FactorTrust and FICO are teaming up to help banks widen their customer base.
The companies said Monday they will work together to develop new models to help lenders assess the risk of lending to consumers with little to no credit history.
The initiative will combine data from FactorTrust, a credit reporting agency based in Atlanta that tracks data from alternative lenders to maintain histories on millions of underbanked consumers, with information from Fico, an analytics software provider based in San Jose, Calif.
"By combining alternative data, advanced analytics and decision services, lenders can now make better credit decisions on people who don't have a credit history, and who have therefore found it hard to obtain credit," Andrew Jennings, FICO's chief analytics officer, said in a press release.
"I am excited that this partnership will provide an opportunity to underbanked-focused lenders to offer more product choices to these consumers by having a broader view of credit behavior," Greg Rable, FactorTrust's chief executive, added in a press release. "Lenders will be able to offer more products, more tailored to their consumers."
