therefore our business and revenues, are sensitive to negative changes in general economic conditions, including the demand and availability of affordable credit and capital, the level and volatility of interest rates, the level of inflation, employment levels, consumer confidence, and housing demand, both inside and outside the United States. Business customers use our credit informationdata and related analytical services and data to process applications for new credit cards, automobile loans, home and equity loans and other consumer loans, and to manage their existing credit relationships. Demand for our services tends to be correlated to general levels of economic activity and to consumer credit activity, which can be impacted by changes in interest rates and the level of inflation. Banks’ and other lenders’ willingness to extend credit are adversely affected by elevated consumer delinquency and loan losses in a weak economy. Consumer demand for credit (i.e., rates of spending and levels of indebtedness) also tends to grow more slowly or decline during periods of economic contraction or slow economic growth.

Our customer base generally suffers when financial markets experience volatility, illiquidity and disruption, and the potential for disruptions going forward presents considerable risks to our business and revenue. High or rising rates of unemployment and interest, declines in income, home prices or investment values, lower consumer confidenceconfidence, economic uncertainty and reduced access to credit adversely affect demand for many of our products and services, and consequently our revenue and results of operations, as consumers may postpone or reduce their spending and use of credit, and lenders may reduce the amount of credit offered or available. Conversely, certain of our businesses, such as our unemployment claims management business within the Workforce Solutions segment, are countercyclical and may experience negative impacts on revenue and operating profit during periods of improving economic conditions or lower unemployment.

WeIn particular, we expect U.S. mortgage credit activity in 20252026 to be below the levels of activity seen in 2024.2025. Any weakening in the U.S. mortgage market resulting in a significant reduction in mortgage originations could have a corresponding negative impact on revenue and operating profit for our business, primarily within the Workforce Solutions and USIS operating segments. To the extent inflation results in higher interest rates and has other adverse effects upon the securities markets and upon the value of financial instruments, it may adversely affect our financial position and profitability.

Our markets are highly competitivecompetitive. andNew new product introductions andproducts, pricing strategies beingand offeredbusiness models introduced by our competitorscompetitors, as well as regulatory changes impacting our industry, could decrease our sales and market share or require us to enhance our products and services or reduce our prices in a manner that reduces our revenue and operating margins.

We operate in a number of geographic, product and service markets that are highly competitive. Competitors may develop products and services that are superior to or that achieve greater market acceptance than our products and services. New competitors may choose to enter and compete in our markets, or existing competitors may choose to introduce new products and enter markets that we serve and that they do not currently serve. The size of our competitors varies across market segments, as do the resources we have allocated to the segments we target. Therefore, some of our competitors may have significantly greater financial, technical, marketing or other resources than we do in one or more of our market segments, or overall. As a result, our competitors may be in a position to respond more quickly than we can to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements, or may devote greater resources than we can to the development, enhancement, promotion, sale and support of products and services, or some of our customers may develop products of their own that replace the products they currently purchase from us, which would result in lower revenue. In addition, many of our competitors have extensive consumercustomer relationships, including relationships with our current and potential customers. Moreover, new competitors or alliances among our competitors and business partners may emerge and potentially reduce our market share, revenue or margins.

We also license our information to competing firms, and license information from certain of our competitors, in order to sell “tri-bureau” and other products, most notably into the U.S. mortgage market. Changes in prices between competitors for this information and/or regulatory changes that impact the use of the tri-bureau credit report in the designU.S. ormortgage sale of tri-bureau versus single or dual bureau product offeringsmarket may affect our revenue or profitability.

Some of our competitors sell products that compete with ours at lower prices by accepting lower margins and profitability, or may be able to sell products competitive to ours at lower prices, individually or as a part of integrated suites, given proprietary ownership of data, technological superiority or economies of scale. Price reductions by our competitors could negatively impact our revenue and operating margins and results of operations and could also harm our ability to obtain new customers on favorable terms. Historically, certain of our key products have experienced declines in per unit pricing due to competitive factors and customer demand. If we wereare unable to respond quickly enough to changes in competition or customer demanddemand, we could experience reductions in our operating margins.

We have long-standing relationships with a number of our customers and business partners, many of whom could unilaterally terminate their relationship with us or materially reduce the amount of business they conduct with us at any time. Many of our material customer agreements can be terminated by the customer for convenience on limited advance written notice, which provides our customers with the opportunity to renegotiate their contracts with us or to award more business to our competitors. There is no guarantee that we will be able to retain or renew existing agreements, maintain relationships with any of our customers or business partners on acceptable terms or at all, or collect amounts owed to us from insolvent customers or business partners. The loss of one or more of our major customers or business partners could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we do not introduce successful new products, servicesproducts and analytical capabilitiesservices in a timely manner, or if the market does not adopt our newproducts and services, or if new technologies and analytical capabilities are introduced by competitors that are more effective or at lower costs than ours, our competitiveness and operating results will suffer.

We generally sell our products and services in industries that are characterized by rapid technological changes, including the introduction of new innovative technologies,technologies and analytical capabilities, frequent new product and service introductions and changing industry standards. In addition, certain of the markets in which we operate are seasonal and cyclical. Without the timely introduction of new technologies, products, services and enhancements, our products and services will become technologically or commercially obsolete over time, in which case our revenue and operating results would suffer. The success of our new products and services will depend on several factors, including our ability to: (i) properly identify and respond to customer needs; (ii) innovate and develop new technologies, servicestechnology and applicationsanalytical capabilities, including advanced artificial intelligence-based capabilities; (iii) successfully commercialize new technologiesproducts and services in a timely manner; (iv) produce and deliverdistribute our products and services in sufficient volumes on time; (v) differentiate our offerings from competitor offerings; (vi) price our products competitively; (vii) anticipate our competitors’ development of new products, services or technological and analytical innovations, including artificial intelligence-based innovations; and (viii) control product quality in our product development process.process; and (ix) provide adequate support for our products and services. Our resources have to be committed to any new products and services before knowing whether the market will adopt the new offerings. Recently, we have accelerated our introduction of new products and services, which may increase pressure on our existing operational processes and increase the risks stated above.

We use artificial intelligence and machine learning models in the development of some of our products and artificial intelligence systems to support the deployment of new applications and to improve the efficiency of our business operations. For new products, the models that we use are developed or trained using various data sets. If the models are incorrectly designed, if the data we use to train them is incomplete, inadequate or biased in some way, or if we do not have sufficient rights to use the data on which our models rely, or if we do not have the ability to explain the output, the performance of our products and business, as well as our reputation, could suffer or we could incur liability through the violation of laws, third-party privacy or other rights, or contracts to which we are a party. Similarly, if the artificial intelligence systems used for deploying new applications or improving operational processes are incorrectly configured, if the data we use to train them is incomplete or inadequate, or if sufficient testing is not completed, the performance of our business operations, as well as our reputation, could suffer.

