Fair, Isaac & Co. has introduced three products that it says will help lenders make faster credit decisions.
Triad 6.0, Workbench Strategy Designer, and InfoBridge are designed for risk managers who are deciding whether to change credit lines, interest rates, or other card terms, or to authorize cash advances, among other things.
"The key for lenders is to maintain their current customers," said Mark Richardson, product manager at Fair Isaac of San Rafael, Calif., the leading provider of credit scoring tools.
Card issuers need to "assess quickly" what steps they can take to keep customers happy without taking on too much risk, Mr. Richardson said.
Triad software helps lenders navigate customer data to identify profitable, unprofitable, and risky customers. Risk managers might use Triad to determine which segment of a portfolio should be allowed a larger credit line, for example.
Triad lets lenders use up to 15 variables - including credit line amounts, interest income, and account history-to categorize customers.
An enhancement of a 15-year-old product, version 6.0 is improved in several ways, Fair Isaac said. It can be installed in about six months-half the time of its predecessor-and is compatible with more than one type of portfolio. Before, lenders had to buy separate Triad products for different portfolios.
Triad 6.0 has become more economical for smaller lenders, Fair Isaac said.
Until now, "it could take three or four years for some smaller lenders to pay back their investment in Triad," Mr. Richardson said. But the quicker installation lets lenders reap the benefits of the software earlier.
The 6.0 version is also more helpful for smaller portfolios with shallower customer information, Mr. Richardson said.
It allows risk managers to modify research models instead of starting from scratch. A risk manager could evaluate a model after six months and add or change criteria, and the software would produce results within days rather than weeks, Mr. Richardson said.
Workbench Strategy Designer prioritizes variables for making a particular decision. For example, Workbench informs managers seeking to increase credit lines how many times customers can be delinquent before they are not good candidates for the increase.
"Workbench really comes alive when a lender has a brand new portfolio," said Christopher G. Arnold, product line manager for analytic solutions.
InfoBridge lets lenders analyze data by looking at the length of time an account is on their books or by examining behavior-score ranges or credit- line use. It can convert the data into a graphic or chart.
"Many excellent customers with good credit bureau scores actually have had their lines of credit decreased," said Kim Johnson, product marketing manager. "InfoBridge would show that."
InfoBridge and Workbench are compatible with Triad, though they can be bought separately, Mr. Richardson said.
"All of these tools are meant to allow risk managers to focus on the analysis rather than the process of building a strategy," Mr. Richardson said.
