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Shining the Light on Credit Invisibility with Alternative Data

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Shining the Light on Credit Invisibility
with Alternative Data

Many individuals around the globe lack a traditional credit history. It’s estimated that nearly 80 percent of adults worldwide are either underbanked or unbanked. Without acknowledging this and taking the requisite action, the industry will remain prejudicial and oppressive by default. But a desire to change must be paired with the capacity to push credit decisioning to the edge.

In this Financial IT article, Kathy Stares, Executive Vice President, North America for Provenir, shares her observations on how lenders can overcome bias, ensure equal access to credit – even for those without formal credit histories – without sacrificing their risk strategy.

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The Ultimate Guide to Decision Engines

What is a decision engine and how does it help your business processes?

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Enhancing Financial Inclusion in the Digital Era: Redefining Africa’s Digital Banking Future with Data and AI

Written by Amy Sariego on . Posted in Resource, Webinars. No Comments on Enhancing Financial Inclusion in the Digital Era: Redefining Africa’s Digital Banking Future with Data and AI

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR

Enhancing Financial Inclusion in the Digital Era:
Redefining Africa’s Digital Banking Future with Data and AI

Book a Meeting

As Africa’s digital landscape continues to evolve, the use of data and AI in banking has become increasingly important in driving and enhancing financial inclusion across the continent. Today, as many as 57% of Africans and up to one-third of all adults globally lack any type of bank account, making it difficult to evaluate creditworthiness using traditional methods. This large population of unbanked individuals represents significant growth for innovative organizations.

How can fintechs and digital banks begin this journey to remove barriers to financial inclusion and expand their potential audiences? By combining data with the power of AI, financial service providers can leverage new insights to support financial inclusion while mitigating risk.

Our panel of experts will discuss how financial service providers are doing just that to redefine banking services and products that cater to the unique needs of the unbanked and underserved populations in Africa.

Topics include:

  • Understanding how simplified access to alternative and non-traditional data can reshape your business
  • How the current approach to determining risk profiles impacts the unbanked population and gaps using only traditional data leaves in determining credit risk
  • How alternative data and advanced analytics can catalyze financial inclusion while reducing risk and fraud
  • The role of alternative data in the larger picture of tech-enabled financial inclusion
  • Actionable steps you can take to incorporate alternative data into your decisioning

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5 Ways Credit Risk Analytics Can Help Your Business Make Better Decisions

Written by Amy Sariego on . Posted in Blog.

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5 Ways Credit Risk Analytics
Can Help Your Business Make Better Decisions

In today’s rapidly changing business environment, companies need to make informed decisions to stay competitive. One way to achieve this is by leveraging credit risk analytics. By analyzing data related to credit risk, businesses can gain valuable insights into their customers’ financial behavior and make better decisions based on that data. In this blog post, we’ll explore five ways credit risk analytics can help your business make better decisions.

Better Understand Your Customers

  • Credit risk analytics can help you better understand your customers’ creditworthiness, payment history, and overall financial behavior.
  • This information can help you make more informed decisions when it comes to extending credit or setting credit limits.
  • Use credit risk analytics to segment your customers based on their credit risk profile, allowing you to tailor your offerings and pricing to meet their specific needs.

Mitigate Risk

  • Credit risk analytics can help you identify potential risks before they become major issues.
  • By analyzing data related to credit risk, you can identify customers who are more likely to default on payments or who have a history of late payments, helping you mitigate risk and avoid potential losses.
  • Use credit risk analytics to monitor your customer portfolios and identify trends or patterns that could indicate future risks across the entire customer lifecycle.

Optimize Pricing

  • By analyzing credit risk data, you can optimize your pricing strategies.
  • Identify customers who are more likely to default on payments and adjust your pricing accordingly to mitigate the risk.
  • Use credit risk analytics to determine the optimal pricing and loan terms for each customer segment, based on their unique credit risk profile.

Improve Collections

  • Credit risk analytics can help you improve your collections process – reducing collection costs and improving your cash flow.
  • By analyzing data related to credit risk, you can identify customers who are at risk of defaulting on payments and take proactive measures to collect payments before they become overdue.

