[October 25, 2016]

CEO of FactorTrust Applauds CFPB's Focus on Alternative Data

Greg Rable, CEO of FactorTrust, The Alternative Credit Bureau, applauds the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) Project Catalyst report released yesterday at Money 20/20 which notes the importance of new fintech products and alternative data. The CFPB outlined in its report the types of fintech products and services that it would encourage, including firms focused on giving credit access to consumers by using alternative measures, putting consumers first.

"The CFPB's report noted the importance of the industry's need to embrace new fintech product and services in order to help the 113 million U.S. consumers with FICO credit scores under 700 today, many of whom have no credit history with the Big 3 bureaus. The organization recognizes that 'a large number of these underserved consumers are hard-working people, living paycheck to paycheck and waging a constant and careful struggle to make ends meet.' The historical perception that the underbanked are all risky customers has harmed both consmers and lenders, impeding industry and economic growth. This is a massively underserved population that, when taking alternative credit data into account, deserve credit options," says FactorTrust's CEO Greg Rable.

FactorTrust launched yesterday a pilot program of its new consumer-focused product, CreditClimber (www.creditclimber.com). CreditClimber enables consumers to assist in improving their CreditClimber credit score by linking monthly bill payment data (such as mobile phone, utilities, cable/satellite) and considering a person's effort and actions to increase his/her financial literacy in order to provide lenders with a clearer view of their creditworthiness. By taking into consideration loan performance information that is not reported to the Big 3 bureaus consumers are more empowered to improve their score. CreditClimber also provides consumers with educational opportunities regarding financial goal setting, budgeting and more.

"Not all credit scores are created equal. We believe that every step a person takes to demonstrate their creditworthiness should help improve their credit. For that reason, we are analyzing this information during the pilot to demonstrate that monthly bill payment data should correlate with a consumer's score. Also, any focused effort to improve their financial intelligence should be rewarded with a higher credit score. Every time a CreditClimber does something positive, they deserve to improve their credit score," says Rable.

FactorTrust will pilot the CreditClimber consumer product through the end of the year. Based on consumer and lender feedback, the company plans a more aggressive national rollout in 2017.

About FactorTrust

FactorTrust, The Alternative Credit Bureau, is relentlessly dedicated to proven analytics and clean credit information that provide lenders opportunities to grow more revenue, meet compliance regulations and serve more consumers with more credit options. At the core of FactorTrust is alternative credit data not available from the Big 3 bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) and analytics and risk scoring information lenders need to make informed decisions about the consumers they want. FactorTrust Alternative Credit Data and Analytics accurately predicts risk and the ability to repay of near and non-prime consumer loans in real-time. The company's solutions enable financial service companies an opportunity to uncover creditworthy prospects that are not surfacing via traditional credit sources. Headquartered in Atlanta, the experienced FactorTrust team of predictive analytics specialists, statisticians and financial industry experts has delivered unique data and valuable insight to lenders throughout the U.S. for more than 10 years. For more information on the quarterly FactorTrust Underbanked Index or the company itself, visit www.FactorTrust.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161025006781/en/

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