How Alternative Consumer Credit Data Increasingly Supports Lending Decisions
By KE Hoffman, interviewing Kevin King, vice president, credit risk and marketing at LexisNexis Risk Solutions
As banks, credit unions and other lenders continue to vie for new borrowers, markets and opportunities, many have discovered conventional means of credit scoring and risk don’t necessarily hold up.
Hence, most lenders looking to grow their lending business are embracing so-called “alternative credit data” to approve up-and-coming borrowers. These alternative data represent factors generally not included or weighted heavily in national credit reporting agencies (NCRA) formulas. That could include a potential customer’s income and employment information, inquiries and payment records to ‘specialty’ lenders like payday lenders, utility and mobile payment history, rental payments, peer-to-peer lending history and social media profiles.
