News Topic: Alternative lending

Lenders need to use alternative data as an overlay to traditional underwriting methods to help creditworthy customers in hardship because of the coronavirus crisis. ... Read full article

Congress should pass legislation authorizing use of nontraditional data sources to make credit more available to consumers who’ve taken a hit from the coronavirus pandemic. ... Read full article

Attempts to rewrite the method for determining unintended discrimination in housing should not bleed into fair-lending laws. ... Read full article

Kaustav Das was part of Kabbage’s effort to transform small-business lending by using new data analytics, and the CEO of Petal wants him to help it do the same in consumer credit cards. ... Read full article

Regulators are beginning to recognize the importance of using alternative data to provide credit for the underbanked. Now is the time to expand its use across the industry. ... Read full article

Financial regulators’ statement cautiously encouraging banks to go beyond traditional underwriting in their lending decisions is a big step forward for the use of alternative data and artificial intelligence, bankers say. ... Read full article

Casting aside recession fears, the credit bureau predicts credit cards, mortgages, auto loans and unsecured personal loans should all perform well — including those extended by online lenders. ... Read full article

Alternative data "may improve the speed and accuracy of credit decisions and may help firms evaluate the creditworthiness of consumers," the agencies said. ... Read full article

The online platform lender Kabbage is making the move beyond just providing working capital loans to small businesses, putting it in direct competition with alternative acquirers and payment companies. ... Read full article

Renaud Laplanche, one of the first fintech disruptors, is launching an unusual type of credit product at Upgrade, his new company, that is a cross between a credit card and an unsecured loan. ... Read full article

Freddie Mac's test of artificial intelligence to make lending decisions could be a significant turning point in broadening the use of the technology. ... Read full article

The Upstart Network, the first and only startup to participate in the bureau’s program for promising digital platforms, claims that using nontraditional credit data items has helped loan volume and affordability. ... Read full article

Though the use of alternative data in lending is seen by some as untested, several fintechs say they couldn't function without it. ... Read full article

Readers react to Capital One's massive data breach, raise alarm to The Bancorp's expansion in CRE securitizations, defend fintechs offering retirement plans and more. ... Read full article

A study by FinRegLab of six nonbank lenders' use of cash-flow data in underwriting decisions finds this type of "alternative data" helps predict loan performance. ... Read full article

The bill, similar to legislation that passed the chamber last year, would permit the inclusion of items such as rent and telecom payments to help consumers build their credit profiles. ... Read full article

Since last fall, when the value of digital money plummeted, lenders have been pushing people who have paper profits to leverage them into cash by borrowing against their cryptocurrencies. And the fact that there's no tax bill on the transactions is a ... Read full article

Some fintechs have figured out how to provide international students and immigrants with credit cards and loans. Machine learning makes the underwriting possible. ... Read full article