Enhance Customer Experience

  • Credit risk analytics can help you enhance the overall customer experience.
  • With a better understanding of your customers’ financial behavior, you can tailor your products and services to meet their specific needs and preferences.
  • Use credit risk analytics to identify customers who are most likely to be interested in a particular product or service, and target your marketing efforts accordingly.
  • You can also personalize your customer interactions and offer customized solutions based on each customer’s unique credit risk profile.

By leveraging credit risk analytics, you can gain valuable insights into your customers’ financial behavior and make more informed decisions. Whether it’s optimizing pricing, mitigating risk, or improving collections, credit risk analytics can help you achieve your growth goals and stay competitive in today’s dynamic business environment. With the right credit risk analytics tools and strategies in place, your business can stay ahead of the curve and make the best decisions possible.

Discover how a data-driven, AI-powered approach to credit risk means smarter, more accurate decisions

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The Power of Data-Driven Technology in a Challenging Economic Climate

Written by Amy Sariego on . Posted in News. No Comments on The Power of Data-Driven Technology in a Challenging Economic Climate

<\/p>\n

With demand for consumer credit poised to increase due to the rising cost of living, consumers are likely to diversify their credit products. This creates ample opportunity, particularly for digitally savvy challenger banks, to meet the unique consumer needs with strategic approaches, whilst still delivering profitable returns.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In this Payment Expert <\/em>exclusive<\/a>, Chris Kneen, Managing Director, UK and Ireland at\u00a0Provenir, details how alternative credit products, AI and data can help fintechs, financial services providers and regulators meet changing customer needs during today\u2019s climate of economic uncertainty.<\/em><\/p>\n

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What is a decision engine and how does it help your business processes?<\/p>“,”margin”:”default”,”text_align”:”center”}},{“type”:”button”,”props”:{“grid_column_gap”:”small”,”grid_row_gap”:””,”margin”:””,”margin_remove_bottom”:false,”maxwidth”:”medium”,”text_align”:”center”},”children”:[{“type”:”button_item”,”props”:{“button_style”:”default”,”content”:”Learn More”,”icon”:””,”icon_align”:”left”,”link”:”\/blog\/the-ultimate-guide-to-decision-engines\/”}}]}]}],”props”:{“layout”:”2-3,1-3″}}]},{“type”:”section”,”props”:{“image_position”:”center-center”,”style”:”secondary”,”title_breakpoint”:”xl”,”title_position”:”top-left”,”title_rotation”:”left”,”vertical_align”:””,”width”:”default”},”children”:[{“type”:”row”,”children”:[{“type”:”column”,”props”:{“image_position”:”center-center”,”position_sticky_breakpoint”:”m”},”children”:[{“type”:”divider”,”props”:{“divider_element”:”hr”}},{“type”:”headline”,”props”:{“content”:”LATEST NEWS”,”title_color”:”background”,”title_element”:”h1″,”title_style”:”text-large”}},{“type”:”grid”,”props”:{“content_column_breakpoint”:”m”,”filter_align”:”left”,”filter_all”:true,”filter_grid_breakpoint”:”m”,”filter_grid_width”:”auto”,”filter_position”:”top”,”filter_style”:”tab”,”grid_column_align”:false,”grid_default”:”auto”,”grid_divider”:true,”grid_large”:”3″,”grid_medium”:”3″,”grid_parallax_justify”:true,”grid_row_align”:false,”grid_xlarge”:”3″,”icon_width”:80,”image_align”:”top”,”image_grid_breakpoint”:”m”,”image_grid_width”:”1-2″,”image_link”:true,”image_svg_color”:”emphasis”,”image_transition”:”scale-up”,”image_transition_border”:false,”item_animation”:true,”link_size”:”small”,”link_style”:”default”,”link_text”:”Read more”,”margin”:”default”,”meta_align”:”below-title”,”meta_element”:”div”,”meta_style”:”text-meta”,”show_content”:true,”show_image”:true,”show_link”:true,”show_meta”:true,”show_title”:true,”title_align”:”top”,”title_color”:”success”,”title_element”:”h3″,”title_grid_breakpoint”:”m”,”title_grid_width”:”1-2″,”title_hover_style”:”reset”,”title_link”:true},”children”:[{“type”:”grid_item”,”source”:{“query”:{“name”:”posts.customPosts”,”arguments”:{“terms”:[52],”category_operator”:”IN”,”post_tag_operator”:”IN”,”users”:[],”users_operator”:”IN”,”offset”:0,”limit”:3,”order”:”date”,”order_direction”:”DESC”,”industry_operator”:”IN”,”language_operator”:”IN”,”resources_operator”:”IN”}},”props”:{“_condition”:{“filters”:{“condition”:”!!”},”name”:”author.name”},”title”:{“filters”:{“search”:””},”name”:”title”},”content”:{“filters”:{“search”:””,”limit”:100},”name”:”excerpt”},”image”:{“filters”:{“search”:””},”name”:”featuredImage.url”},”link”:{“filters”:{“search”:””},”name”:”link”}}}}]}]}]}]}],”version”:”4.4.1″} –>

