Financial Services

In today’s shifting economy, many credit unions continue to focus on maintaining adequate liquidity. Lower interest rates over the past [...]

From record inflation and rising interest rates, to wavering consumer spending power and a potential hiring slowdown, the ever-changing [...]

Starting ahead is critical in today's economy. As we discussed in last month's Market Pulse webinar, 2022 was full of challenges, but kn [...]

Where should consumer and commercial lenders look for responsible growth in 2023? While lenders should be judicious in challenging econo [...]

Big banks are flush with data and analytic resources. Optimizing their credit risk models is a seamless, efficient process. It’s [...]

Despite high-profile layoffs in the technology and media industries, the 2022 labor market has been a bright spot in the economy. How sh [...]

The demographic composition of current and prospective customer bases is changing. And, most financial providers recognize that. Consumers [...]

With 2022 almost in the books, the US economy is still experiencing pandemic whiplash and general economic uncertainty. We’ve been chall [...]

You might be asking yourself the $20 trillion-dollar question: are we in a recession? And, what does that mean for risk in my portfolio? [...]

The IMF is predicting global growth may slow to 3.2% in 2022 and 2.7% in 2023, down from 6% in 2021. How will the domestic economy fare [...]

(This blog is the second in a two part series.) The economy is continuing to fluctuate. Financial marketers are starting to shift priorities [...]

Today’s credit unions want more account growth, more operational efficiency, and more digital services.¹ Yet, they also want something else. [...]

Credit union marketers have a full plate. They need to attract new members, deepen relationships with existing members, and provide a positi [...]

(This blog is the first in a two part series.) Your financial services firm likely serves a wide range of consumers – each with varying fina [...]

Confidently serve below-prime members by seeing the bigger picture Approved. It’s a magic word. Especially for the estimated 77 million Ame [...]

During our July 28 Market Pulse webinar, our panel of experts discussed what lenders and Gen-Z should be doing during the current student lo [...]

Consumers are eager to make up for lost time as they depart for their summer vacations and settle back into their traditions. But with infla [...]

For our May 19 Market Pulse webinar our presenters discussed the recent economic update, consumer credit trends, and small business trends, [...]

The more digital the world becomes, the more opportunities there are for fraud to sneak in. This can lead to many unanswered questions for c [...]

As a marketer and consumer, you know how much time people spend on their devices and looking at screens. But, reaching the right online audi [...]

This is a recap of our April 14 Market Pulse webinar, where our panel of experts discussed the recent supply chain crisis, as well as the la [...]

Turbulence in the economy continues to create challenges for consumers and lenders alike. The wide range in how consumers are being impa [...]

This month’s Market Pulse webinar presenters included Dylan Hall, Co-Founder and CEO at Safe Rate; Peter Hellwig, Co-Founder at Atmos Financ [...]

During our March 10 Market Pulse webinar, our panel of experts discussed details pertaining to entrepreneurs and how they can participate in [...]

For much of the last century, population growth in the U.S. has remained relatively stable. But that is changing, and your business should p [...]

As you think about your business plans in 2022, having access to key data to make informed business decisions will be important. For our Jan [...]

Conventional wisdom tells us there are two main ways to achieve your revenue targets in 2022. For most companies, it boils down to either gr [...]

For our December 2 Market Pulse webinar, our panel of experts discussed the current and future state of the energy industry. This month’s pr [...]

Buy Now, Pay Later has continued global growth, with U.S. adoption up sharply over the last two years. The service, which originated from Au [...]

For our December 2 Market Pulse webinar, our panel of experts discussed the current and future state of the energy market. This month’s pres [...]

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) financing is soaring in popularity this holiday season. Consumers are using these loans to purchase everything fro [...]

Today, financial institutions need to be agile, fast, and flexible to keep pace with the changing market and customer dynamics. Digitization [...]

Optimized trust enables organizations to find, reach, and approve ideal customers in familiar and unexpected places. In this recap of our No [...]

The mortgage industry is constantly changing. But these lending FAQs can help you keep up with the latest trends and gain a competitive edge [...]

Buying a home can be stressful and confusing — especially if a consumer is trying to learn about credit and how their credit score can impac [...]

Necessity is the mother of invention. Just ask banking, fintech, and retail businesses, many of which compressed a decade of e-commerce inn [...]

