Canadian institutions to serve as a testbed for a new approach towards the calculation of credit scores
A newly minted alliance between a major lender and a financial technology company highlighted the mortgage industry’s continuous drive in integrating the latest technology (such as analytics) in credit assessment.
Consumer credit reporting agency Equifax Inc. recently announced its collaboration with the Toronto-based fintech Borrowell Inc., which announced earlier this year that it would provide free access to credit scores through its website.
Equifax officials said that Canadian lenders will be a valuable testbed for this revolutionary approach towards the calculation of credit scores. Prior to this development, Canadian credit bureaus have been using a glorified, digitized version of the old credit history catalogue-card model, The Globe and Mail reported.
“With new technologies, we can get a better picture of the consumer when they come through the door, and incorporate it into scores,” Equifax Canada chief marketing officer Chris Briggs said.
The Equifax-Borrowell partnership will cull records to be analyzed from as much as 1,600 sources, a method that would especially help new immigrants and other consumers that similarly lack Canadian credit data.
“What we’re trying to do is capture all of the data that comes into Canada before you even have a credit report,” Briggs explained.
“When we come forward and talk about some of the investments we are making, it has been very well received by the banks.”
Consumer credit reporting agency Equifax Inc. recently announced its collaboration with the Toronto-based fintech Borrowell Inc., which announced earlier this year that it would provide free access to credit scores through its website.
Equifax officials said that Canadian lenders will be a valuable testbed for this revolutionary approach towards the calculation of credit scores. Prior to this development, Canadian credit bureaus have been using a glorified, digitized version of the old credit history catalogue-card model, The Globe and Mail reported.
“With new technologies, we can get a better picture of the consumer when they come through the door, and incorporate it into scores,” Equifax Canada chief marketing officer Chris Briggs said.
The Equifax-Borrowell partnership will cull records to be analyzed from as much as 1,600 sources, a method that would especially help new immigrants and other consumers that similarly lack Canadian credit data.
“What we’re trying to do is capture all of the data that comes into Canada before you even have a credit report,” Briggs explained.
“When we come forward and talk about some of the investments we are making, it has been very well received by the banks.”