<\/p>\n

With demand for consumer credit poised to increase due to the rising cost of living, consumers are likely to diversify their credit products. This creates ample opportunity, particularly for digitally savvy challenger banks, to meet the unique consumer needs with strategic approaches, whilst still delivering profitable returns.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In this Payment Expert <\/em>exclusive<\/a>, Chris Kneen, Managing Director, UK and Ireland at\u00a0Provenir, details how alternative credit products, AI and data can help fintechs, financial services providers and regulators meet changing customer needs during today\u2019s climate of economic uncertainty.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>“,”margin”:”default”}},{“type”:”button”,”props”:{“grid_column_gap”:”small”,”grid_row_gap”:”small”,”margin”:”medium”,”text_align”:”center”},”children”:[{“type”:”button_item”,”props”:{“button_style”:”default”,”content”:”Read Now”,”icon_align”:”left”,”link”:”https:\/\/paymentexpert.com\/2023\/05\/16\/provenir-power-of-data-driven-tech\/”}}]}]},{“type”:”column”,”props”:{“image_position”:”center-center”,”padding”:”small”,”position_sticky”:”row”,”position_sticky_breakpoint”:”m”,”position_sticky_offset”:”100″,”style”:”card-default”,”width_medium”:”1-3″},”children”:[{“type”:”headline”,”props”:{“content”:”The Ultimate Guide to Decision Engines”,”text_align”:”center”,”title_color”:”success”,”title_element”:”h3″,”title_style”:”h3″}},{“type”:”text”,”props”:{“column_breakpoint”:”m”,”content”:”

