You're what's called a "consumer", as in "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau". You're only a "customer" of Equifax if you purchase one of their products.
The CRAs don't make or break your credit history, that's the businesses that supply information to them. The CRAs are aggregators, and just report what their members tell them.
Credit algorithms, specifically your FICO score, are not transparent. There is no reason beyond the naive assumption of good faith on the part of these companies to believe that they don't make or break at least your credit SCORE.
The CRAs don't make or break your credit history, that's the businesses that supply information to them. The CRAs are aggregators, and just report what their members tell them.