We continuously invest in new technologies. IfAs we implement new technology that includes artificial intelligence, we may introduce incremental risks in our environment if these technologies are incorrectly configured or implemented, if the data we use to prompt them is incomplete, inadequate or biased in some way, or if the outputs are not sufficiently reviewed for reliability and validity. In addition, our investments in new technology, including artificial intelligence technology, may not yield the return on investment we anticipate and have a negative impact on our operating margins.

Our use of artificial intelligence could lead to new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, litigation or other legal liability, concerns about ethical concerns,use and privacy, negative consumer and customer impacts, and negative perceptions of artificial intelligence generally, all of which could adversely affect our business, reputation or financial results. In particular, our use of artificial intelligence in credit decisioning could lead to enhanced scrutiny. Further, our competitors or other third parties may incorporate artificial intelligence into their products and business operations more quickly or more successfully than us, which could impair our ability to compete effectively and adversely affect our results of operations.

Historically, we have relied, in part, on acquisitions, joint ventures and other alliances to grow our business. Any transaction we do complete may not be on favorable terms, may involve greater-than-expected liabilities and expenses, potential impairments of tangible and intangible assets or significant write-offs, and the expected benefits, synergies, revenue and growth from these initiatives may not materialize as planned. We may have difficulty assimilating new businesses and their products, services, technologies, IT systems and personnel into our operations. IT and data security profiles of acquired companies may not meet our technological standardsstandards, may expose us to cybersecurity vulnerabilities and may take longer to integrate and remediate than planned. This may result in significantly greater transaction, remediation and integration costs for future acquisitions than we have experienced historically, or it could mean that we will not pursue certain acquisitions where the costs of integration and remediation are too significant. We may also have difficulty integrating and operating businesses in geographies and markets or market segments where we do not currently have a significant presence, and acquisitions of businesses having a significant presence outside of the U.S. will increase our exposure to risks of conducting operations in international markets. These difficulties could disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management and workforce, increase our expenses and adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

Despite our past experience, opportunities to grow our business through acquisitions, joint ventures and other alliances may not be available to us in the future. In addition, our focus on data security and ouruse transition toof cloud-based technologies may limit our ability to identify and complete acquisitions as our stringent technologicalsecurity and technology criteria and standards for acquisition candidates may continue to increase.

We derive a meaningful portion of our revenue from direct and indirect sales to U.S. federal, state and local governments, as well as foreign governments, and their respective agencies. Such contracts are subject to various procurement laws and regulations, and contract provisions relating to their formation, administration and performance. Failure to comply with these laws, regulations or provisions in our government contracts could result in the imposition of various civil and criminal penalties, termination or non-renewal of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments or suspension of future government contracting. A number of ourOur government contracts may receive enhanced scrutiny and media attention due to the sensitive nature of the data we handle and due to the importancesocietal impact of the government programs weour support.contracts support, among other reasons. If we experience another material cybersecurity incident, if public or legislative scrutiny and pressure leadslead to reduced use of data by government agencies, or if we experience uptime issues or performance problems, our ability to maintain existing or acquire new government contracts may be substantially impacted.

Furthermore, our government contracts are funded through federal and state budgeting processes, which may be subject to political, tax revenue and appropriationsother processes,external whereby a legislature approves the annual budget submitted by the executive branch.factors. Budget shortfalls or changing priorities may cause legislatures to fail to appropriate sufficient funds to fulfill our government contracts from year to year. In addition, theThe U.S. federal government has recently taken steps to reduce governmentspending spending,on vendor contracts, which could negatively impact the continuation, renewal or negotiation of our contracts with the federal government. Congress has also enacted legislation to reform government benefit programs which may impact contracting with federal and state government agencies.

We face various risks related to health epidemics, pandemics and similar outbreaks. For example, the COVID-19 pandemicPandemics and the mitigation efforts by governments to attempt to control its spread may adversely impactedimpact the global economy and ledlead to reduced consumer spending and lending activities. Our customers, and therefore our business and revenues, are sensitive to negative changes in general economic conditions.conditions Wethat experiencedmay significantresult revenue declines in several of our markets asfrom a resultpandemic of COVID-19 and we may experienceor similar revenue declines as a result of future health epidemics, pandemics and similar outbreaks.event.

Our reputation and/or business could be negatively impacted by ESGstakeholder mattersresponses to our responsible business priorities and/or commitments and our reporting of such matters.

Over the past several years, regulators, investors, customers, employees and other stakeholders have focused on various sustainability-related matters, including environmental, social and governance ("ESG") matters, both in the United StatesU.S. and internationally. In response to stakeholder feedback, we communicate certain information regarding our responsible business priorities, including initiatives, goals and commitments related to data security and privacy, climate, inclusion and diversity, responsibleemployee sourcingengagement and socialcommunity investments, in our public disclosures. These initiatives, goals and commitments could be difficult to achieve and costly to implement. For example, we have announced our commitments to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, the achievement of which relies, in large part, on the accuracy of our estimates and assumptions around the availability and cost of renewable energy sources and technologies, the availability of suppliers that can meet our sustainability and other standards, and other factors. We could fail to achieve, or be perceived to fail to achieve, our greenhouse gas reduction commitments or other responsible business initiatives, goals and commitments. In addition, we could be criticized for the timing, scope or nature of these initiatives, goals and commitments, or for any revisions to them. Our actual or perceived failure to achieve our responsible business-related initiatives, goals and commitments could negatively impact our reputation or otherwise materially harm our business.

Data accuracy is an essential component of data quality and is the foundation of our business model. Accurate data increases predictive ability and improves confidence in decisions for our customers. Inaccurate or unreliable data could adversely affect customer decisioning and poses reputational, regulatory compliance, litigation and financial risk to our company. Although we have developed internal processes and controls to maintain and continually improve data accuracy, these processes and controls cannot ensure absolute accuracy and the complexity of our technology transformation may introduce additional risk. Wewe have previously experienced data accuracy issues, including errorsissues in connectionthe withcourse of our technologybusiness. transformation. To date, none of these issues have had a material impact on our operations or financial results. However, anyAny future data accuracy issues arising in connection with our technology transformation or otherwise could have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations, including through the incurrence of additional costs or the loss of customers and harm to our reputation.