What is a decision engine and how does it help your business processes?<\/p>“,”margin”:”default”,”text_align”:”center”}},{“type”:”button”,”props”:{“grid_column_gap”:”small”,”grid_row_gap”:””,”margin”:””,”margin_remove_bottom”:false,”maxwidth”:”medium”,”text_align”:”center”},”children”:[{“type”:”button_item”,”props”:{“button_style”:”default”,”content”:”Learn More”,”icon”:””,”icon_align”:”left”,”link”:”\/blog\/the-ultimate-guide-to-decision-engines\/”}}]}]}],”props”:{“layout”:”2-3,1-3″}}]},{“type”:”section”,”props”:{“image_position”:”center-center”,”style”:”secondary”,”title_breakpoint”:”xl”,”title_position”:”top-left”,”title_rotation”:”left”,”vertical_align”:””,”width”:”default”},”children”:[{“type”:”row”,”children”:[{“type”:”column”,”props”:{“image_position”:”center-center”,”position_sticky_breakpoint”:”m”},”children”:[{“type”:”divider”,”props”:{“divider_element”:”hr”}},{“type”:”headline”,”props”:{“content”:”LATEST NEWS”,”title_color”:”background”,”title_element”:”h1″,”title_style”:”text-large”}},{“type”:”grid”,”props”:{“content_column_breakpoint”:”m”,”filter_align”:”left”,”filter_all”:true,”filter_grid_breakpoint”:”m”,”filter_grid_width”:”auto”,”filter_position”:”top”,”filter_style”:”tab”,”grid_column_align”:false,”grid_default”:”auto”,”grid_divider”:true,”grid_large”:”3″,”grid_medium”:”3″,”grid_parallax_justify”:true,”grid_row_align”:false,”grid_xlarge”:”3″,”icon_width”:80,”image_align”:”top”,”image_grid_breakpoint”:”m”,”image_grid_width”:”1-2″,”image_link”:true,”image_svg_color”:”emphasis”,”image_transition”:”scale-up”,”image_transition_border”:false,”item_animation”:true,”link_size”:”small”,”link_style”:”default”,”link_text”:”Read more”,”margin”:”default”,”meta_align”:”below-title”,”meta_element”:”div”,”meta_style”:”text-meta”,”show_content”:true,”show_image”:true,”show_link”:true,”show_meta”:true,”show_title”:true,”title_align”:”top”,”title_color”:”success”,”title_element”:”h3″,”title_grid_breakpoint”:”m”,”title_grid_width”:”1-2″,”title_hover_style”:”reset”,”title_link”:true},”children”:[{“type”:”grid_item”,”source”:{“query”:{“name”:”posts.customPosts”,”arguments”:{“terms”:[52],”category_operator”:”IN”,”post_tag_operator”:”IN”,”users”:[],”users_operator”:”IN”,”offset”:0,”limit”:3,”order”:”date”,”order_direction”:”DESC”,”industry_operator”:”IN”,”language_operator”:”IN”,”resources_operator”:”IN”}},”props”:{“_condition”:{“filters”:{“condition”:”!!”},”name”:”author.name”},”title”:{“filters”:{“search”:””},”name”:”title”},”content”:{“filters”:{“search”:””,”limit”:100},”name”:”excerpt”},”image”:{“filters”:{“search”:””},”name”:”featuredImage.url”},”link”:{“filters”:{“search”:””},”name”:”link”}}}}]}]}]}]}],”version”:”4.4.1″} –>

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The Future of Risk Decisioning: Harnessing the Power of Data

Written by Amy Sariego on . Posted in Resource, Webinars. No Comments on The Future of Risk Decisioning: Harnessing the Power of Data

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR

The Future of Risk Decisioning:
Harnessing the Power of Data

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Empowering Smarter Credit Risk Decisioning with Real-Time Data Access

Currently about 50% of India’s population is credit unserved and another 20% underserved. But it’s difficult to make accurate credit decisions without easy access to the right kinds of data. And while there is no shortage of data available to the industry, many financial institutions struggle with data access and integration. Harnessing the power of real-time data, from a variety of sources, is an immense opportunity for financial institutions to offer targeted products that enable greater access to credit for those who need it.

Watch the webinar where we’ll show you how real-time, simplified data access can improve risk decisioning accuracy and improve financial inclusion.

During this in-depth discussion you’ll learn:

  • How simplified data access to alternative and non-traditional data can reshape your business
  • The ways integrating real-time data, including alternative data sources, can help you manage risk, explore new opportunities, and respond to market changes faster
  • How to utilize advanced analytics to optimize pricing and make more personalized offers
  • Why a unified solution for data, AI and decisioning drives the agility and flexibility needed to power exceptional consumer experiences
  • How to power financial inclusion with alternative data and advanced analytics

Speakers:

  • Varun Bhalla

    Country Manager, India, Provenir

  • Nehal Gupta

    CEO, AMU Leasing

  • Pramey Jain

    CEO & Co-Founder, Tartan

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Alternative Data: The Catalyst for Financial Inclusion

Written by Amy Sariego on . Posted in Resource, Webinars. No Comments on Alternative Data: The Catalyst for Financial Inclusion

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR

Alternative Data:
The Catalyst for Financial Inclusion

Book a Meeting

Addressing financial inclusion is a priority for many fintechs and financial services providers: there are almost 6 million unbanked households in the US alone. 

This large population of unbanked individuals represents significant growth for innovative organizations, but the reliance on traditional financial data makes it difficult to evaluate creditworthiness for those with thin or nonexistent files.  

To make financial services available to the unbanked and underbanked populations, alternative data provides new insights to support credit decisions while also detecting fraud.