We are living in a digital-first world and trust is more than secure transactions. During our November 11 Market Pulse: Optimizing Trust in [...]

This is a recap of our October 7 Market Pulse webinar, where we discussed the importance of credit unions in gaining access to credit. This [...]

Successful credit unions work hard to attract new members, strengthen existing member relationships, and give the community direct access to [...]

The economy is recovering and the outlook for small businesses is continuing to remain strong. Fintechs have started to step away from tradi [...]

Consumers and businesses need access to credit and lending to live and perform. Yet, 91.5 million consumers struggle to gain access to mains [...]

It’s no big news that today’s consumers are savvier than ever. They expect online interactions — and they better be seamless, or you risk lo [...]

As the economy recovers the outlook for small businesses remains strong. Fintechs have started to step away from traditional credit data and [...]

The banking landscape is changing. Challenger banks, also known as neobanks, have taken off in popularity, especially since more people move [...]

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services skyrocketed during the 2020 ecommerce boom. These services soared nearly 50% from July 2020 through March [...]

Post 2020, financial inclusion is the common theme This week, top data and analytics experts from Equifax and around the world will discuss [...]

Markets are continuously changing, whether it’s based on new customer behaviors, unforeseen economic forces or new competitors looking to di [...]

At the Virtual Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) Law & Industry Conference on July 12-14 2021, Peter Maynard, Senior Vice Presid [...]

A More Inclusive Credit Scoring Model Economists refer to the U.S. recovery as ‘K-shaped’, meaning that one segment of the population is pr [...]

In this recap of our June 24 webinar, “Market Pulse: Accelerating Access to Credit,” Chris Wheat, Co-President at JPMorgan Chase Institute; [...]

Demand Growing for Small Business Credit With economists predicting a GDP growth rate of 6.5% in the fourth quarter and consumer spending b [...]

In this recap of our June 3 webinar, “Market Pulse: The Post-Pandemic Small Business Economy,” Evan Leaphart, Founder and CEO of Kiddie Kred [...]

As we emerge from the pandemic, small businesses are integral to the health of the post-COVID economy. For our June 3 Market Pulse webinar, [...]

Businesses and consumers alike are experiencing information overload as they try to understand how the world is evolving in light of the COV [...]

The Responsible Use of Data The concept of privacy has changed dramatically since the pre-internet days -- and even since the 2010’s. Just [...]

Many businesses operate in a transactional environment that requires fast credit decisioning. However, a variety of obstacles prevent them f [...]

In this recap of our May 6 webinar, “Market Pulse: Growth Amid Rising Fraud,” Amy Crews Cutts, President and Chief Economist at AC Cutts &am [...]

“Losses due to identity theft increased by 42% from 2019 to 2020 primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Aite Group estimates that losses fr [...]

The pandemic-fueled record-breaking increase in digital commerce has required businesses to combat fraud across the buyer’s journey, further [...]

Light at the End of the Tunnel The U.S. economic forecast is strong. In fact, Moody’s Analytics’ outlook for 2021 calls for 6.4% growth in [...]

The pandemic has impacted U.S. consumer finances and attitudes in a major way. Furloughs and layoffs turned the financial health of some hou [...]

Identity Fraud Accelerates in 2020 The year 2020 was a heyday for online fraudsters. There are a couple of reasons why. First, consumers we [...]

With an increase in vaccinations, a second stimulus check and a wealth of pent-up demand, consumers are ready and willing to spend. For the [...]

In this recap of our March 4 webinar, "Market Pulse: Return to Opportunity for Commercial Real Estate," Sarah Briscoe, senior statistical an [...]

Consumers maintain a tight grip on credit card spending in Q1 2021 NOTE: This is a March 2021 update to the original article published Dec. [...]

This is a recap of the March 4 webinar, Market Pulse: Return to Opportunity for Commercial Real Estate. We’re sharing key insights on the fu [...]

While the global pandemic continues to dramatically impact businesses, project managers and commercial real estate (CRE) professionals want [...]

After a year of credit tightening in 2020, consumer credit remains down across the board. That includes balances, utilization and delinquenc [...]

"The truth is, your identity has already been stolen. More than 800 million security breaches have occurred, and we have only about 320 mill [...]

