International revenue increased 10% YoY, with local currency revenue up 19%. However, currency fluctuations negatively impacted revenue by $105.5 million, highlighting the importance of managing currency risk in international operations. The BVS acquisition contributed significantly to the growth.

Workforce Solutions revenue increased 5% YoY, driven by non-mortgage verticals within Verification Services. This diversification strategy mitigates the impact of cyclical downturns in the mortgage market.

The company anticipates a continued decline in U.S. mortgage credit activity in 2025, impacting revenue and operating profit for Workforce Solutions and USIS. This highlights a potential challenge for future growth.

The company states it is in the final stages of its technology transformation. However, the filing acknowledges potential risks if the migration is not completed or if the new systems do not operate as expected, potentially leading to additional costs and customer loss.

As part of the Consumer Settlement, Equifax is implementing business practice commitments related to consumer assistance and information security. These are extensive and require significant management attention, indicating a focus on remediation and improved security posture.

Equifax entered into a consent order with the CFPB and is cooperating with investigations into data accuracy and dispute handling. This demonstrates a proactive approach to resolving regulatory issues, though it also highlights areas of concern.

The 10-K emphasizes that security breaches and disruptions to IT infrastructure could compromise data, interfere with operations, and expose the company to legal liability. The company acknowledges being a routine target of cyber threats.

The company relies extensively on data from external sources, and the loss of access to this data could harm the ability to provide products and services. This dependency creates vulnerability to changes in data availability and cost.

The 10-K discusses the numerous and evolving data privacy and security laws, such as the CCPA and GDPR, which require significant resources for compliance. Failure to comply can result in civil or criminal penalties and reputational harm.

The 10-K acknowledges intense competition across various product and service markets. Competitors may offer superior products or lower prices, potentially decreasing Equifax's sales, market share, and operating margins.

The company emphasizes the importance of data security as a competitive differentiator. Failure to maintain data security can negatively impact reputation and customer relationships.

The 10-K identifies the increasing availability of free or relatively inexpensive consumer credit and other information as a potential risk that could negatively impact demand for some of Equifax's products and services.

The technology transformation is expected to increase efficiency and productivity. However, the 10-K acknowledges the potential for unanticipated problems and expenses during the migration process.

The company relies on outsourced vendors for various functions, and failure of these vendors to perform adequately could impair operations and damage reputation.

The company acknowledges that inaccurate or unreliable data could adversely affect customer decisioning and poses reputational, regulatory compliance, litigation and financial risk.

The company's business strategy highlights leveraging Equifax Cloud capabilities to accelerate innovation, new products and growth. This indicates a commitment to technological advancement.

The company uses AI and machine learning models in product development and operations. However, the 10-K acknowledges risks associated with incorrect design, biased data, and insufficient rights to use data, potentially impacting performance and reputation.

The company continuously invests in new technologies, which can introduce incremental risks if these technologies are incorrectly configured or implemented, or if the data used to prompt them is incomplete, inadequate or biased in some way.

Capital expenditures decreased, indicating a shift in capital allocation priorities as the technology transformation project winds down. This may free up capital for other investments or shareholder returns.

The company issued $650 million in Senior Notes, using the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including debt repayment. This indicates a continued reliance on debt financing.

The company did not repurchase any shares in 2024, which could be viewed as a less shareholder-friendly capital allocation decision, although $520.2 million remains authorized for future repurchases.

The company notes that regulators, investors, customers, employees and other stakeholders have focused on various environmental, social and governance matters, both in the United States and internationally.

The company acknowledges that its ESG initiatives, goals and commitments could be difficult to achieve and costly to implement, indicating potential challenges in meeting sustainability targets.

The company acknowledges that it may face scrutiny, reputational risk, lawsuits or market access restrictions from parties regarding its responsible business priorities, initiatives, goals and commitments.

The company notes that its customers, and therefore its business and revenues, are sensitive to negative changes in general economic conditions, including the demand and availability of affordable credit and capital.

The company acknowledges that government contracts are funded through federal and state budgeting and appropriations processes, whereby a legislature approves the annual budget submitted by the executive branch.

The company notes that it faces various risks related to health epidemics, pandemics and similar outbreaks, and that the COVID-19 pandemic and the mitigation efforts by governments to attempt to control its spread adversely impacted the global economy and led to reduced consumer spending and lending activities.