Join this panel of experts for a discussion on how to harness the power of alternative data to catalyze financial inclusion and expand your customer base, without increasing risk.

Topics include:

  • The gaps using only traditional data leaves in determining credit risk
  • How alternative data can catalyze financial inclusion while reducing risk and fraud
  • The role of alternative data in the larger picture of tech-enabled financial inclusion
  • How alternative data opens opportunities for market expansion
  • Actionable steps you can take to incorporate alternative data into your decisioning

Speakers:

  • Kathy Stares

    EVP Americas, Provenir

  • Erin Allard

    General Manager, Prism Data

  • Mia Huntington

    Head of BNPL/POS Lending, US Bank

Moderator:

Todd Anderson

Chief Content Officer, Fintech Nexus

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Provenir’s Data Integration Tools

Written by Amy Sariego on . Posted in Blog.

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Provenir’s Data Integration Tools

Data Integration Tools To Access the Data You Need When You Need It

As a financial services organization you know that having access to the right data at the right time is essential for smarter decisioning. But, it’s more than that. The right data will make you more competitive, more agile, and ready to rapidly respond to evolving business needs. Put data access in the hands of your business users with Provenir data integration tools!

Provenir can be quickly and easily integrated with any data source, whether internal, external, structured or unstructured. In today’s digital world new data sources are constantly emerging. When a new data source becomes available that you want to access integration can often take weeks or months, which means that you miss out on valuable information and opportunities while you wait to get connected.

Not with Provenir.

If you want to integrate to a new data source Provenir data integration tools give you the power to create integrations in a visual environment. So, no coding, no dependency on us, and no long waits to get connected. In fact, integrations can be completed in hours. Simply use our data integration tools to create the connection you need to start using the data now, not months from now.

Building Your Risk Analytics Ecosystem

As a financial services organization you’re always looking at the bigger picture. Your organization doesn’t exist in a vacuum and neither should your risk system. To fully understand risks and explore new opportunities you need technology that empowers you to build one cohesive risk analytics ecosystem that connects across all of your business systems and with essential external data sources.

We work with clients just like you who are looking for an efficient way to build their risk ecosystem and they want to know; how do we simplify integration to support a cohesive risk system?

To make the answer simple, Provenir data integration tools offer different routes to connectivity:

  • Integration Adapter—to connect with any data source, both internal and external, with ease
  • Pre-Built Adapters—to reduce integration time to Salesforce, AmazonML, and Spark ML
  • ProvAPI—to develop and expose business functions and models as discrete services

Provenir Integration Adapters

You can use the Provenir Adapter technology to create integrations with some of the most popular data sources in the financial services industry, including FICO, Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, Lexis Nexis, Moody’s, Kelley Blue Book, TransUnion, and many others.

But, as an innovative financial services company, you’re probably looking to explore alternative data sources too. The Integration Adapter can connect to any source.

Our integration capabilities offer:

  • Connectivity, security, transaction support and, data conversion, parsing, and transformation.
  • Two-way communication so you can listen, gather, evaluate, orchestrate, analyze, and respond.
  • A visual or graphical data mapper guides the user through the task of establishing the integration and mapping the required input/output data.
  • Visual testing to check the accuracy of the integration – tests can be run independently or placed in a business logic process for a more comprehensive test. (Provenir provides instant feedback along with a detailed breakdown of the results to show you exactly what happened during the test.)

In addition to our flexible cloud-based data integration platform we also offer a selection of pre-built adapters:

Provenir Integration Adapter for Salesforce

Salesforce is the go-to customer relationship management (CRM) solution for many financial services firms. By pairing Provenir with Salesforce, you can:

  • Eliminate the manual work required to move data between legacy systems with Provenir’s ability to listen for, read, and write data into and out of Salesforce.
  • Automatically decision applications, displaying results to your loan originations interface within Salesforce.
  • Leverage information aggregated from Salesforce and other systems to generate customer-specific, real-time sales and marketing offers.

