Alternative lending

Readers react to Capital One's massive data breach and The Bancorp's expansion in CRE securitizations, defend fintechs offering retirement plans and more.

The bill, similar to legislation that passed the chamber last year, would permit the inclusion of items such as rent and telecom payments to help consumers build their credit profiles.

A study by FinRegLab of six nonbank lenders' use of cash-flow data in underwriting decisions finds this type of "alternative data" helps predict loan performance.

Since last fall, when the value of digital money plummeted, lenders have been pushing people who have paper profits to leverage them into cash by borrowing against their cryptocurrencies. And the fact that there's no tax bill on the transactions is a big selling point.

Some fintechs have figured out how to provide international students and immigrants with credit cards and loans. Machine learning makes the underwriting possible.

The tricky part: raising awareness without appearing to take advantage of borrowers at a time when agencies like the SBA are out of commission.

One bank's push to use Ripple's XRP in cross-border payments; LendUp spins off credit card business, names new CEO; a worrisome resurgence of rivalry among the banking agencies; and more from this week's most-read stories.

CU*Answers is working with VantageScore, and now its institutions will be able to get additional information on members' credit history.

A paper released by the agency’s Center for Financial Research says aspects of someone’s digital footprint — including whether they use Apple or Android — help predict likelihood of default.

Allowing alternative data such as rent and utility payments has bipartisan support, but some say it could create more problems than it solves.