We have outsourced various components of our application development, information technology, operational support and administrative functions and will continue to evaluate additional outsourcing. If our outsourcing vendors fail to perform their obligations in a timely manner or at satisfactory quality levels including with respect to data and system security, or increase prices for their services to unreasonable levels, our ability to bring products to market and support our customers and our reputation could suffer. Any failure to perform on the part of these third-party providers could impair our ability to operate effectively and could result in lower future revenue, unrealized efficiencies and adversely impact our results of operations and our financial condition. Some of our outsourcing takes place in developingcountries countriesoutside the U.S. and, as a result, may be subject to political and geopolitical uncertainty. Insourcing, or transitioning to domestic U.S.-based outsourcing vendors, could cause us to incur significant costs, result in unrealized efficiencies and adversely impact our results of operations and our financial condition.

Our future success depends partly on the continued service of our key development, sales, marketing, executive and administrative personnel. Increased retention risk exists in certain key areas of our operations, such as data and analytics, artificial intelligence, IT and data security, which require specialized skills, including cloud security, application development and maintenance and artificial intelligence expertise and analytical modeling. If we fail to retain and hire a sufficient number of these personnel, we will not be able to maintain or expand our business. Hiring, on-boarding training, motivating, retaining and managing employees with the skills required is time-consuming and expensive. There is intense competition for certain highly technical specialties in geographic areas where we continue to recruit, and it may become more difficult to retain our key employees. If we are not able to hire sufficient employees to support our business or to train, motivate, retain and manage the employees we do hire, it could have a material adverse effect on our business operations or financial results.

•data privacy andprivacy, consumer protection and artificial intelligence laws and regulations;

•unfavorable tax rules or rulings;

We and our customers are subject to various current laws and governmental regulations, and could be affected by new and evolving laws and regulations, including those related to consumer privacy and protection, cybersecurity orand otherartificial data-relatedintelligence. Compliance with these laws orand regulations, compliance with whichregulations may cause us to incur significant expenses and change our business practices, and if we fail to maintain satisfactory compliance with certain laws and regulations, we could be subject to civil or criminal penalties.

As a data, analytics and technology company and creditconsumer reporting agency, we are subject to a number of U.S. federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations relating to consumer financial protection, data protection, data privacy, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. See “Item 1. Business—Governmental Regulation” in this Form 10-K for a summary of the U.S. and foreign consumer and data protection laws and regulations to which we are subject. These regulations are complex, change frequently, have tended to become more stringent over time, and are subject to administrative interpretation and judicial construction in ways that could harm our business. In addition, new laws and regulations at the state and federal level are enacted frequently, such as amendments to the FCRA, cybersecurity and other requirements promulgated by the FTC, the NYDFS and the SEC, and data privacy and artificial intelligence laws in several U.S. states.states and foreign countries.

There are laws and regulatory requirements in the U.S. and abroad that govern the operations of consumer reporting agencies and the collection, use, accuracy, correction and sharing of personal data. The CFPB, our primary regulator, frequently adopts new rulemakings related to these matters. For example, in October 2024, the CFPB finalized a rule regarding personal financial data rights and open banking pursuant to Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act that governs the practices of data providers, third parties authorized to access consumer data and data aggregators. Additionally, in January 2025, the CFPB finalized a rule that requires the removal of medical collection debt from consumer credit reports. There are also a number of proposed rules, including changes to the FCRA proposed by the CFPB, that could significantly impact our business if they are finalized. Any future changes in laws or regulations that impose additional requirements on our operations or restrict our use of data could have a material adverse effect on our business.

In addition, there are laws and legislative proposals in the U.S. and abroad concerning privacyprivacy, cybersecurity and cybersecurityartificial intelligence that have implications for our business. For example, the Canadian and Australian governments have initiated reviews of their consumer privacy laws, and several U.S. states have introduced varying comprehensive privacy laws modeled to some degree on the CCPA and/or the GDPR. More recently, regulators and legislators have been increasingly focused on the use of algorithms, artificial intelligence and machine learning in business processes. Multiple jurisdictions, including the EU and at least oneseveral U.S. state,states, have adopted comprehensive oversight laws related to the development and use of artificial intelligence.intelligence and additional countries and U.S. states are expected to enact comprehensive artificial intelligence regulatory framework statutes. There haveare also been newpending legislative proposals to regulate business use and development of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies which, if enacted, could impose new legal requirements addressing among other issues, privacy, discrimination and human rights. The specifics of such legislation and the number of other jurisdictions that will introduce legislation in this area remain unclear at this time.

We devote substantial compliance, legal and operational business resources towards compliance with applicable regulations and requirements. In the future, we may be subject to significant additional expenses related to compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including new laws and evolving interpretations that have varying requirements and/or are difficult to predict, and to the investigation, defense or remedy of actual or alleged violations. Additionally, we cooperate with theU.S. CFPBfederal inand state supervisory examinations and respond to other state, federal and foreign government examinations of, or inquiries into, our business practices. In particular, legislative activity in the privacy area may result in new laws that are applicable to us and that may hinder our business, for example, by restricting use or sharing of consumer data, including for marketing or advertising purposes, limiting our ability to provide certain consumer data to our customers, or otherwise regulating artificial intelligence and machine learning, including the use of algorithms and automated processing in ways that could materially affect our business, or which may lead to significant increases in the cost of compliance.

Any failure by us to comply with, or remedy any violations of, applicable laws and regulations could result in new costs for our operations, the curtailment of certain of our operations, the imposition of fines and penalties, liability to private plaintiffs as a result of individual or class action litigation, restrictions on the operation of our business and reputational harm. It is difficult to predict the impact on our business if we were subject to allegations of having violated existing laws. For example, in Europe, the GDPR, which includes extensive regulations for certain security incidents, could result in fines of up to 4% of annual worldwide “turnover” (a measure similar to revenues in the U.S.). In addition, because many of our products are regulated or sold to customers in various industries, we must comply with additional regulations in marketing our products. Moreover, our compliance with privacy laws and regulations and our reputation depend in part on suppliers’ or customers’ adherence to privacy laws and regulations and their use of our services in ways consistent with consumer expectations and regulatory requirements. Additionally, we may not succeed in adapting our products to changes in the regulatory environment in an efficient, cost effectivecost-effective manner. We cannot predict the ultimate impact on our business of new or proposed rules, supervisory examinations or government investigations or enforcement actions.

