Equifax and FICO join forces to offer banks a unique analytics product

Equifax and FICO have partnered to create a product for banks combining consumer data and analytics software.

The new cloud-based software, called the Data Decisions Cloud, is designed to help banks and other financial institutions make faster decisions on credit applications by integrating consumers' credit histories with advanced software, the chief executive said. from Equifax, Mark Begor.

Banks must now integrate credit history data into their existing software platform alone, said Begor. But the new arrangement between Equifax and FICO will combine the two elements into one product.

"FICO has a very advanced software business," said Begor. "Equifax, we have the data but we do not have the depth of software they have."

Begor said most banks are acquiring consumption data from two of the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). With this new product, banks will still be able to use consumer data from several credit reporting agencies, but only Equifax data will already be integrated into the FICO software.

The new software product will compete with other cloud-based software from SAP and IBM, among others.

The financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. FICO develops software for analysis and decision management, in addition to its credit ratings for the general public.

The announcement comes at a time when Equifax is still under investigation for a massive data breach in 2017, which has affected more than 145 million consumers. Legislators currently weigh in the legislation to legislate in the credit reporting industry. A proposal, sponsored by the Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Would expand access to free credit reports and consumer scores and reduce the burden of litigation related to credit files. to consumers and suppliers.

But so far, the agreement between Equifax and FICO is gaining praise.

A KeyCorp executive in Cleveland said that Equifax and FICO's integration of data and credit software into the same product would benefit the industry.

"There is a deluge of data, and while we have processes to extract meaningful information to make it workable, it is a tedious and tedious process," said Liza Yannon, director of the company. quantitative analysis at KeyBank, in a jointly distributed press release. by Equifax and FICO.

"I can not wait to see how they will help us get faster access to data, which will allow better use of data in business analysis and decisions," said Yannon.

Prior to being appointed CEO of Equifax, Begor was a director of FICO. Will Lansing, Managing Director of FICO, also worked for General Electric.