Roughly 26 million people, or one out of every 10 Americans, lacks a credit history, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported Tuesday.
The report also found that an additional 19 million people do not have a credit history detailed enough or recent enough to be given a credit score, and that blacks and Hispanics were more likely to lack a comprehensive credit background.
“Credit reports and credit scores can determine the terms of people’s mortgages, whether they qualify for auto loans, or if they are eligible for different credit cards,” bureau Director Richard Cordray said. Cordray noted that credit scores are also used by some employers and landlords in assessing applications for jobs or housing.
The lack of credit backgrounds for millions of people “may be limiting opportunities for some of the most economically vulnerable consumers,” Cordray warned.
The report found that nearly one in three residents of poor neighborhoods are “credit invisible,” meaning that they do not have any history tracked by one of the three consumer reporting agencies.
While 9 percent of white Americans lack credit histories, about 15 percent of black and Hispanic people do.
The bureau said that its study was based on data from its Consumer Credit Panel, a nationally representative sample of credit data bought from one of the reporting agencies.
The bureau did not propose any specific action related to the report.
In addition to regulating financial companies and products, the bureau has tried to educate or otherwise extend help to consumers. It announced earlier this year that it had expanded access to credit scores and succeeded in getting agencies to place less weight on medical debts.