There is substantial litigation, both in the U.S. and more recently the Unified Patent Court in Europe, regarding intellectual property rights in the information technology industry. From time to time, third parties may make claims that one or more of our products or services infringe their intellectual property rights. We analyze and take action in response to each such claim on a case by casecase-by-case basis. A dispute or litigation regarding patents or other intellectual property can be costly and time-consuming due to the complexity of our technology and the inherent uncertainty of intellectual property litigation, could divert our management and key personnel from our business operations, and we may not prevail. A claim of intellectual property infringement could force us to enter into a costly or restrictive license agreement, which might not be available under acceptable terms or at all, or could subject us to significant damages or to an injunction against development and sale of certain of our products or services. Our intellectual property portfolio may not be sufficient to deter a claim of intellectual property infringement, useful in asserting a counterclaim, or providingprovide commercial leverage for negotiating a license, in responselicense to settle a claim of intellectual property infringement.claim. In certain of our businesses where we rely on third-party intellectual property licenses andlicenses, we cannot ensure that these licenses will be available to us in the future on favorable terms or at all. Although our policy is to obtain licenses or other rights where necessary, we cannot provide assurance that we have obtained all required licenses or rights.

Our success increasingly depends on our proprietary technology and its ability to differentiate us from our competitors. We rely on various intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights, database rights, trademarks and trade secrets, as well as contract restrictions, confidentiality provisions and licensing arrangements, to establish and protect our proprietary rights. The extent to which such rights can be protected varies in different jurisdictions and is rapidly evolving with respect to artificial intelligence. If we doare notunable to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights successfully, our competitive position may suffer which could harm our operating results. Our pending patent and trademark applications may not be allowed at all, may be granted with claims that are not advantageous, or competitors may challenge the validity or scope of our intellectual property rights. In addition,Despite our patents,efforts copyrights,to trademarksprotect and otherour intellectual property rightsrights, others may notindependently providedevelop ussimilar aproducts, significantduplicate competitiveour advantage.products or design around our intellectual property rights.

In addition, it is difficult to monitor compliance with, and enforce, our intellectual property rights on a worldwide basis in a cost-effective manner. We may need to devote significant resources to monitoring our intellectual property rights and we may or may not be able to detect misappropriation or infringement by third parties.parties, Ourwhich may harm our competitive position may be harmed if we cannot detect misappropriation or infringement and enforce our intellectual property rights quickly or at all.position. In some circumstances, enforcement may not be available to us because a third party has a dominant intellectual property position or for other business reasons. In addition, competitors might avoid infringement by designing around our intellectual property rights or by developing non-infringing competing technologies. Intellectual property rights and our ability to enforce them also may be unavailable or limited in some countries, which could make it easier for competitors to capture market share and could result in lost revenue.

Equifax Inc. is a global data, analytics and technology company. We provide information solutions for businesses, governments and consumers, and we provide human resources business process automation and outsourcing services for employers. We have a large and diversified group of clients, including financial institutions, corporations, government agencies and individuals. Our services are based on comprehensive databases of consumer and business information derived from numerous sources including credit, financial assets, telecommunications and utility payments, employment, income, educational history, criminal justice data,justice, healthcare professional licensure and sanctions, demographic and marketing data. We use advanced statistical techniques, artificial intelligence and machine learninglearning, andas well as proprietary software tools to analyze available data tofor createthe creation of customized insights, decision-making and process automation solutionssolutions, and processing services for our clients. We are a leading provider of information and solutions used in payroll-related and human resource management business process services in the U.S., as well as e-commerce fraud and charge back protection services in North America. For consumers, we provide products and services to help people understand, manage and protect their personal information and make more informed financial decisions. Additionally, we also provide information, technology and services to support debt collections and recovery management. We report our revenue derived from sales to clients in the mortgage market as well as those in non-mortgage market verticals (including, but not limited to, government, talent, employment, fraud and other non-mortgage related services). We refer to these non-mortgage market verticals collectively as "diversified markets."

We currently operate in four global regions: North America (U.S. and Canada), Asia Pacific (Australia, New Zealand and India), Europe (the U.K., Spain and Portugal) and Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay), Europe (the United Kingdom (“U.K.”), Spain and Portugal) and Asia Pacific (Australia, New Zealand and India). We maintain support operations in Chile, Costa Rica, India and Ireland. We also have investments in consumer and/or commercial credit information companies through joint ventures in Brazil, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore.

ForOur 2025, ourcurrent planning for 2026 assumes that U.S. economic activity, as measured by GDP, is expected towill grow at a similar rate asconsistent experiencedwith in 2024.2025. We expect U.S. mortgage credit activity in 20252026 to be slightly below the levels of activity seen in 2024.2025. The U.S. mortgage market, particularly the mortgage refinance portion of the U.S. mortgage market, can be significantly impacted by U.S. interest rates which impact mortgage rates available to consumers. In the international markets in which we operate, in particular in Australia, the U.K., and Canada, our planning also assumes that economic activity, as measured by GDP, towill generally grow in 20252026 at similar rates asbelow those experienced in 2024.2025. As noted above, due to the current significant economic and market volatility and uncertainty, these assumptions may change.

Segments. The Workforce Solutions segment consists of the Verification Services and Employer Services business lines. Verification Services revenue is transaction-basedtransaction and subscription based and is derived primarily from verifications of employment and income verification,data, as well as criminal justice data and educational background data. Employer Services revenue is derived from our provision of certain human resources business process outsourcing services that include both transaction and subscription based product offerings. These services include unemployment claims management, I-9 and onboarding services, Affordable Care Act ("ACA") compliance management, tax credits and incentives and other complementary employment-based transaction services. Workforce Solutions revenue is predominantly in the U.S., and they have also established operations in Canada, Australia and the U.K.

The USIS segment consists of threetwo service lines: Online Information Solutions, Mortgage Solutions and Financial Marketing Services. Online Information Solutions and Mortgage Solutions revenue is principally transaction-based and is derived from our sales of products such as consumer and commercial credit reporting and scoring, identity management, fraud detection, modeling services and consumer credit monitoring services. USIS also markets certain analytical and decisioning software and services which facilitate and automate a variety of consumer and commercial credit-oriented decisions. Online Information Solutions also includes our U.S. consumer credit monitoring solutions business. Financial Marketing Services revenue is principally project and subscription based and is derived from our sales of batch credit and consumer wealth information such as those that assist clients in acquiring new customers, cross-selling to existing customers and managing portfolio risk.