Amazon Machine Learning Integration Adapter

Using this adapter, Amazon’s Machine Learning service automatically feeds the predictive score returned by the Amazon Machine Learning model into the risk decisioning process in Provenir. The Provenir Platform then automates that process, instantly executing a pass, fail or refer result from a risk score. This powerful adapter:

  • Makes machine learning models more accessible to lenders that don’t employ dedicated machine learning experts.
  • Can give you a head start on machine learning with Amazon’s as-a-service model while capturing the full value of complex risk analytics and decisioning with Provenir.

Spark ML Integration Adapter

With this adapter you can feed the score from Spark ML into the risk decisioning process in Provenir. The Provenir Platform then uses the score to automatically return a pass, fail, or refer result. The Spark ML adapter:

  • Makes it easy to expose data to a huge variety of machine learning models.
  • Lets you combine the power of advanced machine learning with Provenir’s sophisticated decisioning and data analytics capabilities.

Modernize Your Risk Stack with ProvAPI

You want to build a future proof risk analytics solution, we get it. Why waste time creating the perfect technology stack if you then have to replace it in a couple of years?

An essential component for future-proof technology is having the ability to develop and expose business functions as discrete services. That’s why Provenir is designed to support a Microservices architecture and the steps needed to move to one.

Provenir is:

  • Distributed – Can be deployed full stack or distributed by functionality.
  • Container Ready – Compatible with Amazon Container Service and Docker.
  • Extendable – Users maintain control with the power to add screens and Platform REST API’s.
  • Monitored – Cloud admins are alerted for all events occurring outside established thresholds and performance SLA’s.
  • User-friendly – Data and functionality within Provenir is exposed using the visual ProvAPI interface.
  • Scalable – Provenir supports cubernates and autoscaling so the technology can easily adapt to changing business needs.

With Provenir, you have the power to create REST APIs, which means the opportunities are endless. Using ProvAPI, you can expose the following (and much more) for use in a decisioning process.

  • Models and Scorecards
  • Age Calculations
  • Blacklist and OFAC Checks
  • Calls to third-party data providers
  • And more

Machine Learning Credit Risk Models are More Accessible Than You Thought

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Provenir Earns Coveted ISO/IEC 27001 Accredited Certification for Data Security

Written by Amy Sariego on . Posted in News. No Comments on Provenir Earns Coveted ISO/IEC 27001 Accredited Certification for Data Security

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Provenir Earns Coveted ISO/IEC 27001 Accredited Certification for Data Security

The certification reaffirms Provenir’s commitment to the highest standard of data security and management

Parsippany, NJ — Feb. 01, 2023 — Provenir, a global leader in data and AI-powered risk decisioning software, today announced it has achieved ISO/IEC 27001 accredited certification for its information security management systems. ISO/IEC 27001 is a globally recognized information security standard which requires compliance across all aspects of information security and operations. 

The ISO/IEC 27001 certification provides evidence to a company’s consumers, investors, and other interested parties that the organization is managing information security according to international best practices. The approach helps organizations manage information security by addressing people, processes, and technology.

“ISO 27001 certification is the gold standard for information security, and it reinforces our commitment to safeguard and protect both customer and company data,” said Claire Hartley, Group Data Protection and Compliance Officer, Provenir. “This certification asserts that Provenir is compliant with the highest standard of information security and data protection requirements our customers expect.”

Provenir’s industry-leading AI-Powered Decisioning Platform empowers fintechs and financial services organizations to unlock the true value of data, combining on-demand access to data with simplified AI and automated, real-time decisioning. With data and AI more accessible and usable than before, financial institutions can automate complex decisions that drive world-class customer experiences, addressing identity, credit and fraud for quicker onboarding and servicing.

ISO Certificate

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Ten Fintechs Using Alternative Data for Financial Inclusion

Written by Amy Sariego on . Posted in Blog.

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Ten Fintechs Using Alternative Data
for Financial Inclusion

Ensuring the Underbanked and Underserved Have Access to Credit

At one point, it was impossible for people to buy things without having cash in hand, right then and there. And then dawned the age of credit. While credit has taken many forms (layaway plans and credit cards, instalment plans and payday loans, mortgages and Buy Now, Pay Later products), one thing has remained constant: to get credit, you need to qualify for it.