A new administration in 2021 brings many changes. For our February 4 Market Pulse webinar, our panel of experts discussed the potential [...]

In this recap of the January 14 webinar, Market Pulse: DC Power Shift, What's Next?, we share key insights from Amy Crews Cutts, Presid [...]

We captured key insights from the January 14 webinar, Market Pulse: Planning in a K-Shaped Recovery, featuring Cris deRitis, Deputy Chi [...]

How American Express Achieves World-Class Customer Service What does personalization really mean in marketing today? According to Anthony M [...]

Who Benefits from the Fiscal Stimulus? There were three main components to the fiscal stimulus package that Congress approved in late Decem [...]

The start of a new year holds both uncertainty and hope for an economic recovery. For our January 14 Market Pulse webinar, our panel of expe [...]

How will the latest political news and vaccine rollout impact holiday spending? It was a busy news week with talk of a stimulus deal and th [...]

This is a recap of the December 10 webinar, Market Pulse: Consumer Spending Trends and Expectations. We’re sharing key insights offered from [...]

Why Constrained Models are Optimized for Credit Risk Credit scores are used as a big part of a lender’s credit criteria - higher scores mor [...]

Businesses must learn how to take advantage of seasonal spending, while protecting their portfolios and mitigating risk. For the December 10 [...]

Consider Performance Criteria, Algorithms and Labeled Data Fraud prevention is a challenging task, given the mercurial nature of the proble [...]

With a new president-elect and COVID-19 cases on the rise, businesses face some uncertainty as they plan ahead. The November 5 Market Pulse [...]

A Surge in COVID-19, Vaccine Expectations and Economic Stimulus The announcement of a vaccine is certainly cause for an upgrade in the traj [...]

The year 2020 has been turbulent economically across the globe, marked by the continued escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the U.S., ec [...]

Buy Now, Pay Later FinTechs are Well-Positioned to Drive Holiday Sales in 2020 Buy now, pay later FinTechs are well-positioned to enable a [...]

Assessing a Consumer’s Identity is Not as Simple as Reviewing a Document and Putting a Score on it. The concepts of credit and fraud scores [...]

  Sharing Ideas and Best Practices for a Challenging Time This year’s Ignite Live 2020 was buzzing with ideas about how to lead wi [...]

Welcome to our blog series on leveraging the power of data and analytics to maximize identity results. In my previous article, I shared how [...]

The Real Question is “When” - not “If” - we will get Economic Stimulus As we count down to the U.S. election, the question of economic stim [...]

This year has forced financial firms to reevaluate and alter their lending programs. Many lenders have had to work quickly to adapt in order [...]

Why Digital Credit Marketers Should Embrace Email Consumers are relying more on digital channels during the pandemic, whether it's work, sh [...]

It has never been more important for businesses and consumers to trust who they're doing business with. Everyone knows the adage, “trust is [...]

New Podcast Examines Latest Economic Trends for Consumer Credit and Small Business The Market Pulse podcast is a new production from E [...]

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can be felt in many areas – from the record high unemployment rate to companies across various industrie [...]

Buy now, pay later FinTechs face merchant risks and consumer risks simultaneously Thank you for joining me for the second article in a thre [...]

This blog post will be continually updated with timely and relevant insights gleaned from the latest Market Pulse weekly webinar and our U.S [...]

This is part 1 of a 3-part series Accelerating Growth in the FinTech Space While the COVID-19 pandemic is upending the status quo for man [...]

Advance your business with data-driven recession marketing strategies In early June, The National Bureau of Economic Research announced tha [...]

  More data sources is only part of the equation In the era of big data, it is often thought that more data is better, but that's not [...]

Why Proxy Model Explanations of Neural Networks Inevitably Fail  For financial service providers, credit risk modeling is all about id [...]

The coronavirus pandemic has altered the U.S. economic landscape triggering a significant slowdown in marketing activity across industries. [...]

  Data is the New Soil Someone once said: “Data is the new oil.” Then someone else said: “No, data is the new soil.” Any way you look [...]

The Past as a Window to the Future In my last post, we spent time exploring methods to mitigate the loss of predictive power for risk sco [...]

May 2020 Market Pulse Series - FAQs Equifax and our expert guest speakers answered dozens of questions from attendees following our Market [...]