Cost of Services. Cost of services increased $183.6$126.9 million in 20242025 compared to 2023.2024. The increase is primarily due to higher royalty androyalty, revenue share costs, costs ofand purchased data and information,information andcosts, costspartially fromoffset BVS,by whicha was acquireddecrease in thetemporary thirdlabor quarter of 2023.costs. The effect of changes in foreign exchange rates decreased cost of services by $28.1$5.9 million.

Cost of services increased $157.9$183.6 million in 20232024 compared to 2022.2023. The increase is primarily due to higher royalty and revenue share costs, people costs, third party cloud usage fees and software costs, and costs of purchased data and information.information, and costs from BVS, which was acquired in the third quarter of 2023. The effect of changes in foreign exchange rates decreased cost of services by $16.9$28.1 million.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $64.8$163.7 million in 20242025 compared to 2023.2024. The increase is primarily due to increasedhigher people costs and costs from BVS, which was acquired in the third quarter of 2023, partially offset by a decrease in professional fees. The increased people costs, excluding the impact of costs from BVS, is primarily due to higher incentive plan costs.costs, as well as higher litigation expense and an accrual for a settlement associated with the resolution of four related class action lawsuits. The impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates decreased our selling, general and administrative expenses by $39.2$9.3 million.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $56.8$64.8 million in 20232024 compared to 2022.2023. The increase in 2023 is primarily due to anincreased increasepeople costs and costs from BVS, which was acquired in litigation expense, mainly due to a payment to the U.K.third FCA for a penalty associated with resolutionquarter of the investigation of a material 2017 cybersecurity incident, as well as higher people costs,2023, partially offset by lowera discretionarydecrease expenses.in professional fees. The increase inincreased people costs, excluding the impact of costs from BVS, is primarily drivendue byto higher incentive plan costs, partially offset by lower temporary labor.costs. The impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates decreased our selling, general and administrative expenses by $16.6$39.2 million.

Depreciation and Amortization. Depreciation and amortization expense for 20242025 increased $59.0$49.7 million. The increase is primarily due to increased amortization of capitalized internal-use software costs resulting from technology transformation capital spending incurred previously, aspartially welloffset asby higherlower amortization of acquisition-related purchased intangible assets related to the BVS acquisition.intangibles. The impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates led to a decrease in depreciation and amortization expense of $2.9$0.3 million.

Depreciation and amortization expense increased $50.7$59.0 million in 20232024 compared to 2022.2023. The increase is primarily due to increased amortization of capitalized internal-use software andcosts system costsresulting from technology transformation capital spending incurred previously, as well as higher amortization of purchased intangible assets related to recentthe acquisitions.BVS acquisition. The impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates led to a decrease in depreciation and amortization expense of $1.5$2.9 million.

Total company operating margin decreased by 0.3 percentage points in 2025 versus 2024 and increased by 0.6 percentage points in 2024 versus 20232023. The margin decrease in 2025 is primarily due to higher royalty, revenue share and decreasedpurchased data and information costs, as well as increased amortization of capitalized internal-use software costs resulting from technology transformation capital spending incurred previously. The increase in operating expenses is partially offset by 2.9higher percentagereported points in 2023 versus 2022.revenue. The margin increase in 2024 is due to the aforementioned higher reported revenue, partially offset by increased operating expenses and depreciation and amortization expenses during the period. The margin decrease in 2023 was due to increased operating expenses and amortization expenses during the periods, partially offset by the higher reported revenue during the periods.

Interest Expense and Other Income (Expense) Income,, net

Interest expense decreased in 2024,2025 when compared to 2023,2024 primarily due to lower overallweighted average debt balances andduring 2025 compared to 2024, partially offset by a lowerhigher weighted average cost of debt in 2025 when compared to 2023.2024.

Interest expense increaseddecreased in 2023,2024 when compared to 2022,2023 due to higherlower interest rates attributable tooverall debt agreements entered into during 2022balances and 2023,a as well as higherlower weighted average cost of debt balances in 2023 when compared to 2022.2023.

The decreaseincrease in other (expense) income, net in 20232025 wasis primarily due to thea gains associated with the sale of equity method investments and higher fair market value adjustment of our investmentdecrease in BVS in 2022 that did not recur in 2023. We also incurred higher pension expense and other non-operating expenses in 20232025 as compared to 2022.2024. For 20232025 and 2022,2024, we recorded a $0.1gain of $0.6 million and a loss andof $1.4$11.6 million gain,million, respectively, on the mark-to-market adjustment of our pension and postretirement benefit plans.

Our effective tax rate was 25.1%25.8% for 2024,2025, up from 23.2%25.1% for the same period in 2023.2024. Our effective tax rate is higher for the year ended December 31, 20242025 compared to 20232024 primarily due to aless decreasefavorable discrete tax benefits in taxthe creditscurrent and an increase in tax on foreign earnings in 2024 compared to 2023.period.

Our effective tax rate was 23.2%25.1% for 2023,2024, downup from 24.7%23.2% for the same period in 2022.2023. Our effective tax rate was lowerhigher for the year ended December 31, 20232024 compared to 20222023 primarily due to the write off of a deferreddecrease in tax liabilitycredits related to our original investment in BVS, which was no longer necessary given the acquisition of the company in the third quarter of 2023, partially offset byand an increase in thetax on foreign rateearnings differential.in 2024 compared to 2023.

Workforce Solutions revenue increased 5%6% in 20242025 compared to 2023, which was2024 due to an increase in non-mortgageboth diversified markets and mortgage verticals within Verification Services, partially offset by declines in Employer Services and Verification Services mortgage revenue.Services.

VerificationWorkforce Services.Solutions Revenuerevenue increased 10%5% in 2024 compared to 2023.2023, Thewhich was due to an increase in revenuediversified ismarkets primarilyverticals duewithin toVerification growth in the government and talent solutions verticals,Services, partially offset by declines in theEmployer Services and Verification Services mortgage vertical.revenue.

Verification Services. Revenue decreasedincreased 1%8% in 20232025 compared to 2022.2024. The decreaseincrease in revenue wasis principally due to declinesgrowth in diversified markets revenue, primarily from growth in the mortgage vertical, partially offset by an increase in the government andgovernment, talent solutions verticals.and consumer lending verticals, as well as growth in mortgage revenue.

Revenue increased 3%10% in 20232024 compared to 20222023. The increase in revenue is primarily due to revenuegrowth fromin recentlythe acquired companiesgovernment and I-9talent andsolutions onboarding services,verticals, partially offset by lower tax credit revenue and a decreasedeclines in unemploymentthe claimsmortgage revenue.vertical.