As fintechs and credit providers evolve, so has the way lenders handle their credit risk decisioning. A traditional credit score (based on things like credit history, payment history and debt ratio) is no longer the only way to evaluate creditworthiness – and, it naturally precludes a large number of people who may not have much of a credit history to evaluate (i.e. minorities, recent immigrants, younger consumers, the financially underserved and others who are new to credit).

This is where alternative data comes in. A broad term that essentially refers to all credit data not currently reported via traditional credit scores, this type of data strengthens a person’s ‘profile’ and provides a more robust, comprehensive view of the risk associated with lending to them. The types of alternative data keep growing, but the term includes things like rental payments, utility records, social media presence, telco data and open banking info.

Also, read: What is Banking as a Service (BaaS)?

Financial Inclusion and Supporting SMEs

Using alternative data and deeming more people creditworthy is clearly good for business—it means organizations can more accurately predict risk and say yes to more people and enables lenders to grow and scale their business in a way that traditional data might not allow. But there’s more to it than that. Not only is alternative data good for business, it’s good for their consumers also. Companies all over the world are finding unique and inspiring ways to use alternative data to promote greater financial inclusion for thin-file/no-file clients (also known as the underbanked/unbanked), and to support greater access to credit for SMEs/MSMEs.

While this list is in no way comprehensive (there’s just too many amazing organizations doing awesome things) – here are ten unique companies using alternative data for the greater good.

  1. Bankly – In Nigeria, Bankly helps their users digitize and grow their cash in a safe, sustainable manner. Using technology and human touchpoints to digitize cash, they are able to generate data to create a digital/financial identity, which ensures their thin-file customers gain access to broader financial services including credit and insurance. Seventy-five percent of their users identify as underbanked, including such underserved populations as farmers, market traders, artisans and transport workers who are often paid in cash and can’t easily access traditional banking services.
  2. Davinta – Indian-based Davinta is an AI-based digital platform focused on offering credit and other financial products to people living in rural areas. The company leverages data from both traditional and alternative channels to recommend tailored financial products to their customers. To date, Davinta has acquired nearly 15,000 registered users, the vast majority (12,000) of which are women. As they say, they are not just another financial inclusion enterprise, but endeavor to “create wholesome social inclusion of the larger Indian society towards equal life opportunities.”
  3. Esusu – This American company uses rental payment data to help underserved populations build credit history. Serving low to moderate income households in the U.S., their proprietary platform reports rent payments to the three major credit bureaus in the region, allowing customers to build credit and unlocking future opportunities that may have otherwise been out of reach.
  4. Fairbanc – Headquartered in the United States but operating in Indonesia, Fairbanc offers a highly-scalable closed-loop credit platform for micro-merchants, enabling them to access the supply chain and more easily purchase fast-moving consumer goods. With a focus on financial inclusion for women, Fairbanc has access to a customer base of 650,000 unbanked micro-merchants in Indonesia, with nearly 260,000 of them being women. Their AI/ML platform analyzes transaction data and history to grant instant digital credit lines; and with their ‘Pay Later’ API integrated directly into Unilever’s order-taking tables, merchants need only a basic phone to participate.
  5. Fundfina – Operating in India, Fundfina is a financial marketplace powered by open banking architecture and machine learning analytics. Focused on MSMEs, the organization partners with local financial institutions to serve more than 150,000 customers across India, who would otherwise find it difficult to access traditional credit thanks to a lack of credit history. Combating the slow, complex lending process that is typical in India, Fundfina enables thin-file credit assessments through its proprietary digital engine (they’ve developed their own credit scoring method, TrueScore, looking at transactional data and payment history), curating the most appropriate financial products and even offering cashflow management tools to promote financial literacy.
  6. First Circle – One of the first fintech companies to be licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the Philippines, First Circle was founded to empower SMEs by helping to bridge the credit gap found for small businesses in the region. With various growth programs available, revolving credit lines, and mobile-first applications processes, First Circle aims to help customers who often have no credit data or fixed collateral available, many who have been forced to work with predatory lenders in the past.
  7. Oriente – Based in Hong Kong, Oriente has built a digital-first infrastructure designed to ignite economic opportunity for unbanked consumers and underserved merchants. Using real-time alternative data and insights, Oriente enables thousands of merchants to increase conversion rates while lowering risks. Their proprietary identity infrastructure uses AI and machine learning to make it hassle-free for unbanked consumers to get digital credit, and even enables them to build their credit profile if they pay on time.
  8. Paycode – Designed for those in remote, rural areas, South Africa’s Paycode provides financial services technology solutions to unbanked citizens, using biometric data collection for identity verification and to securely authenticate banking transactions. By partnering with local financial institutions, their complete alternative banking and payment platform has been able to create low-cost bank accounts for first-time users, with over 4 million end-users across 8 countries so far.
  9. TiendaPago – An innovative fintech operating in Mexico and Peru, TiendaPago targets ‘Mom and Pop’ businesses for financial inclusion, providing closed-loop working capital financing. Their mobile-based platform uses data related to inventory purchases to assess creditworthiness of merchants, ensuring that merchants can pay distributors for the correct amount of inventory they need to adequately provide for their customers and grow their business. Merchants typically have limited cash funds available to pay distributors, resulting in higher price points for inventory and limiting sales.
  10. ZigWay – Based in Myanmar, Zigway aims to help low-income families gain more access to household essentials in an affordable way. Offering a monthly subscription service that enables households to purchase quality staples like rice and cooking oil in bulk, they provide savings of up to 20 percent for participants. Using a proprietary, machine learning-based credit scoring model, ZigWay is able to offer participants flexible payment plants. They even promote accessibility and inclusion by empowering ‘Super Users’ to help register their neighbors, request services and make payments on their behalf. To date, they’ve piloted their services with over 500 customers, delivering enough food for over a million meals.

