Experian launches new tool to expand affordable access to credit

By Delisha Fernandes

Experian has announced the launch of Cashflow Attributes, a solution to help expand fair and affordable access to credit, particularly for thin-file and credit invisible consumers.

With over 900 income, cashflow and affordability attributes, Experian’s cashflow insights are available now and allow lenders to seamlessly integrate banking data into their decision-making.

“Supporting financial inclusion and creating an equitable path to credit is ingrained in our DNA,” said Scott Brown, group president Experian Financial and Marketing Services. “We believe banking information holds untapped potential and that our new Cashflow Attributes represent an exciting step forward that can easily be integrated into lending decisions. As we look ahead, we will continue to leverage our core credit data, new data elements and our analytics expertise to unlock new opportunities for both consumers and businesses.”

A consumer’s credit report is the most effective means to assess lending risk; however, nearly 106 million U.S. consumers are unable to secure credit at mainstream rates either because they are credit invisible, unscoreable by conventional credit scores, or have a subprime or below credit score. Layering traditional credit report data with cashflow insights helps create a more detailed view of a consumer’s financial health and creditworthiness for lenders and can provide more opportunities for consumers.

How Cashflow Attributes works:

• Lenders requesting Cashflow Attributes provide Experian with depersonalized transaction information from their existing customers or with consumer-permissioned account information from other banks.
• Next, Experian, as a service provider to its lender clients, analyzes and categorizes the information using its proprietary categorization model.
• And in seconds, Experian delivers the transaction categories and predictive attributes back to the lender.

Experian’s proprietary categorization model can also be leveraged independently by lenders to gain deeper insights, drive more personalized experiences, and help improve financial management tools.