U.S. Information Solutions revenue increased 10% in 20242025 compared to 20232024 primarily due to growth in Online Information Solutions which is due to an increasegrowth in both mortgage related and consumerdiversified solutionsmarkets online services,revenue, as well as growth in Mortgage Solutions and Financial Marketing Services. Growth in mortgage related online services andis Mortgage Solutions isprimarily due to both product pricing, aspartially welloffset asby newlower products.mortgage credit inquiry volumes in the current year compared to the prior year.

U.S. Information Solutions revenue increased 4%10% in 20232024 compared to 20222023, due to growth in onlineOnline revenueInformation fromSolutions non-mortgagedue to an increase in mortgage related and consumer solutions online services and revenue from acquisitions,services, as well as growth in consumerFinancial servicesMarketing revenue.Services. Mortgage Solutions revenue also declinedGrowth in 2023 compared to 2022. The decline in Mortgage Solutions and mortgage related online revenueservices was due to declinesboth inproduct mortgagepricing, creditas inquirywell volumes.as new products.

Online Information Solutions. Revenue for 2024 increased 9%11% compared to 2023, driven by higher mortgage related online services due to product pricing and new products, as well as continued growth of consumer solutions revenue.

Financial Marketing Services. Revenue increased 6% in 2025 compared to 2024 and increased 5% in 2024 compared to 20232023. drivenThe byincrease in both periods is primarily due to growth in credit marketing services.

Latin America. Local currency revenue increased 69%10% in 20242025 as compared to 2023.2024. The increase is primarily due to revenue from the BVS acquisition, which occurred in the third quarter of 2023, as well as local currency growth in Argentina.Argentina, RevenueBrazil fromand the BVS acquisition was $159.3 million in 2024, compared to $64.8 million in 2023.Paraguay. Local currency fluctuations against the U.S. dollar negatively impacted revenue by $107.1$21.4 million, or 37%,5%, in 2024, primarily from Argentina.Argentina and Brazil. Reported revenue increased 32%5% in 20242025 as compared to 2023.2024.

Local currency revenue increased 56%69% in 20232024 as compared to 20222023. reflectingThe increase was primarily due to revenue from the BVS acquisitionacquisition, andwhich occurred in the third quarter of 2023, as well as local currency growth in ArgentinaArgentina. andRevenue acrossfrom Centralthe America,BVS primarilyacquisition relatedwas $159.3 million in 2024, compared to growth$64.8 million in revenue from an acquired company in the Dominican Republic.2023. Local currency fluctuations against the U.S. dollar negatively impacted revenue by $31.8$107.1 million, or 15%,37%, in 2023,2024, primarily from Argentina. Reported revenue increased 41%32% in 20232024 as compared to 2022.2023.

Europe. Local currency revenue increased 8%4% in 20242025 as compared to 2023,2024, primarily due to growth in the debt services andconsumer credit reporting businesses.businesses in the U.K and Spain, partially offset by declines in the direct to consumer business in the U.K. Local currency fluctuations against the U.S. dollar positively impacted revenue by $8.0$13.5 million, or 3%, for 2024.2025. Reported revenue increased 11%7% in 20242025 as compared to 2023.2024.

Canada. Local currency revenue increased 4%8% in 2024 as compared to 2023.2023, Revenueprimarily growthdue in 2024 is driven byto growth in the directdebt to consumerservices and commercialcredit reporting businesses. Local currency fluctuations against the U.S. dollar negativelypositively impacted revenue by $4.0$8.0 million, or 2%,3%, infor 2024. Reported revenue increased 2%11% in 2024 as compared to 2023.

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand the results of operations and financial condition of Equifax Inc. MD&A is provided as a supplement to and should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying Notes to Financial Statements in Item 1 of this Form 10-Q. This section discusses the results of our operations for the three and six months ended MarchJune 31,30, 2026 compared to the three and six months ended MarchJune 31,30, 2025. All percentages have been calculated using unrounded amounts for each of the periods presented.

We currently operate in four global regions: North America (U.S. and Canada), Asia Pacific (Australia, New Zealand and India), Europe (the U.K., Spain and Portugal) and Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay), Europe (the U.K., Spain and Portugal) and Asia Pacific (Australia, New Zealand and India). We maintain support operations in Chile, Costa Rica, India and Ireland. We also have investments in consumer and/or commercial credit information companies through joint ventures in Brazil, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Geographic Information. We currently have operations in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, India, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, the U.K., Uruguay and the U.S. We also have investments in consumer and/or commercial credit information companies through joint ventures in Brazil, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore. Approximately 78%77% of our revenue was generated in the U.S. during the three months ended MarchJune 31,30, 2026 and 2025. Approximately 78% and 77% of our revenue was generated in the U.S. during the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

Key Performance Indicators. Management focuses on a variety of key indicators to monitor operating and financial performance. These performance indicators include measurements of operating revenue, change in operating revenue, operating income, operating margin, net income, diluted earnings per share, cash provided by operating activities and capital expenditures. The key performance indicators for the three and six months ended MarchJune 31,30, 2026 and 2025 were as follows:

•On April 21, 2025, the Board of Directors terminated the existing share repurchase authorization and approved an authorization to repurchase up to $3 billion of shares of common stock. We repurchased 1.3 million1,763,013 shares of our common stock on the open market for $260.0$300.0 million, excluding brokerage commissions and excise taxes of $2.1$2.9 million, during the second quarter of 2026. We repurchased 3,107,628 shares of our common stock on the open market for $560.0 million, excluding brokerage commissions and excise taxes of $5.0 million, during the first six months of 2026. We repurchased 479,506 shares of our common stock on the open market for $127.4 million, excluding brokerage commissions and excise taxes of $0.7 million, during the first six months of 2025, all of which was purchased in the three months ended MarchJune 31,30, 2026.2025. WeAt didJune not30, 2026, approximately $1.5 billion was available for future purchases of common stock under our share repurchase any shares from public market transactions during the first three months of 2025.authorization.

•On February 25, 2026, the Board of Directors approved an increase in our quarterly cash dividend to $0.56 per share beginning in the first quarter of 2026. We paid out $67.1$133.5 million, or $0.56$1.12 per share, in dividends to our shareholders during the first threesix months of 2026.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS—THREE AND SIX MONTHS ENDED MARCHJUNE 31,30, 2026 AND 2025

Revenue increased by $206.9$163.1 million, or 14%,11%, and increased by $370.0 million, or 12%, for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. Total revenue was positively impacted by foreign exchange rates, which increased revenue by $22.3$14.9 million, or 1%, and $37.2 million, or 1%, for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025.

