Credit Scoring and the Un-scored: Alternative Data Reporting


Credit Scoring and the Un-scored: Alternative Data Reporting

On Thursday, May 27, 2010, ACTS and the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law hosted a webinar on alternative credit reporting and its impact on low-income families.

Access to credit is a fundamental way families build assets and wealth. Purchasing a home, obtaining a loan for a car or education and, increasingly, even employment and rental housing decisions hinge on a single report, a credit rating score. But is the current credit reporting system fair and transparent? Will including a more diverse range of data in these reports help bring the approximately 70 million people without a credit file or with a thin file into the credit mainstream? Or will expanding the use of utility, telecommunication and other data, both on-time and late payments, in the existing system lower credit scores and harm low income families?

This webinar discussed the reporting of alternative credit data, the type of data that is currently reported and to whom, and the impact of such reporting on low and moderate income families. Speakers discussed the impact that credit scores have on individuals and families; the current research on the impact of alternative data reporting based on firms that already report both on-time and late payment, including full data reporting of NICOR and DTE customers; current gas and electric utility credit and collection data from states around the country; the National Credit Reporting Association's perspective, and proposed legislative amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Panelists included:

Susan Ritacca, Community Investment Associate, Shriver Center

Terry Clemans, Executive Director, National Credit Reporting Association (NCRA)

John Howat, Senior Policy Analyst, National Consumer Law Center (NCLC)

Jennifer Smith, DIrector, Home Energy Assistance Programs, CEDA of Cook County (CEDA)

Dr. Michael Turner, President, Policy and Economic Research Council (PERC)

Carol Wayman, Federal Policy Director, CFED

Webinar Recording (Windows Media Player format; 91MB)

Other Resources

Michael Turner: Give Credit Where Credit is Due: Increasing Access to Affordable Mainstream Credit Using Alternative Data

John Howat: Full Utility Credit Reporting: Risks to Low Income Consumers

Karen Harris and Susan Ritacca, Alternative Credit Reporting: To Report or Not Report, That Is the Question, Clearinghouse Review (Nov.-Dec. 2010)