InfoBytes Blog
CFPB reports on “credit invisibility” symposium
On July 19, the CFPB released a report titled, “Building a Bridge to Credit Invisibility,” which covers the Bureau’s September 2018 fair lending symposium of the same name. The symposium was a day-long event that explored the challenges consumers face in accessing credit. The Bureau uses the term “credit invisible” to describe consumers who do not have a credit record maintained by a national credit reporting agency, or who have a credit record that is deemed to have too little or too old information to be treated as “scorable” by widely used credit scoring models. (Coverage of a previous Bureau report on credit invisibility available here.) The symposium report includes summaries of each of the panel discussions: (i) several short talks on issues such as credit invisibility, lending deserts, and innovation to expand access to credit; (ii) Bridging to Credit Visibility Using Innovative Products; (iii) Credit Products and Services for Microenterprise; and (iv) Alternative Data: Innovative Products and Solutions. The report also highlights key themes from the symposium, noting that many panelists believe work needs to be done to make products for the credit invisible more profitable and sustainable for large financial service providers. Additionally, panelists noted the need for responsible innovation while ensuring that access to credit is facilitated in a way that is “safe, affordable, and non-discriminatory.”