Revenue inincreased thefor firstboth quarter of 2026 increasedperiods due to revenue growth in USIS, Workforce Solutions and International. USIS revenue growth is primarily due to growth in mortgage and diversified markets revenue in Online Information Solutions. Workforce Solutions revenue growth is primarily due to growth in Verification Services, partially offset by declines in Employer Services. International revenue growth is driven by growth in all four regions in which we operate.

Cost of services increased $110.4$109.1 million and $219.5 million in the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase for both periods is primarily due to higher royalty costsand inrevenue USIS.share costs. The impact of changes in foreign exchange rates on costs of services led to an increase of $11.6$7.3 million and $18.9 million in the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $36.1$38.3 million and $74.5 million for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025,2025. The increase for both periods is primarily due to an increase in litigation expense, principally due to a charge for a legal settlement associated with the resolution of claims related to a previously-disclosed coding issue, net of expected insurance proceeds. The increase in the first six months is also due to increases in peoplediscretionary costsexpenses and discretionarypeople expenses.costs. The impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates led to an increase in selling, general and administrative expenses of $6.0$3.7 million and $9.7 million for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025.

Depreciation and amortization expense increased $8.5$12.3 million and $20.8 million for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase for both periods is primarily due to increased amortization of capitalized internal-use software costs resulting from technology transformation capital spending incurred previously. The impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates led to an increase in depreciation and amortization expense of $4.2$3.2 million and $7.5 million for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025.

Total company operating margin increaseddecreased by 1.11.7 percentage pointpoints and decreased by 0.4 percentage points in the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 20252025. The decrease for both periods is primarily due to the aforementioned increase in revenue,royalty costs, litigation expense and amortization of capitalized internal-use software costs resulting from technology transformation capital spending incurred previously, partially offset by anthe increase in royalty costs.revenue.

Interest expense increased by $2.8$6.7 million and $9.5 million in the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase for theboth first quarter of 2026periods is primarily due to higher weighted average debt balances when compared to the firstsame quarterperiods ofin 2025.

Other income, net, decreased by $1.1 million and increased $1.3by $0.3 million in the firstsecond quarter of 2026 and in the first six months of 2026, respectively, as compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The decrease in the second quarter is primarily due to lower interest income. The increase forin the first quartersix of 2026months is primarily due to higher gains on foreign currency transactions and higher equity investment income, partially offset by lower interest income as compared to the firstsame quarterperiod ofin 2025.

Our effective income tax rate was 26.5%27.9% for the three months ended MarchJune 31,30, 2026 compared to 27.8%26.3% for the three months ended MarchJune 31,30, 2025. Our effective income tax rate was lower27.3% for the threesix months ended MarchJune 31,30, 2026 as compared to 26.9% for the samesix months ended June 30, 2025. Our effective income tax rate was higher for each comparative period in 20252026 due to more favorable discrete taxbenefits benefits,recorded in 2025, none of which were individually material.

Consolidated net income decreased by $7.5 million and increased by $39.5$32.0 million for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The decrease for the second quarter is primarily due to higher litigation expense from the previously discussed legal settlement, as well as higher interest expense. The increase for the first quartersix of 2026months is primarily due to increasedhigher operating income,revenue, partially offset by higher litigation expense from the previously discussed legal settlement, as well as higher income tax and interest expense.

Workforce Solutions revenue increased by 10%7% inand 8% for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase for both periods is primarily due to an increase in both diversified markets and mortgage verticals within Verification Services, partially offset by declines in Employer Services.

Verification Services. Revenue increased by 14%7% and 10% for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase in revenue for both periods is primarily due to growth in the government,talent solutions, mortgage and talentconsumer lending verticals. The increase in the first six months is also due to growth in the government solutions verticals.vertical, while the increase in the second quarter is partially offset by a decline in the government solutions vertical.

EmployerRevenue Services.increased Revenueby 3% and decreased by 4%1% in the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase in the second quarter is primarily due to an increase in I-9 and onboarding services. The decrease forin the first quartersix of 2026months is primarily due to lower revenue from our ACA related services, partially offset by higheran increase in I-9 and onboarding services.

U.S. Information SolutionsUSIS revenue increased by 21%17% and 19% for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase for both periods is due to growth in Online Information SolutionsSolutions, which is due to growth in mortgage revenuerevenue, primarily due to product pricing and higher volumes, as well as growth in diversified markets revenue.

Online Information Solutions. Revenue increased by 24%19% and 21% for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase for both periods is driven by growth in mortgage related services, primarily due to product pricing and higher volumes, as well as growth in consumer solutions revenue and diversified markets online services.

USIS Operating Margin. USIS operating margin decreased to 20.2%22.5% for the firstsecond quarter of 2026 from 21.1%22.6% for the second quarter of 2025 and decreased to 21.4% for the first quartersix months of 2026 from 21.9% for the first six months of 2025. The margin decrease for both periods is primarily due to an increase in mortgage related royalty costs, partially offset by the aforementioned increaseincreases in revenue.

International revenue increased by 11%8% and 10% in the firstsecond quarter and the first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. On a local currency basis, revenue increased by 4% infor both the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 2026,2026 compared to the same periods in 2025, driven by local currency growth in Asia Pacific, Canada, Latin America and Europe. Local currency fluctuations against the U.S. dollar positively impacted revenue by $22.3$14.9 million, or 7%,4%, for the second quarter of 2026, and by $37.2 million, or 6%, for the first quartersix months of 2026.

Latin America. On a local currency basis, revenue increased by 3% and 4% for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase infor revenueboth periods is primarily due to local currency growth in Paraguay,Brazil, ChileArgentina and Argentina.Chile. Local currency fluctuations against the U.S. dollar positively impacted revenue by $4.8$5.9 million, or 6%, and $10.7 million, or 5%, for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 2026.2026, respectively. Reported revenue increased by 9% for the second quarter and first quartersix months of 2026 compared to the same periodperiods in 2025.

Europe. On a local currency basis, revenue increased by 1% for both the second quarter and first quartersix months of 2026 compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase for both periods is primarily due to growth in the consumer credit reporting businesses in the U.K. and Spain, partially offset by declines in the debt services and direct to consumer and debt services businesses in the U.K. Local currency fluctuations against the U.S. dollar positively impacted revenue by $6.6$0.8 million, or 8%,1%, and $7.3 million, or 4%, for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 2026.2026, respectively. Reported revenue increased 9%by 2% and 5% for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025.

