Equifax Continues Central American Expansion With DICOM Centroamerica Acquisition

Equifax Inc. the global information solutions company, has acquired majority interest in DICOM Centroamerica of El Salvador through its Chilean company, Equifax DICOM. DICOM Centroamerica, based in San Salvador, began operations in late 1996.

DICOM Centroamerica offers information services to financial institutions, retailers and service industries to evaluate credit risk using the latest technologies for database management and communication.

The other shareholders of DICOM Centroamerica include Bienes y Servicios, Grupo Financiero Cuscatlan, Corporacion Banco and Coporacion Excelencia - the leading banks of El Salvador.

"El Salvador is an important link in our global strategy as it establishes the first on-line credit information company in that region," said William R. Phinney, executive vice president and group executive, Equifax, Latin America. "Our goal is for continued development of information companies in Central America to meet the growing needs of those economies consistent with our commitment to all of Latin America," Phinney added.

Equifax launched its Latin American expansion in 1994 with investments in Chile's DICOM S.A., through which Equifax has established information businesses in Colombia and Peru and in Argentina's Organizacion VERAZ S.A. Equifax owns 100% of DICOM and recently expanded its ownership in VERAZ to 66.6%. VERAZ is Argentina's largest consumer credit information company with more than 9 million records in its financial database and 25 million consumer names and addresses.