- Equifax is launching a new consumer credit scoring model called OneScore.
- OneScore leverages alternative data, such as telecommunications, utility, and speciality finance data found in the Equifax Cloud.
- OneScore offers traditional credit history and payment data on more than 191 million consumers.
Data analytics and credit scoring company Equifax is launching a new consumer credit scoring model. OneScore, the new model, aims to increase the scorable population of credit-seeking consumers.
To accomplish this, the firm is leveraging alternative data, such as telecommunications, utility, and speciality finance data found in the Equifax Cloud. Equifax anticipates this increase in data will provide lenders with a more comprehensive financial picture of consumers.
OneScore offers traditional credit history and payment data on more than 191 million consumers and provides Equifax DataX and Teletrack finance data on 80 million consumers. Because the majority of U.S. consumers have at least one cell phone or utility bill in their name, these tools have the potential to increase credit scores by up to 25 points. This increase translates into a 20% rise in the number of scorable consumers; a population of 8.8 million people.
“Equifax has invested billions of dollars into unique data, verification insights, fraud reduction tools, powerful modeling techniques and cloud-based technology solutions that empower our customers to bring greater access to financial opportunity to more people in more places,” said Equifax CEO Mark W. Begor. “OneScore is a testament to the power of the Equifax Cloud in driving innovation that can increase the visibility of consumers to help expand access to credit and create new, mainstream financial opportunities.”
Founded in 1899, Equifax employs nearly 14,000 employees across the globe. The company earned $5.1 billion in revenue last year by offering its credit, identity, fraud, marketing, and workforce management tools to both individuals and businesses. Equifax has made OneScore available to U.S. lenders and service providers.
The financial services industry has been using alternative data to underwrite risk for some time now. However, what’s continually evolving in this space is the ability of scoring models to gather valuable data from diverse sources and derive meaningful insights from it. As AI advances, we can expect to see more significant strides in underwriting that will enable loans for borrowers who were not previously considered creditworthy under traditional models.