Asia Pacific. On a local currency basis, revenue increased by 6%7% for the second quarter and first quartersix months of 2026 compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase for both periods is primarily driven by growth in the commercial and identity and fraud businesses in Australia.Australia, as well as growth in India. Local currency fluctuations against the U.S. dollar positively impacted revenue by $7.9$8.2 million, or 10%, and $16.1 million, or 10%, for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 2026.2026, respectively. Reported revenue increased by 16%17% for the second quarter and first quartersix months of 2026 compared to the same periodperiods in 2025.

Canada. On a local currency basis, revenue increased by 8%6% forand 7% in the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase for both periods is primarily driven by growth in the direct to consumer and consumer credit reporting businesses. Local currency fluctuations against the U.S. dollar positively impacted revenue by $3.0less than 1%, and $3.1 million, or 4%,2%, for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 2026.2026, respectively. Reported revenue increased by 12%6% and 9% for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025.

General corporate expense increased by $18.7$33.5 million and $52.3 million for the firstsecond quarter and first six months of 20262026, respectively, compared to the same periodperiods in 2025. The increase for both periods is primarily due to higher peoplelitigation costs,expense, which was primarilyprincipally due to highera incentivecharge planfor costs,a andlegal highersettlement professionalassociated fees.with the resolution of claims related to a previously-disclosed coding issue, net of expected insurance proceeds.

Funds generated by operating activities, our $1.5$2.0 billion five yearfive-year unsecured revolving credit facility ("Revolver") and related commercial paper ("CP") program, more fully described below, are our most significant sources of liquidity. At MarchJune 31,30, 2026, we had $183.4$170.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, as well as $0.5$0.6 billion available to borrow under our Revolver.

We believe that our existing cash balance, liquidity available from our CP and Revolver, cash generated from ongoing operations and continued access to public or private debt markets will be sufficient to satisfy cash requirements over the next 12 months and beyond. While there was no significant change in our cash requirements as of MarchJune 31,30, 2026 compared to December 31, 2025, we have utilized existing CP capacity, together with cash from operating activities, to meet our current obligations.

Fund Transfer Limitations. The ability of certain of our subsidiaries and associated companies to transfer funds to the U.S. may be limited, in some cases, by certain restrictions imposed by foreign governments. These restrictions do not, individually or in the aggregate, materially limit our ability to service our indebtedness, meet our current obligations or pay dividends. As of MarchJune 31,30, 2026, we held $158.1$153.2 million of cash in our foreign subsidiaries.

Information about our cash flows, by category, is presented in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. The following table summarizes our cash flows for the threesix months ended MarchJune 31,30, 2026 and 2025:

Cash provided by operating activities in the threesix months ended MarchJune 31,30, 2026 increaseddecreased by $18.0$3.3 million compared to the prior year period primarily due to increased net income, partially offset by changes in our working capital position.position, partially offset by increased net income.

Capital expenditures paid in the first threesix months of 2026 increased by $13.2$26.0 million from the same period in 2025 primarily due to higher capitalized software costs and spending on technology infrastructure as compared to the first quartersix months of 2025.

We have access to a $1.5$2.0 billion five yearfive-year unsecured revolving credit facility (the Revolver),. whichDuring maturesthe insecond Augustquarter 2028.of 2026, we increased the commitments of the Revolver from an aggregate principal amount of $1.5 billion to an aggregate principal amount of $2 billion. Borrowings under the Revolver may be used for working capital, for capital expenditures, to refinance existing debt, to finance acquisitions and for other general corporate purposes. The Revolver includes an option to request a maximum of three one-year extensions of the maturity date any time after the first anniversary of the closing date of the Revolver. In MayApril 2025,2026, we exercised our secondthird option to extend the maturity date by one year, from August 20272028 to August 2028,2029, andwith thusrespect haveto one$1.9 extensionbillion optionof remaining.the aggregate Revolver commitments. The termination date with respect to the remaining $100 million of the Revolver commitments is August 25, 2028. Availability of the Revolver is reduced by the outstanding principal balance of our CP notes and by any letters of credit issued under the Revolver.

During the second quarter of 2026, we increased the size of our CP program from $1.5 billion to $2.0 billion, consistent with the increase in our Revolver. Our $1.5$2.0 billion CP program has been established to allow for borrowing through the private placement of CP notes with maturities ranging from overnight to 397 days. We may use the proceeds of CP notes for general corporate purposes. The CP program is supported by our Revolver and the total amount of CP notes that may be issued is reduced by the amount of any outstanding borrowings under our Revolver and by any letters of credit issued under the facility.

As of MarchJune 31,30, 2026, there were $1.3 million of letters of credit outstanding, no outstanding borrowings under the Revolver and $958.5$1.4 millionbillion of outstanding CP notes. Availability under the Revolver was $0.5$0.6 billion at MarchJune 31,30, 2026.

At MarchJune 31,30, 2026, approximately 82%74% of our debt was fixed-rate debt and 18%26% was variable-rate debt. Our variable-rate debt consists of outstanding amounts under our CP program. The interest rates reset periodically, depending on the terms of the respective financing agreements. At MarchJune 31,30, 2026, the interest rate on our variable-rate debt ranged from 3.87%3.88% to 4.18%.4.20%.

Net short-term borrowings (payments) primarily represent net borrowings or repayments of outstanding amounts under our CP program.

There were no borrowings on long-term debt for the first threesix months of 2026 or 2025. There were $1.4 million of paymentsPayments on long-term debt for the first threesix months of 2026 andprimarily thererepresent repayment of our $275.0 million 3.25% Senior Notes during the second quarter of 2026 with CP borrowings. There were no payments on long-term debt for the first threesix months of 2025.

As of MarchJune 31,30, 2026, we were in compliance with all of our debt covenants.

We do not have any credit rating triggers that would accelerate the maturity of a material amount of the outstanding debt; however, our 3.25% senior notes due 2026, 5.1% senior notes due 2027, 5.1% senior notes due 2028, 4.8% senior notes due 2029, 3.1% senior notes due 2030, 2.35% senior notes due 2031 and 7.0% senior notes due 2037 (collectively, the “Senior Notes”) contain change in control provisions. If the Company experiences a change of control or publicly announces an intention to effect a change of control and the rating on the Senior Notes is lowered by Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) and Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) below an investment grade rating within 60 days of such change of control or notice thereof, then the Company will be required to offer to repurchase the Senior Notes at a price equal to 101% of the aggregate principal amount of the Senior Notes plus accrued and unpaid interest.