Every time a business grants financial credit to an individual, the business assumes risk. In order to evaluate the risk, a business must have correct information about that individual’s financial history. It is true that credit bureaus, which compile such information from computerized records, have been accused of invading the consumer’s right to privacy. If, however, only limited restrictions are placed on the availability of such information to businesses, those businesses will be able to reduce their overall exposure to risk by giving credit only to people with good credit ratings while at the same time extending larger amounts of credit to more people. This way credit bureaus can, in fact, prevent the foolhardy consumer from becoming seriously overextended.
In the passage above, the author assumes which of the following? A] It is difficult to quantify the risk involved in any single decision to grant credit.
B] Without the service provided by credit bureaus, businesses would have no factual basis for making credit decisions.
C] The financial data that credit bureaus supply to businesses is generally accurate.
D] It is difficult to reduce the complexities of an individual’s financial history to a computerized record.
E] Consumers, in general, tend to seek more credit than they can safely assume.