PR - Fair Isaac and PRBC Team on Credit Risk Tools for Mortgage Industry

Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE: FIC), the leading provider of analytics and decision management technology, and Payment Reporting Builds Credit (PRBC), a credit information repository that collects, verifies and scores rental and bill payment data, today announced a new collaboration. They will deliver PRBC Credit Report with FICO Expansion Score, a comprehensive credit risk management tool that U.S. mortgage lenders can use when assessing the risk of applicants who have little or no traditional credit history. 

PRBC Credit Report with FICO Expansion Score combines Fair Isaac’s FICO Expansion Score with the underlying, comprehensive credit report which includes:

• Rental and bill payment data from PRBC’s repository;
• Non-traditional credit history data from third-party sources;
• Traditional tri-merge credit bureau data when available. 

FICO Expansion Score will incorporate all these data elements when calculating the credit risk of individuals who have minimal or no credit history on file. The FICO Expansion score uses non-traditional credit data to create a score that aligns with the FICO credit score used today by most mortgage lenders, using the same 300-850 score range.

“PRBC’s alliance with Fair Isaac is an important step toward freeing mortgage lenders from the expensive and time-consuming, manual underwriting procedures they encounter when they try to lend to people who have little or no documented credit experience,” said Michael Nathans, founder of PRBC. “By adding PRBC’s verified rent and bill payment data to Fair Isaac’s FICO Expansion Score and associated credit report, we are creating a new standard for assessing the credit risk of thin-file mortgage applicants.”

“Adding PRBC’s bill payment data to the FICO Expansion Score will make it an even more powerful predictor of credit risk for mortgage lenders,” said Tom Quinn, vice president of Global Scoring for Fair Isaac. “Lenders will be able to easily access this new package through their existing connections to NCRA credit reporting agencies. In addition to helping lenders to eventually automate a manual underwriting process, this package also can help them to expand their markets, reduce losses, and make more financial services available to more people.”

Consumer reporting agencies in the National Credit Reporting Association (NCRA) will sell the new risk-assessment package to mortgage lenders and brokers.

“NCRA is excited that our members have the opportunity to be part of this revolutionary mortgage credit risk assessment product,” said Terry Clemans, NCRA’s Executive Director. “The alliance between Fair Isaac and PRBC, combined with data from our membership that has been verified to higher standards than the industry has been accustomed to, will help lenders originate sustainable mortgage loans for an historically overlooked and underserved segment of home buyers.”

The bill payment and rental histories tracked by PRBC are not found at the national credit reporting agencies, nor are the other non-traditional sources of consumer data tapped by the FICO Expansion Score. The PRBC Credit Report with FICO Expansion Score will provide lenders with their best tool for assessing the credit risk of nearly 50 million adults who have little or no credit history on file, including recent immigrants and young adults. Businesses can use PRBC Credit Report with FICO Expansion Score to make more financial services available to more people who have missed out on opportunities simply because they lack a traditional credit history.