Businesses and Fraudsters Are Adapting The global pandemic of COVID-19 is pushing both businesses and fraudsters to adapt. While the d [...]

During the new realities of the current economic crisis, financial marketers are wondering how to mitigate delinquencies and defaults in ord [...]

Financial brands have slashed volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that doesn’t mean they have stopped marketing, says Equifax partner [...]

Financial firms are focusing on risk mitigation during the pandemic, but that doesn't mean financial marketers should simply wait it out. Wh [...]

How to Mitigate Decline in Predictive Power As you may recall from my last post, we examined the impact accommodation could have on credit [...]

The Numbers Spark More Questions I’m Prasanna Dhoré, Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Equifax. Like you, I’ve been spending a consid [...]

Ground-breaking modeling techniques fueled by machine learning and explainable artificial intelligence (xAI) are transforming the credit dec [...]

In this blog series, Equifax and expert guest speakers answer top of mind questions from attendees on the weekly Market Pulse Webinar Series [...]

Comparing Historic Patterns with Current Trends During Unprecedented Times Great societal changes bring about big questions – and often, a [...]

Authentication Strategies for Today’s Digital Age Carefully orchestrated authentication and identification strategies are critical in today [...]

It's a Priority to Stay Vigilant Many of you are protecting workers by encouraging social distancing and providing work-from-home opti [...]

COVID-19 Has Made Phone, Pay TV and Internet Service Important to Our Quality of Life In the past, expenses such as wireless phones, landli [...]

Did you know that 35% of U.S. households live in rental housing? It's true. [1] But most renters’ on-time housing payments are not reflecte [...]

FICO recently announced that its new FICO®  Score 10 T, set to be released this summer, will include trended data. With this new option [...]

Financial institutions are struggling to keep up with evolving fraud tactics. They tell us their top areas of concern are new account fraud, [...]

Since the last U.S. recession in 2008, financial risk management has seen significant changes. Lending requirements are tighter, verificatio [...]

This question sounds absurd. But this is one of the most important questions lenders must ask themselves when making consumer credit decisi [...]

Digital Disruption Shifts Expectations Credit unions are having to change how they interact with their members. Due to rapidly evolving t [...]

In recent weeks, you may have heard that the Current Expected Credit Loss accounting standard - the regulation known as CECL - has been dela [...]

I grew up watching various science fiction drama TV shows and recall one particular character that could shape-shift. He would shape-shift i [...]

The autumn air is crisp, and the delicious smells from the nearby Halal Guys cart are tempting my senses. It’s a perfect Monday morning in N [...]

The financial sector might see the worst of it, but no business with an online presence is immune to the threat of malicious bots. In fact, [...]

Risk models eventually become less predictive or relevant due to evolving market conditions. New and improved versions routinely replace the [...]

Customer experience and customer growth go hand-in-hand. One way to improve your customer experience is to make better credit offers to more [...]

Did you know that the concept of credit has been around for over 5,000 years? While the methods for evaluating credit have evolved over time [...]

Mobile Usage is Changing Member Experience   Did you know 88% of U.S. online adults now use a smartphone?[i] Living in an era of [...]

Approximately 91.5 million consumers in the U.S. either have no credit file, or have insufficient information in the file to generate a trad [...]

Aite Group Report: Consumer Lenders Anticipate Slowdown If headlines have you wondering when a change in the credit cycle might occur - or [...]

Last week, top data and analytics experts from Equifax and around the world convened in Edinburgh, Scotland for Credit Scoring and Cr [...]

Adaptive AI is the next great advancement in leveraging AI for credit risk. Equifax's Chief Innovation Architect, John Fenstermake [...]

Discover Your Diamond Customers Among the Rough Fraudsters. There is no doubt that today’s cybercriminals are dedicated to their jobs. When [...]

Synthetic Identity Fraud is a Growing Threat We've said it before, and we'll say it again: Synthetic identity fraud is one of the most cunn [...]

This is the final article in a 5-part series. We originally published this post on December 20, 2016 and updated it on July 17, 2019. Today [...]

This blog if the fourth article in a 5-part series. It originally published on January 26, 2017 and was updated on July 17, 2019. Trended d [...]

This is the third article in a 5-part series. We originally published this post on December 20, 2016, and updated it on July 17, 2019. [...]

