Credit Freeze?

I've been watching several news reports today and not much has caught my attention... I try to block out all the negative reports and listen for the positive ones. Needless to say, I often have half hour news show on and don't really catch much of it because there aren't a lot of uplifting reports.

Anyhow, tonight one did. It was efforts to give consumers the ability to freeze their credit histories. As I was searching for this story online, I found that many states (including California) already give this ability to consumers. But what caught my attention was that they claimed that the banking industry was opposed to it.

I guess it interested me because I used to work for a credit union. I'm not sure how they feel about this, but it seems odd to me that they would be opposed to it. I mean, it certainly would cause a little extra work here and there, but ultimately I would think it would protect them just as much the consumer. I also know that the credit union works to help members protect their credit and they have helped them in resolving identity theft issues. It seems like this would be a proactive move rather than always being reactive.

As a victim to identity theft, I was a bit irritated when they reported that banks were opposed. I'm not sure I care whether I can freeze my credit history, but I do care if my bank is against something that could help me protect my identity.