ARLINGTON, Va.--Consumers are more aware of their credit scores and accessing them more often, said bureau reps at the Consumer Bankers Association's auto finance conference in March. The CBA reported that this is causing bureaus to re-evaluate credit scoring models.
Consumers now know that factors such as rent and utility payments aren't included in scoring models. Chet Wiermanski, vice president of analytic decision services at TransUnion, said consumers are challenging bureaus to include such information. TransUnion has tried, but doesn't get full participation from utilities.
Equifax is testing the predictiveness of a database used by utilities and telecom companies for nonpayment. "Hopefully, we'll get more confidence," said Arvind Krishnaswami, managing consultant at Equifax Decision Solutions.
Experian-Scorex is waiting for some consistency in reporting before including such factors.
Because of the new Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, Wiermanski recommended that "lenders use third parties to evaluate how scores are put together." Heightened consumer awareness might lead to scorecard characteristics being made available to the public, he said.
Other factors bureaus are evaluating include regional economic conditions, zero percent financing and auto refinancing.