This is the second article in a 5-part series. We originally published this post on December 20, 2016 and updated it on July 17, 2019. Many [...]

Losses from Synthetic Identity Fraud are Increasing Most of us are familiar with the fable from Greek storyteller, Aesop, about the boy who [...]

This blog post is part of a 5-part series. It was originally published on December 15, 2016 and updated on July 17, 2019. Businesses face [...]

Technology and better security measures are making it more difficult for card counterfeiters to beat the system. So today’s criminals are tu [...]

John Ray, Enterprise Fraud & Identity Analytics Leader, presented “Evolution of Identity” at the Equifax Spark 2019 conference. For more [...]

Information asymmetry occurs when one party to an economic transaction has more or better information than the other party. Information asym [...]

Lenders have historically used credit data to score consumers. But the problem with this approach is that it prevents lenders from seeing “c [...]

Market Conditions Ripe for More Consumer Lending An improving economy means more people feel confident in their ability to pay back a per [...]

Equifax has developed Insight Score™ for Personal Loans, a risk score optimized to help lenders evaluate applicants seeking unsecu [...]

Chris Atwood Financial institutions (banks, credit unions, etc.) can sideline disruption and achieve customer growth with better data util [...]

Today’s consumers have many choices. Go to the grocery store or have meals delivered? Cable, satellite or streaming service? Drive your car [...]

Identify Upward Mobile Customers Imagine if you could predict which prospects and customers would become your most high-spending, loyal pur [...]

It's that time of year when many consumers think about their financial goals for 2019, including planning for retirement. Consumers have end [...]

Not all Affluent Households are Alike Reaching high-income households online isn't hard. There are many digital targeting segments based on [...]

Does Segmentation Go Far Enough? Segmentation for customer acquisition is a mainstay of daily business for most financial services firms. P [...]

Many financial institutions are still evaluating their Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) implementation strategy. With implementation dead [...]

Did you know one of the most common New Year's resolutions is to save more money? If you're a marketer with a financial firm, you may be ask [...]

How Does the Shift to Digital Marketing Impact Measurement? In today’s credit marketing landscape, digital marketing rules. Email is oversh [...]

A Two-step Authentication Approach Consumers are always on the go, using digital devices to make purchases, check account balances and even [...]

Increase the True Return on your Marketing Investment Today's customer journey is convoluted, to say the least. With more marketing channel [...]

In November, Equifax and Moody’s joined forces to recap the economic and credit trends of 2018 -- and look ahead to 2019. This is the second [...]

Digital Channels Have Their Challenges Historically, credit marketing has largely focused on delivering firm offers of credit to tailored P [...]

Envision a busy parent. You might imagine them driving to work or crunching deliverables all morning. Perhaps they're waiting for a doctor’s [...]

Gaining Visibility into Past and Future Performance is Crucial It’s that time of year again - time to analyze your annual marketing perform [...]

Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) will require financial institutions to gather data from various sources. Based on conversation [...]

As a consumer, what's your first thought when you find a credit offer in your stack of snail-mail? Do you open it? Do you wonder why you're [...]

The future of consumer credit is bright. Advancements in risk decisioning, account acquisition and relationship management are transforming [...]

As a financial company, you've probably tested virtually every element of traditional direct mail credit marketing campaigns – from the offe [...]

Synthetic IDs are Like Digital Frankensteins Halloween is always a fun time of year. It inspires a childlike excitement in us all when we s [...]

Savvy marketers know measurement all about understanding the purchase path of consumers who have converted. But to gain the best insights, m [...]

Lending and the Economy While not its direct intent, the new current expected credit loss (CECL) standard could have a significant impact o [...]

Meet Credit Union Members Where They Want to Do Business. It takes more than a “smile and a handshake” to develop a relationship with membe [...]

New technology tools help wealth leaders and advisors work together to grow Assets Under Management (AUM) Growing AUM is a top goal for wea [...]

Instant access to wealth and investment insights a game-changer -- for wealth management leaders and financial advisors Your financial advi [...]

Differentiated data can be a game-changer to help grow your Assets Under Management Prospecting is a numbers game. Optimizing the time and [...]

In this guest post, Wyatt Jefferies, Sr. Director of PR for Equifax, explores the underbanked consumer with Joshua Sledge, Director on the P [...]

