Equifax Equips Lenders With Mastercard Open Finance Insights

Equifax

Equifax now offers consumer-permissioned financial insights enabled via Mastercard Open Finance alongside the Equifax consumer credit file, the company said in a Friday (Oct. 16) press release.

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    Equifax customers can now access Mastercard Open Finance’s Cash Flow Analytics, which produces cash flow attributes based on up to 24 months of credits, debits and balances; Payment Risk Insights, which delivers a score that helps predict payment risk and spot early signs of repayment stress; and Transaction Report, which provides six or more months of cleansed, categorized and enhanced bank transaction data, according to the release.

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    The resources are meant to be used by lenders and integrated into their existing underwriting stacks. This kind of cash flow data can help financial institutions responsibly broaden credit access and streamline approvals for consumers in the United States who are “thin-file or credit invisible,” the release said.

    Lenders can now choose Mastercard Open Finance from among the solutions and open finance providers available in Equifax Open Banking Solutions, per the release.

    “Our goal is to give our customers the flexibility to choose the open finance provider that works for them and provide that data alongside Equifax credit and alternative data to make confident decisions that can open up new opportunities for consumers,” Jacob Osborne, senior vice president and general manager, FinTech and payments at Equifax, said in the release.

    Bart Willaert, executive vice president, open finance, Americas at Mastercard, said in the release: “As lenders and FinTechs look to gain a more complete view of financial health, access to trusted, consumer-permissioned cash flow insights becomes increasingly important. Our collaboration with Equifax will help organizations make faster, more confident decisions while unlocking new opportunities to expand access to credit.”

    PYMNTS reported Tuesday (Oct. 13) that large banks are putting more credit cards in the hands of consumers with low credit scores. After years of tight underwriting, card issuers are pursuing growth.

    The shift has been aided by underwriting developments marked by new technology. New underwriting methods and products such as verified bank transaction data can increase approvals among underserved consumer segments, compared to traditional credit data alone, per the report.