Banks Using Mobile Phone Usage To Gauge Credit Risk

Hugh Pickens writes "A new startup is revolutionizing the way financial service companies meet the needs of an estimated 2.7 billion people worldwide with a mobile phone but no access to formal financial services by developing sophisticated modeling software that can look at usage data from consumers' mobile phones and make predictions about credit risk. 'There's a vast market of consumers in countries like Brazil, China, India, and the Philippines who want access to financial services like credit cards, loans, or insurance,' says Jonathan Hakim, chief executive of Cignifi. 'But while they may have jobs, and some have bank accounts, there really is no credit history for them.' The way you use your phone is a proxy for your lifestyle say the developers. 'We're looking at things like the length of calls, the time of day, and the location you make them from. Also things like whether you top up [a pre-paid SIM card] regularly. We want to see how stable the patterns are. When you look at that, you can create these behavioral clusters that give you information about users' appetite for new [financial] products, and their ability to repay a debt.' Currently operating in Brazil, Cignifi doesn't plan to deploy the technology in the US. in the near-term. 'The business opportunity is so much bigger in Brazil, India, China, and Mexico, where you have around half a billion people in those four markets alone who have a mobile phone but no banking relationship.'"

Comments

The entire credit history thing is stupid

[FreeCoder]

The countries listed, and where credit is not usual for people but mostly businesses (and only then for billing duration), have it more right than US. In the United Status people need to take loans just to build up their credit history, which is just useless costs. The only justified things for loans should be loans for starting businesses, houses and maybe cars. Living on credit for your everyday things is just stupid and bad for economy. And this also includes credit cards, even if you pay them back as soon as you get the bill.

Re:The entire credit history thing is stupid

[hedwards]

The problem isn't the interest rates in that regards, the problem is that the spread is so large. If I have an account at a bank the typical interest these days is roughly 0.1% on most accounts I've seen. A quick look at average rates reveals that low interest cards average out at about 10.75%. So on average they're borrowing money from account holders for 0.1% and they're lending it for an additional 10.65%. There is some overhead involved, but people wonder why savings rates in the US are so low. 0.1% is 1.9% below the Federal Reserves typical inflation target.

I don't agree with Ron Paul on pretty much anything, but the fact is that he's dead on when it comes to the harm that the Federal Reserve represents. Tax laws are nothing compared with the income redistribution that's resulted form the Fed purposely creating inflation and holding interest rates well below inflation.

Re:The entire credit history thing is stupid

[man_of_mr_e]

Are you serious? I don't know of any family of 4 that can save money on $50k a year. Rent, clothing, food, etc.. they'd be lucky to save $100 a year, much less $10k.

Raising a family is expensive. Insurance alone can cost upwards of $500 a month. I think you're incredibly naive if you think that someone can put away 10% of their salary at that level.

Seriously

[Billly Gates]

FUCK OFF

I normally do not use those strong tones in my slashdot replies but what I do, and what videos I watch are no ones business! Why is this even for sale?

When employers tried to call your doctors and pyschologists to weed out applicants with potential issues like depression people were outraged and HIIPA became law. The medical industry hates it but it was a must as in an alternative universe anyone who has taken an anti depressent would be labeled a credit risk and unemployable or someone with ADD would be unemployable and another credit risk etc.

I think the same should apply. I mean what is next? Installing video cameras that view into your house all over the street? Maybe looking for who you invite over or what you do in the bedroom next?