The story of alternative data – what it means, how it’s utilized, who uses it – will keep changing and evolving as more and more fintechs and data providers find unique ways to incorporate it in their risk decisioning processes. That is, if they can efficiently access it. When we surveyed 400 fintech decision-makers globally, the stats on using alternative data were pretty staggering:

  • 60% said access to alternative data sources is limited and 74% said data of any kind is not easily accessible, while 60% found it a challenge that they don’t have a centralized view of data across the customer lifecycle
  • 70% said data not being easily integrated into their decisioning solution was an impediment to using alternative data, and 51% said it simply wasn’t accessible in their organization

But the value of using alternative data for credit decisioning is clear – not only does it enable a more complete view of your customers, it also allows for greater financial inclusion, better access to credit for SMEs/MSMEs, and it can help you grow your business in ways you may never have imagined. If you find it challenging and costly to select, access, and use the right data at the right time to make accurate, inclusive decisions, check out how Provenir Data can help. Take control of your data, all from one centralized, easy-to-access global data platform, and never worry about how to integrate alternative data sources again.

Discover how Provenir Data can help you incorporate alternative data into your credit risk decisioning and encourage greater financial inclusion.

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Data Your Way – Streamlining Your Data Strategy

Written by Amy Sariego on . Posted in Resource, Webinars. No Comments on Data Your Way – Streamlining Your Data Strategy

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR

Data Your Way –
Streamlining Your Data Strategy

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Whether you’re a product manager or part of the wider risk team, you know that access to the right data at the right time is vital to product—and business—success.

To launch new products and optimize existing ones you need a streamlined data supply chain that gives you the power to make smarter decisions across identity, fraud, and credit decisioning.

If you struggle with:

  • Sourcing the right data
  • Managing multiple vendors
  • Building out your data supply chain
  • Integrating data into your decisioning technology
  • Lacking the agility to adjust your data strategy on your timeline

Then watch our on-demand webinar as we cover the steps needed to ensure data strategy success across any financial services product offering.

Our team of data specialists covers:

  • Developing your data strategy to optimize decisioning for financial products
  • Streamlining your data supply chain to drive increased agility and faster speed to market
  • An exclusive demo showing how Provenir Data solves your data challenges and puts the power of data in your hands

Speakers:

  • Kerry Cleary

    Global Head, Data Partnerships

  • Michael Shurley

    VP Presales Solutions

  • Sam Kimish

    Head of Product Success

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