The National Consumers Telecom and Utility Exchange (NCTUE)

Illustration showing NCTUE team NCTUE is a consortium of over 60 member companies from the Telco, Utility, and Pay TV industries. The Board is comprised of members from Telecommunications, Pay TV companies and Utility companies. The Exchange is managed by an Executive Director and a 12-member Board of Directors. Exchange membership is governed by member agreements, operating guidelines and bylaws.

NCTUE Mission Statement

To serve as an FCRA-compliant credit data exchange service for the Telecommunication,
PayTV, and Utility industries by submitting industry specific payment information to enable
members of the exchange to better identify and manage financial risks and to better monitor
customer relationships during the life of the service affiliation.

Key Facts about NCTUE

There are currently 67 NCTUE members.
The NCTUE is a consumer reporting agency and complies with Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requirements.
NCTUE members also are required to comply with FCRA requirements as data furnishers to a consumer reporting agency and as users of consumer reports, including adverse action notification requirements.
The NCTUE database is housed and managed by Equifax Information Services, LLC. The database does not include Equifax credit information and Equifax is not a member of NCTUE.

History of the NCTUE

In the late 1980s the business credit executives of long-distance carriers and the National Association of Credit Management Southwest (NACMSW) formed the National Telecommunications Credit Group.

For several years the leaders of the Credit Group had expressed a desire to establish a national database. In August 1992 the members of the Credit Group voted to devote time at their next meetings to the discussion of the establishment of a national database.

During a February 1993 meeting an informal committee made up of Credit Group members and a representative of NACMSW was formed to pursue the establishment of a national database to be owned and operated in accordance with guidelines set by the members.

The members of the committee requested approval from their legal departments to proceed with the establishment of a national database. Attorneys gave permission for the committee to proceed under the legal guidance of a senior attorney from AT&T and a senior attorney from MCI.

After numerous meetings and teleconferences, in October 1993 the National Telecommunications Data Exchange (NTDE), a non-profit corporation, was founded by AT&T, MCI, Sprint, Allnet, Business Telecom, Inc., Cable & Wireless, Inc., LDDS Metromedia, and Wiltel, Inc. A representative of NACMSW was chosen as executive director and vice president of NTDE.

In November 1993 NTDE started the process of interviewing potential vendors and developing the RFP (Request for Proposal) to be sent to the vendors. The attorneys emphasized the importance of keeping NTDE independent from any vendor. At the same time the attorneys started the process of obtaining approval from The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. Approval was obtained on March 8, 1994.

Equifax was selected to be the vendor and NTDE and Equifax signed a contract on July 25, 1994. After numerous meetings, teleconferences, and extensive testing the national database became active in August 1995.

In 1996 telecommunications consumer executives, with the assistance of NACMSW, started the process of developing a national database of consumers who do not pay their local and long distance phone bills. The process followed very closely the same process in the development of the NTDE database, with the exception of having to address the laws governing consumer credit and the utility regulations of the various states.

The National Consumer Telecommunications Data Exchange (NCTDE) was founded in 1997 by AT&T, Bellsouth, Citizens, Frontier, IXC, MCI, NYNEXLD, Sprint, and Worldcom. A representative of NACMSW was selected as executive director and vice president of NCTDE. The Justice Department in September 1997 approved the creation of the database and Equifax was selected as vendor.