This is the fourth post in a 5-part series, Digital Customer Experience We asked Maxie Schmidt-Subramanian, PhD, Principal Analyst wit [...]

This is the second post in a 5-part series, Digital Customer Experience We asked Maxie Schmidt-Subramanian, PhD, Principal Analyst wi [...]

Equifax asked recent webinar guest speaker, Maxie Schmidt-Subramanian, PhD, principal analyst serving customer experience professionals at F [...]

Banks and lenders want to deliver broader financial inclusion that enables them to score and approve more customers. But they don't want to [...]

While brick-and-mortar locations will never fully disappear, consumers continue to make their smartphones the channel of choice for shopping [...]

Communications, Energy, Digital Media Providers Face New Challenges Online and mobile-based platforms are changing how fraudsters operate. [...]

Credit card lending is still on fire. There have never been so many consumer choices for premium cards. They have exclusive names like The R [...]

The CERCA Spring Conference, held on May 16, capped a broadly successful 2018 filing season that saw tax identity theft reduced by [...]

Synthetic identity fraud is a well-organized activity of fraud rings looking for ways to create and then nurture fake identities over a long [...]

We’ve all been there. We try to apply for something or access an account for the first time on our mobile device and get frustrated at the s [...]

What is synthetic identity fraud? Synthetic identity fraud occurs when fraudsters create new, fictitious identities by using different comp [...]

Data Scientists: Do you love the new machine learning techniques but still can’t wrap your head around how to explain your results? Have y [...]

Pathways to Synthetic Identity Fraud Fabricated social security numbers (SSNs) and authorized user abuse are the two main pathways into syn [...]

Over the past year, Equifax met with nearly 20 leading financial institutions to better understand key challenges faced in Wealth Management [...]

Data experts are excited about its potential Algorithms. Logistic regression. Both tried and true analytical methods. Yet, as much as these [...]

Most financial services organizations already have adopted data and advanced analytics strategies. They typically use data to identify poten [...]

After a long day of work, it is unlikely that you will find Millennials standing around reading their mail the way that Boomers might. In fa [...]

Are you a financial institution looking to grow your commercial credit card business?  Focusing on this market makes a lot of sense, es [...]

Which generation controls over 46% of all U.S. invested assets? You guessed it: Baby Boomers. Boomers, born 1946-1964, have benefited hugely [...]

For communications providers, marketing to consumers that have their finances in-check can help boost long-term ROI. Baby Boomers, born 1946 [...]

For financial services organizations, competition from nontraditional market players is eating into revenue. According to PricewaterhouseCoo [...]

Fraudsters make the move to account takeover and application fraud schemes It’s been almost two years since the liability for card-not- pr [...]

Get a Big Picture View of Small Businesses Commercial payment performance data can help provide information on how a business is paying its [...]

While TV has long been a fantastic way to deliver messaging to a wide audience, marketers have recently been attracted to new methods that a [...]

How machine-learning technology can provide insights that drive growth with less risk Soaring increases in computing volume and available d [...]

Advanced analytics, machine learning and logistical regression – traditional methods used to calculate credit scores today. Enter deep neura [...]

Many emerging technology solutions are so robust that it can be difficult to fully maximize their potential. However, Equifax likes a challe [...]

It’s official: siloes don’t work. That’s why Equifax designed BusinessConnect™ to align three important revenue functions—Sales, Credit and [...]

The growth of synthetic identity fraud shows few signs of slowing. Data breaches, social media mining, phishing and other schemes  [...]

Knowledge based authentication (KBA) has been declared dead many times over the past few years.  But what is KBA and what exactly is th [...]

There are as many fraud schemes as there are fraudsters, but they fall into a few general buckets. Here are two of the most common fraud sce [...]

Data from the Equifax Observations and Impacts of U.S. Consumer Wealth Trends report paints a compelling and clarifying picture for financia [...]

Walk into almost any homeowners’ association (HOA) meeting, listen to the discussions about unleashed dogs and roof repairs, and you might t [...]

Today's mass affluent population is as diverse as the banks that serve it, representing a broad spectrum of individuals with varying financi [...]

With housing values on the rise again, the home equity loan is back. Homeowners now have equity in their homes, and many are looking to tap [...]