Intuit to Share Payroll Data with Equifax

According to Intuit, QuickBooks Payroll and Intuit Payroll information will be shared with Equifax beginning early fall 2021. Intuit's data share will be automatic for all QuickBooks Payroll and Intuit Payroll customers unless those customers opt out. 

Intuit's new service will allow employees of 1.4 million small businesses who do not opt out of the service to have easy access to employment and income verification when applying for a loan or line of credit. You can view Intuit's FAQ here. 

Intuit announced this news to QuickBooks Payroll and Intuit Payroll users by email with a link to the new terms of services, saying, "Your QuickBooks Online Payroll subscription will include an automated income and employment verification service powered by The Work Number from Equifax."

Equifax is well-known not only as one of the top three consumer credit bureaus, but also because of their data breach between May and July 2017 that affected 147.9 million Americans. Through a settlement with the United States Federal Trade Commission, Equifax offered affected users settlement funds and free credit monitoring. 

According to their website, The Work Number currently maintains a database of nearly 115 million records and makes those records available to "credentialed verifiers with permissible purpose access to income and employment data" in those records.

Intuit will not be the only payroll company to share payroll data with Equifax. The Work Number website lists the following payroll partners - ADP, alight, Avionte, onesource, Proliant, Ultimate Software and workday.

Businesses currently using QuickBooks Payroll or Intuit Payroll who wish to opt out of this service must do so by July 31, 2021 by following these steps.

1. Sign in to QuickBooks Online Payroll.

2. Go to Payroll Settings.

3. In the Shared data section, select the pencil and uncheck the box.

4. Select Save.